Third Week of School - Monday, Sept. 14th, 2009

Today I had my first "real" teaching experience with my class, well, at least part of the class. For our literature section, Mr. M divided the class by grades, with him taking the 5th and giving me the 6th, to lead a group discussion on the book we are all reading. It was exciting, exasperating, frustrating, but most of all....FUN. There was no question that the kids were "testing" me, seeing how far they could push me, but not necessarily in an antagonistic way (well, maybe for a couple of them). I started out by telling them that as a "student teacher" I was going to be assessed largely on how successfully I am able to teach a class, and said that to a large extent, MY success was directly dependent on THEIR success, to which one boy piped up, "Then you are guaranteed success." I also surprised myself that I remembered as many names that I did (although I still have a few to go, especially the quiet ones who never speak up and distinguish themselves). Some of the kids were being a bit too boisterous, seeing how far they could push the envelope, although a handful were very encouraging and supportive, and trying to quiet the others down. At one point I DID remind them that I was going to be their teacher for several weeks in the Spring (to which one student said "No Way," and to which I replied, "WAY") and that a large part of their final grades for the year would be earned during that period, and that seemed to sober them up. I definitely need to learn and observe more regarding classroom management techniques, although yesterday was more like being a substitute teacher.

But overall, I was very invigorated by this first hands on experience, which I felt was a good sign. Although there has been some frustration on my part with some of the bureaucracy and paperwork and procedurals that are part of being a teacher, if you don't have an affinity or feel for the actual "teaching" part, there is little point in continuing down that road. Yesterday I began to really taste and feel that excitement and energy that should come from teaching, and I was quite encouraged by that fact.