First Week Over

So I survived my first week of placement!!

After my first two days of teaching block I called my mom and told her that I'm not sure if the teaching profession is right for me. After each day of teaching I came home and napped for a minimum of 2 hours before going to bed. I couldn't control my class's behaviour. I was hungry, tired, frustrated, and wanted time for me again. Not the greatest start.

Come Friday, I decided that YES, the teaching profession is exactly where I should be. From the help of my associates I learned how to control my classroom all by myself. What an amazing feeling. I hope I can keep this up (especially with our evaluations quickly approaching and all). I am enjoying every minute I spend with my students. They are so random, I feel like I should write a book about them. They definitely keep me entertained. However if I hear one more comment about when I'm going to get married, I may ask if I can start giving detentions.

Sometimes I feel like I'm learning more from my students than they are learning from me. Students at the junior level crave structure, they like being told what to do. Whenever I disciplined my class I felt like I was being mean, but that's not the case at all. My students still respect me and listen. That's a very comforting feeling.

I think above all, students want to be heard and be noticed and be loved and cared for. I ask students to help me with many things,and I make a big deal about it because to them, it is. One student taught me to knit again during last recess because I forgot the rules. Another student wrote words on contruction paper fruit for me for an assembly in his NEATEST AND LARGREST hand writing. It's amazing how willing these students are to help.

I'm really enjoying the time I'm spending with my 4/5's. I hope that the rest of my teaching block is as enjoyable as Thursday and Friday was. Fingers crossed.