Whew! I know those of you who are finishing up this last year in college are feeling the heat right now! I sure am. I am so close to the finish line and I see things starting to piece together. I can actually picture myself in front of my own classroom.
I seriously thought that with all this planning that my life would be too overwhelmed, let me tell you I work ALL the time! I actually found that I enjoy doing my work because I know it is getting me somewhere and I also have fun making the lessons. I have motivation. I thought to myself... I am accomplishing my goal. This is something that is hard to feel when your dream seems so far away (Something to think about because students often feel this). My dream is right in my reach... speaking of which I will be getting formally observed for my unit lesson next week.
Something many new teachers seem to fear is the thought of being observed. I am totally awkward so I am used to people watching me all the time... but, I am still kind of nervous. I think this will be a great experience before we jump into student teaching and I am hoping the kids won't think I am too much. I want them to have fun with this "analysis lesson" that I am teaching, so I have to make sure I am having fun teaching it. I did incorporate a personal poem that they are going to write so they can analyze how their writing may impact someone. I don't know if they will enjoy this as much as I will, but it will be good.
Overall, I feel really great about going into this lesson, I am much more confident than I expected to be. This will be the first time that I will have a whole unit to teach. WOOHOO!!!! I will keep you updated...
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ReplyDeleteWhitney,
ReplyDeleteI can understand your anxiety. I love to analyze things, I'm all about the details. But, getting others to think deeply and see what I see is sometimes difficult. I think it's exciting to be observed! You've obviously spent so much time planning each moment and you want everything to be perfect. Stand with confidence, soak up each moment and remember how it went. What do you want to keep? What do you want to change? What unexpected knowledge was gained that you could plan to have happen next time? For me, those are the great moments, the unexpected ones. That's when I get to learn from them. It's amazing how we plan but in the end we learn just as much as they do. Love it!
You mentioned you hope the kids don't think you're too much. What do you mean? I think if you show interest and passion about something whatever it is, that will shine through!
Hope your observation went well!