Friday Reflections Part One

1. Describe one thing that you learned: Well, if nothing else, I learned how to Blog. I have always resisted setting up a blog, both for privacy reasons, and also because too many people blog without having anything important or substantive to say, including me. But I also have learned that many teachers and education professionals blog, and they can be of great value, especially to a student teacher. So I approach blogging with a cynical yet open mind, if that is not too much of a paradox.

2. What questions do you have and/or what do you still want to know: Probably most important to me is learning and knowing good classroom management techniques. Hopefully I will be finding out a lot more about that in the next few weeks, but I am also concerned that I am only being exposed to one classroom management approach, and I really want to hear from my classmates as to how their master teachers manage their classrooms.


3. What are you anxious about regarding student teaching/ teaching? I am fairly confident in my academic and scholastic abilities, particularly with regard to social studies and language arts. I have always been adept at math, although a bit unsure about teaching it. My greatest anxiety has to do with science, because I never really excelled at it while I was in school. I understand some basic concepts of science, and I have a great intellectual appreciation for science (particularly in a society that seems to be increasingly hostile to scientific principles), but I feel somewhat inadequate in trying to teach it to a class of fifth and sixth graders. We shall see how that goes (my master teacher told me that he would gladly give up a portion of his paycheck if he didn't have to teach science).

4. What are you excited about regarding student teaching/ teaching? The idea that I will, in no small way, play a part in shaping young minds, both in terms of substance AND style, is very exciting but daunting. I realize that it is an enormous responsibility, and that parents, children and even society at large are looking to me to discharge my responsibilities in a professional and exemplary manner, but I also know that I have my own style, personality, and yes, values, that I feel are important and appropriate to communicate to students. I certainly don't believe in indocrination, but I also don't believe in being shy or neutral in what is important to me as an individual and a member of society. I am excited at the prospect of preparing young minds to be most receptive to all of the world's possibilities.

Things I Learned

What I learned about Robin today: 1) That she came to Washington State at the same age that I did 13 years ago (i.e., 43), and with a similar intention (i.e., to reinvent oneself). Unfortunately, it took me a bit longer to do the actual reinventing, since my first 12 years out here reflected a lot of the same issues and baggage that I had when I relocated from New York. However, in the past year, since signing up and getting accepted to the Teacher Certification program, the actual reinvention processs is well underway.

What I want Robin to know about me is that I am passionate and compassionate about what I do and what I believe in. I have a wicked sense of humor, was probably considered a "class clown" in elementary and junior high schools, and much of that humor and clowning has undoubtedly carried over to the present day (as some of my cohort members will attest to). An interesting challenge for me will be to keep my own humor and need to be funny in check, especially when dealing with a class of fifth and sixth graders, some of whom will no doubt be competing with me to be smart alecks. It will be a fine line to walk to encourage my students to be open and funny without losing control of the class, and without letting them outperform me (!).

Introduction

This is going to be a blog about my experiences as a student teacher. I will be surprised if this is of any interest except for those who know of its existence, and even they will have to drink lots of coffee to keep themselves awake while reading this.