One more day...

Get ready for a sentimental blog post...

I have one day left of student teaching and, although it's been stressful and hard, I don't want it to end. I definitely never thought that I would say that but it's true.

Student teaching has been the experience of a lifetime. I learned more these past twelve weeks than I ever imagined. No sum of education or English classes could ever have taught me the things I've learned about how to be teacher. I can see so much growth in myself in terms of my content knowledge and educational strategies.

There was a time in my life where I suffered (and I do mean suffered) from anxiety and panic attacks and the thought of sitting through a block class, let alone teaching one, seemed too great a challenge to even consider. The fact that I just taught for over 320 hours is sort of mind boggling to me right now. I can honestly say that I am so proud of myself.

Tomorrow will be a bittersweet day. I'll be thankful that I've made it and it's over and I can relax somewhat but I will truly miss going to school everyday. I have formed such connections with everyone that I've encountered over these past 12 weeks. First and foremost I have to thank Colleen and Drew (who will tease me endlessly about how sentimental I am). I cannot imagine going through this experience alone. Having those two to vent with, bounce ideas off of, eat lunch with, etc. made all the difference in the world. The three of us have, in my eyes, become so close because we've shared an experience that no one else will ever truly understand. They kept me sane on days when I wanted to cry and celebrated with me whenever I triumphed. We shared books, ideas, worksheets, laughs, frustrations and near-tears. I am so grateful for the two close friends that I now have in them. Also, Mary and Aubrey, the other two in our carpool. I definitely won't miss having to sit in the middle of the small backseat crowded with five student teachers but I'll miss our car chats and the fact that we heard Rihanna's "S&M" every single day on the ride to school. I'll even miss our "agreement." I'll especially miss our morning routine: Park, walk upstairs, bye Aubrey, walk more, bye Mary, drop off lunch, head to Gangi's room, put coats in closet, etc. Seems simple and stupid but I'll miss it. That brings me to Mr. Gangi. He sort of felt like our protector over at AHS. He had our backs and he had the answers to all of endless questions. He let us steal tests out of his recycling bin and even bought us a cake with our names on it to celebrate our student teaching being over. He is a wise man and someone who I hope to keep in touch with and continue to learn from. My cooperating teacher, Ms. Giggie, was beyond amazing. She helped me grow and develop as a teacher more than any other single person. Her guidance allowed me to succeed and blossom. Her criticisms were constructive and helpful and her praise was meaningful. My other cooperating teacher, Ms. Emory, was the kindest soul and provided much needed relief and personal encouragement whenever I needed it. The entire English department at AHS took us under their wing and guided and supported all of us. Mr. Pellerin, Mrs. Waylan, Mr. Shea, Ms. Parsons and Ms. Percival seemed to take a special interest in us and we all learned so much from them.

But of course, I'll miss my students more than anything. I am proud of the fact that I formed personal connections and relationships with literally all of them and I will truly miss seeing them everday. The thought of someone else teaching them for the rest of the year makes me sad. The hardest part of teaching for me will definitely be the end of the year when my students have to move on, yet it will also be my proudest. I know that they will succeed and I hope to keep in touch with them to keep track of their successes. I almost can't even write about them right now because I'm still dealing with the fact that tomorrow is my last day with them.

As for my plans after student teaching, I was accepted into a Teaching Fellowship Masters Program through Merrimack. I will be placed in a school (I'll find out what one on April 28) and teach for a year, earning my M.Ed. I plan to continue with my blog to keep everyone updated on how things are going.

Thank you everyone who has been keeping up! Sorry I lagged in the middle, I never expected to be so busy!

With love,
Katie

First Evaluation!

Today I got observed and evaluated by my college supervisor for the first time! I surprisingly wasn't as nervous as I thought I would be, partly because I had a busy morning (which included fixing a copy machine by myself! Which I will brag about forever).
The class went very well until the end when they complained by saying that I give too much homework. They tried to vote against my homework but I shot that idea down quickly!
Anyway, my supervisor really praised my lesson and thought I was off to a really great start. Hearing that was really nice and such a relief.
Third block was a bit crazy. My cooperating teacher fainted and had to go home which really shook the kids up; totally understandable. She will not be in tomorrow so I'm not sure what will go on for that class.
After school we all went to a teacher job fair right at Merrimack. It was good, I gave out a bunch of resumes to different school districts.
And my outfit...black pants, black camisole, silver shirt with black stripes, black flats and my hair half pulled back :)
I'm off to lesson plan!

