Almost At the End
Today was my final evaluation for student teaching. I still have to be there until the end of the month, but will be observing more than teaching. This means I have more time again to do things like exercise, or read what I want to read, or get a few hours of work in to start a decent paycheck coming. This is a very good thing. My evaluation went well. I scored as high as possible in most areas, and found that other people think I have a better grasp for teaching than I think I do. Whatever the case, I have definitely learned more about what works, what doesn't, and more about myself through all this. I have learned that teaching is a hard thing to do well, but there are also things about it that you just don't find in other jobs. One of the hardest, and most rewarding things about it is interacting with so many people on a daily basis. Just being available to students can be draining, but at the same time is what makes it worth it. I have also learned that you have to know your students as well as possible before you try to figure out what will work with them as far as motivation, discipline, etc. It keeps the job interesting. I can see getting tired of teaching the same material over and over again, except that each student and even whole classes respond to it a little differently. Will I teach after my time at the shop is up? I think I will. Whether or not I will continue to want to teach high school long term is still up in the air. I can see myself becoming a college professor, because I think it may actually suit my style of teaching a bit better, but student teaching has, in most ways, validated my desire to teach. I definitely don't believe I've made a mistake. I do, however, almost consider it a necessity now to teach somewhere where it is possible to ride my bicycle to work. I have discovered that, at least until you have some experience under your belt, there is little time to fit exercise into your teaching day. In a job where being calm and managing stress is a daily concern, I have missed my exercise intensively. Riding is my way of dealing with stress, and I can't wait to get back to riding to work every day. One advantage to staying at the shop for the next little while is it gives me time to get resumes sent out to other states and actually figure out what options are viable to me as far as teaching, and I can ride and ride and ride. I should go now. I do still have some papers to grade.
Today was my final evaluation for student teaching. I still have to be there until the end of the month, but will be observing more than teaching. This means I have more time again to do things like exercise, or read what I want to read, or get a few hours of work in to start a decent paycheck coming. This is a very good thing. My evaluation went well. I scored as high as possible in most areas, and found that other people think I have a better grasp for teaching than I think I do. Whatever the case, I have definitely learned more about what works, what doesn't, and more about myself through all this. I have learned that teaching is a hard thing to do well, but there are also things about it that you just don't find in other jobs. One of the hardest, and most rewarding things about it is interacting with so many people on a daily basis. Just being available to students can be draining, but at the same time is what makes it worth it. I have also learned that you have to know your students as well as possible before you try to figure out what will work with them as far as motivation, discipline, etc. It keeps the job interesting. I can see getting tired of teaching the same material over and over again, except that each student and even whole classes respond to it a little differently. Will I teach after my time at the shop is up? I think I will. Whether or not I will continue to want to teach high school long term is still up in the air. I can see myself becoming a college professor, because I think it may actually suit my style of teaching a bit better, but student teaching has, in most ways, validated my desire to teach. I definitely don't believe I've made a mistake. I do, however, almost consider it a necessity now to teach somewhere where it is possible to ride my bicycle to work. I have discovered that, at least until you have some experience under your belt, there is little time to fit exercise into your teaching day. In a job where being calm and managing stress is a daily concern, I have missed my exercise intensively. Riding is my way of dealing with stress, and I can't wait to get back to riding to work every day. One advantage to staying at the shop for the next little while is it gives me time to get resumes sent out to other states and actually figure out what options are viable to me as far as teaching, and I can ride and ride and ride. I should go now. I do still have some papers to grade.
