Having attained my first teaching contract (which spans 6 months), there are a few things that I’ve already learned in the thick of it all. While I recognize that I have much more learning to do, I thought I’d track down some of my early impressions of “real” teaching coming out of university.
1.) It’s much more stressful than internship. I thought that my three-week block was stressful only teaching four classes. Now, I must teach five classes for the entire semester. I understand that the circumstances for my contract were quite last-minute (I was hired on the first day of classes and started the following Monday) but the stress was, and still is, quite overwhelming. I’m scared of making mistakes, but mistakes are a part of learning too right??
2.) If it takes a community to raise a child, it takes a working community to raise a new teacher. I am already humbled and profoundly grateful for the help and aid that the staff at my school has offered. It has made my situation a little easier knowing that I can ask anyone for help and they are eager to give it. On the flip side, I’ve been trying my best to offer what assets I have to my co-workers. Every day I teach, I’m especially thankful that I took ECMP 355 because I’m able to provide resources or technological tidbits for other teachers.
3.) You must be your own teacher. I believe that internship, while immersive, is still quite influenced by cooperating teachers. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not criticizing the internship process and it’s important to be guided by an experienced teacher. I’m just saying that when you’re thrown into independent teaching, there’s no one in the classroom to turn to for immediate help. You must find what works for you. That’s not to say, however, that you cannot ask other teachers about “What would you do?” scenarios. I’ve already done that a couple times since I’m still not sure of the gray line that exists between keeping students in the classroom and when they should be sent down to the office.
4.) Find a way to shut the teacher “off”. Already, I’ve found that even when I’m beyond physically exhausted, my mind will keep revolving around the duties I have at school, students and future lesson plans, keeping me awake. Even if it’s only for an hour or two, I indulge myself in some activities unrelated to teaching.
5.) Stay connected. I know that I’m not doing as much of this as I’d like to, but I’m trying to take a peek at TED talks, twitter, and other educational tech sources when I get the chance or when I need a brain break from planning. It’s a good way for stimulating ideas for lessons and being in the know for teaching trends. Did you know that there’s a TED talk for Astolabes? I didn’t until I looked. It worked nicely into a history 10 lesson I had to teach!
Until next time,
Cheers!
Stephanie Possberg 