I have arrived!

Today is the day where all my hard work has come to fruition. Over the last two years I have taken 37 credit hours which included 95 hours in many different classrooms learning classroom management and teaching methods, prepared 18 lesson plans, several of which were actually taught, and I have taken 12 midterms and finals. I am pleased to say that after all that work it came together when I walked into the classroom today to begin the next phase of my journey; student teaching.

For the next nine weeks I will be learning the art of teaching under the supervision of a cooperating teacher. Like most of my experience with school this too has had its share of bumps along the way. Initially I was going to do my student teaching last March but was unable to meet that commitment and had to reschedule. I knew there would be no problem completing the requirement to student teach in August so I spent the summer enjoying my time off with my kids eagerly waiting for the name of the teacher and the grade I would be assigned to. Time passed and no word on who I would be working with. We had our orientation meeting at the college to prepare us for the experience and they still had no idea who my cooperating teacher would be. Soon it was the week before school and still no assignment. I sent an e-mail and did not get a reply. The Thursday before school was to begin I sent another e-mail and on Friday I received word that I had a teacher. Interestingly it was the same day that my cooperating teacher found out about me as well. They asked Friday morning and she said yes. Neither she nor I had any idea who the college supervisor would be. My cooperating teacher and I met Saturday so at least on the first day of school were could focus on the students and not worry about having never met each other. When I returned from my meeting with her I learned that the college supervisor had finally called to introduce herself to me and everything was set. If that wasn’t cutting it close I don’t know what is.

The first day was a good day. We met the children on the playground where they line up and led them to class. It was so wonderful seeing all the bright eager faces. They all looked so cute in their new clothes. I think we have a good bunch. We spent the morning learning each others names, the procedures and took a tour of the school. Fortunately for me the new school is almost identical to my last school in design so I should be able to get around pretty easily. The teacher read to them just before lunch time. The afternoon was spent with math manipulatives, more reading, a little show and tell, and finally writing in their journals. It is a full busy day and towards the end if the day there was more than one child asking when they could go home because they were tired.

The entire student teaching experience will last 9 weeks. The first three weeks I will be observing with limited responsibility. The next three weeks I will assume more responsibility by teaching lessons, preparing lessons, grading papers and taking care of the many routine tasks such as attendance. The final three weeks I will assume even more responsibility until I am doing everything. At the end of each three week period I will be observed and evaluated by both my cooperating teacher and my college supervisor by teaching a lesson to both of them. These evaluations will determine whether or not I pass the class and will be allowed to be certified.

From the moment I began this journey to becoming a teacher I knew I would eventually end up student teaching. To be honest there have been moments when I truly doubted my ability to do so. The fear that I was nuts to think I could do this at times was very great but there have been other times when I have felt that yes I can do this, I can teach, and I can make a difference in the lives of the students I will have the privilege of teaching.
Today I can say that in nine weeks I will be a teacher and I will have the certificate to prove it.