A Whirlwind of a Week

If I were to create a break down of teaching it would be the following:

65% Adrenaline
30% Patience
5% Sugar

Week one, although filled with much observing, made me realize that teaching is no easy feat. Granted I had been clued into this revelation many moons ago, I am still amazed by how much teachers accomplish in one day. Throughout the past four days most of what I did was sit back and observe. Originally I figured this week would be relatively simple, after all how much effort does it take to plant your bum in a chair while watching and listening to someone else teach? As a college student I do it every day for class! Little did I know what was in store. I graded multiple assignments for both T1 and T2 as well as did a couple read alouds for the students. To you, my dear readers, this may seem like no big deal, but let me continue. Take the small, simple jobs my teachers give me, mix it with constant information about how the class and the school works, pour on the need the know not only my students names but the names of teachers outside of my classroom, add a side of sleep deprevation, topped off with the constant knowledge that the need to complete a Unit Plan is near by and you'll have the current state of my brain (or what's left of it).

Thankfully both of my teachers have done all they can to assist me. A day (out of all four them) hasn't gone by that they haven't encouraged me to ask questions. Gradually they've started letting me teach chunks of lessons, it has really helped me become more comfortable in front of the classroom. On Wednesday both of my teachers invited me to spend time with them outside of school. T2 and I had coffee and a local coffee shop/bookstore and T1 invited me over to her house to have dinner with her and her family. It was nice to get to know them on a more personal level outside of the classroom. Overall I couldn't ask for a better pair of mentors.

My next order of business? Slip into some sweats ;).

Lessons Learned from this Week:
-Sleep is crucial.
-Comfortable shoes are a must!
-Not all lessons will require a lesson plan (i.e. Handwriting).
-When teaching a lesson it's okay to make mistakes, students are willing to help!
-For teachers, sometimes lunch is optional.

Goals for Next Week:
-Get a start on my Africa Unit
-Teach lessons on Spelling and Handwriting.