Thursday, August 26, 2010

Pre-Teaching Week

Growing up, I've always wanted to be a teacher. I've always been drawn to teaching for some reason so, naturally, when I went to college I pursued a degree in Education.

Up until last week, I've always thought that teachers had it easy. They work 9 months of the year and get the rest off. I mean, sure, there's grading and stuff, but the majority of it was working on bulletins, writing on a chalkboard/whiteboard, and teaching. I thought that teachers were pretty smart and just knew what to teach. No planning required. I'm not sure where I got this crazy idea from, but it was there.

This past week has been a wealth of information. I have been going through three different sets of curriculum for three different classes. I've been lesson planning and trying to figure out what the right amount of homework is and what are reasonable expectations for each grade level. To be frank, it's been a lot of work.

I've been doing well with the planning process mainly because Phil's mom is a retired teacher and volunteers at the school that I am teaching at. I have been working hard this week to have everything ready to go and it is finally all together. The Parent Orientation is tomorrow and they get to come meet me and see the curriculum we are using for the year. I am both excited and nervous to meet everyone, but know it will be fine.

The students start school on Monday and it will be interesting to see how I do in the classroom. I have a great support group that assures me that it will be tough the first quarter, but after that I'll have a better feel for what does and doesn't work for me and my students.

I am definitely looking forward to the challenge. I am teaching Middle School and High School English at a small, private school and am blessed to have a small class size. It will be a great learning experience and I can't wait to have it all figured out, in time. This is what I've wanted for so long and I'm going give it 100%.

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