Katie

First day in charge of Modern American Lit!

Today was my first day in full control of my lower level Modern American Lit class. Actually, Ms. G needed them for the first half hour so I had them for however much time was left. Not going to lie...it was sort of a disaster.

I had given the TA a short story to copy yesterday to give to the students today. She did them, I put them away, great. Well, today I passed out the story for the kids to read and do an activity with and one of my students came up to me and said "There is a page missing." I thought maybe it was just his packet but no...every single packet was missing a page (which just happened to contain the main pieces of the story). Wow, big fail. I don't know what happened to that stupid missing page...I had it in my original copy of the story and I don't know if I didn't give the TA all the pages or if she lost one in the shuffle...either way I should have checked the packet over and I didn't. Lesson learned. Luckily there were booklets for a different class in the room that had my short story in it so I passed those out to the kids and they were able to read the story from there. Apparently, though, I'm not very good at judging time because I gave them about 20 minutes to read the story and I guess they didn't finish. Ms. G said these students will typically need about 40 minutes to read that sort of thing, even if it seems like a short piece to me. I also finished with the activity early, probably because I didn't give them enough time to read, so they had 10 minutes at the end of class doing nothing. Needless to say I felt sort of like a failure after that class, although I know I was just being too hard on myself.
So hopefully tomorrow will go more smoothly. I am teaching 2nd and 3rd blocks because Ms. E will not be there. Busy day!

Always check things twice!
Katie

Holy Cow it's been so long!

Oh my gosh I have gotten SO behind on updating! Things have been going so well! I love student teaching and I love AHS! I have taught about 5 classes so far (some for the whole 82 minute block and others for part of the block). I love my students to death! I was really nervous about my lower level students but their class is the one that I have been teaching and they are so great! I have to keep them on task and tell them to take off their headphones every now and then but they really do try hard. They are so full of personality and they make me laugh everyday. They have been extremely respectful (so far, at least!) and I see so much potential in them. My honors kids (whose classes I've only been assisting with thus far) are also great but I really connect most to my lower level kids. I'll be picking up their class full time the week after February vacation (which I'm beyond excited about having!) and although I'm nervous, I'm excited and I feel ready.
I have sat in on several IEP meetings at school, too, which are really interesting. Tomorrow I get to work one on one with a student who I identify with on many levels. I'm so happy that I have a chance to work with her. I hope I can help her, but, more importantly, I can't wait to see what I learn from her.
Drew has taken over one class full time already and seems to be doing well. I find myself really proud of him for some reason. He, Colleen, and I have grown really close through this experience and I want the best for them, as I know they do for me. No one else can possibly know what this experience is like, other than them, and I'm so thankful that we all have each other.
Tomorrow I'm teaching some of first block then working with that student that I mentioned and then I'm not sure about third block yet. Then I'm going home to visit my Mom and puppies because I miss them so much! Friday marks the start of February vacation which will be a welcome break, even though I'll be lesson planning through most of it.
Thanks for reading! I promise I'll update more!
Katie

Days 8 and 9: Falling behind in my blog!

So I have fallen behind in my blog and don't have much time to write today! But I am teaching my Modern American Lit class tomorrow and will definitely post about how it goes!

Katie

Day Seven: 2 Hour Delay

Today we had a 2 hour delay because the walkways were still being cleaned up form yesterdays huge snow storm. It was so nice staying up a little later and getting up a little later, too. I woke up at about 8:25 and we left here around 9. Classes were only 45 minutes each, except third period because of lunches.

First period we went over symbols from Allegory of the Cave and then the students started to work on their modernization skits of the story.

Second period we went to the computer lab and the students did a webquest about Ernest Hemingway. It had all kinds of questions about him, his life, his work, etc., that they found online then took a quiz about.

Third period the students performed their modernization of the Allegory skits and then we started a documentary called "To Die in Jerusalem." To be honest, I'm not exactly sure where the teacher is going with the documentary in terms of what it will tie into but I guess we'll see.

At lunch I was informed that the student teachers all have to perform together in the faculty talent show in March...oh jeez!

Fourth period I brainstormed some activities to do with the kids next week on 2 Hemingway short stories with Ms. G then we made photocopies of the stories. The day flew by with the delay and short class.

My outfit today: Gray pants, silver flat shoes, a long sleeve white cotton shirt and a black shawl thingy over it :)

Now I'm relaxing and watching GH and will start solidifying my Hemingway lesson later!

Katie

Day Six: Snow Day!

YAY!!!