I was speaking with another St. Kate's friend this weekend who is placed at a different school. She was saying of her experience thus far, that she feels like she is having to learn literally everything. I kind of agree with her here, my first few weeks have been full of new experiences and learning about all of the different responsibilities and interactions involved in being a teacher. Everything is new, and I guess I keep going back and forth between just trying to keep up and trying to soak in everything.
As routines begin to emerge and we get further and further into real academic curriculum I am feeling more confident from one day to the next, and having less anxiety about not knowing what is happening in the room. I am really happy to have my first lesson flop under my belt as well as a few really successful lessons later this week. I'm looking forward to continuing to take on more and more responsibilities.
It's wonderful to read this positive assessment of your student teaching experience at the 3 week mark. Being able to take that long view, to recognize the benefits of successes and failures on your development as a teacher, is important.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if your teacher preparation coursework at St. Kate's could have included experiences that would make your transition to student teaching more smooth. If you have ideas, share them. I know some of what you're encountering is unavoidable because every school, teacher, and group of students will present unique challenges that can't be anticipated or "practiced".
At the same time, if you can think of a project/ experience/reading/connection/etc. that all teacher candidates should have before they student teach in order to be more successful, tell me!