Sink or Swim

Since I started the semester, my professor, my coop, and my advisor have all been saying that with student teaching it is best to just throw yourself into the lake and see if you sink or swim. Well, today I threw myself in, but instead of realizing my doom in the murky depths or doing laps on the circumference, I just kind of floated lifeless until the current of some passing speed boat propelled me to shore.

It was very anti-climactic. I did learn several very important lessons today however, but before I get into those, I should probably explain that today was the first day I actually taught a lesson. I was supposed to lecture for 80 minutes on the great thinkers of the late 19th and early 20th century (Darwin, Einstein, and Freud) and on the new inventions and medical advances of the industrial revolution.

Lesson 1: I do not like lecture, it is not my style.

After what seemed like hours of blubbering on about who knows what, trailing off at the end of thoughts, loosing my place in the notes, and reiterating the same take away messages in slightly reworded form, I finally breathed a sigh of relief. I had finished my first lesson. However, the weight of this experience was only lifted from my shoulders long enough for the rope to snap and send it all crashing back down on me. I looked at the clock and realized that all that talking had somehow only managed to eat up 60 min of the block.

Lesson 2: Always have extra activities planned if you run out of time.

I turned the class over to Mr. K and tried to maintain my composure as I slunk back to waiting arms of my always nurturing supervisor. She must have been able to tell that I was about to go Simon Cowell on myself because she immediately whisked me out of the room.

Lesson 3: In order to teach you must first be willing to learn.

My supervisor smiled at me wisely and informed me that I had done a brilliant job. Of course, I was not inclined to believe her at first, but eventually she was able to convince me that teaching a class of 23 juniors in high school is not something you get right on your first try. I took that to heart. As it turns out, student teaching is going to require me to be much more of a student than a teacher.

Today was an eye-opening experience for me, but it did not leave me feeling defeated. I am glad that this is not going to be easy. Student-teaching will be an excellent challenge, and I plan to meet it with all the zeal, creativity, and perseverance that it deserves.