No, really, I feel like I blinked and it's the end of the semester. Where has the time gone? There are two official weeks left. As I sit here, working on my Senior Seminar paper, I am pondering this very thought. In five months all the years of hard work will have paid off and I will be a certified high school English teacher. Whoosh...mind blown.
Now, back to the semester that seems to have blown by with my mind. It feels like just yesterday I was complaining about being torn away from the professor I prayed all summer long I would be with. I must say, although I miss my practicum pals, the switch turned out just fine. My new professor has been just as good and truly loves on her students. When we have a need, she is there to provide a lesson for it. "We don't know grammar," we say, "Then I will teach you," she says. That's right, I can now with certainty identify the object of a preposition and the proper use of "who" and "whom." Really, I just taught my friend at work today. Very exciting moment for me.
I feel like this whole semester has taught me to adapt to change. I should probably preface this by saying, I DO NOT LIKE CHANGE. I seriously hate it. My best friend actually commented on how much change I have had to endure this semester and how maybe I am being taught to accept it, since I have never been one to do well with it. First, there was the change in professor, followed by getting partnered up with someone I didn't know - to co-teach, which I had never done, and then the changes I had to adapt to within the classroom...as I was teaching, and finally the big one, I did not get any of the schools I requested for student teaching. I will say, it really hasn't been that bad. I have learned that change can be a good thing and as a teacher I need to be able to accept it. As I already mentioned, the change in professor turned out just fine. The partner I didn't know turned out to be really cool and we taught well together. I transitioned really well with the unexpected changes in the classroom and got praised by my reviewers for how I handled it.
Student teaching threw me for a spin. I must say ever since last semester I have had my heart set on Central Falls. I had such a great experience there. I also enjoyed my time at North Providence. What I have realized through this is that I am happy in places I am comfortable. I do not like the unknown, but so far this semester change has been a good thing. I spoke with my cooperating teacher last night and she sounds wonderful. I am slightly intimidated by some of the class sizes, more so because I am so bad with names, but it will be okay...even if we have to name tent for a month. I am more excited about the material I get to teach. I love dystopian fiction and I love non-western lit. Well, I get the best of both worlds! I get to teach Things Fall Apart and 1984. I am beyond excited to whip out one of my dystopian lessons I taught at Central Falls last semester and also to use a lesson I learned about at the NEATE conference.
Things are looking up and I am now a well-adjusted accepter of change. Well friends, I must return to the Seminar paper. This was a good diversion to gather my thoughts. Ah, yes, writing is so therapeutic. Each day my class will begin with a writing prompt. I will create lovers of writing.
I am a teacher.
