I am officially at the halfway point in my certification program!
Happy Dance!
Week 12 was b-r-u-t-a-l.
After I sent my collaborative lesson plan to my mentor, I waited…
And waited…
And waited.
He sent me one email that said, “Wow! Overachieve much?”
I chuckled because, as you know, I am a bit anal about my work.
On Thursday morning, he sent me a message that my lesson plan was fine as it was.
Now, this might seem like a good thing, and it was, mind you. However, the requirements of my assignment were such that collaborative effort had to be shown via red font on my lesson plan. So, I sent him a message asking him to “find” something for me to “fix.”
A little after lunch, I received a message that he would like me to incorporate more reading of the text in with the lesson plan. He also suggested that the people I had used in my motivation be changed to people the ninth graders would know.
Oh, I guess I should explain what I’m talking about.
See, the lesson plan was about Romeo and Juliet’s respective tragic flaws.
I decided to get things going by showing students pictures of famous people/characters…
I originally had Anakin Skywalker, Jack Bauer, and Martha Stewart, but I axed Jack and Martha at my mentor’s suggestion and added Charlie and Lindsay.
Armed with the feedback that my mentor provided, I got to work Thursday afternoon.
The job was tough. I had to get the lesson plan fixed and email it to my college instructors. There were so many parts to fill in…
I worked for about five hours before discovering, upon my attempt to print the revised lesson plan, that my printer was out of color ink.
Ugh.
I ran to Office Max and had my documents printed. I was fortunate because I got there just as the copy center was getting ready to close up shop.
Then, I went back home and spent another four hours typing a script for myself. I color-coded it so I would know what questions to ask (a certain number were required), when to write stuff on the board or pass out papers, and when to read text…
Yeah. I’m anal like that.
I already told you this.
Finally, I headed to bed satisfied that I had done all that I could do.
I was calm. I think that was because Super Sis had called me shortly after I got home from Office Max just to check on me. She knew that I was going to be observed by my college professor the next day, and she figured I would be nervous.
I was.
We talked about it, and before we got off the phone, she prayed for me…out loud.
I don’t know if you’ve had people pray for you out loud in front of you, but it really is a humbling and emotional experience.
I was mostly touched because she had remembered.
I am so fortunate to have a Christ-following sister. We have been through some tough times together. God has used these times as a cord that binds us together.
On Friday, I woke up easily, despite the lack of sleep I’d had.
Surprisingly, I was only mildly nervous…nothing outrageous.
I put on a very nice outfit and headed out the door.
It was especially important to me that I make a good impression on my college professor. She is the epitome of professional.
I tend to feel very intimidated by people who have their act together like this.
I taught my first ninth grade class, and things went fairly well. It wasn’t a perfect run, and I asked my mentor for tips after class. He made a couple of suggestions, which I quickly made notes about in my script.
Then, I saw my professor walk in.
She took a seat beside my mentor in the back of the room.
Now, it’s at this point where you would think I would have been almost faint with nerves.
God was so good.
I pretty much blocked her out of my mind and began class.
It was so much easier after I heard one student say, “Mrs. AuburnChick, I wanted to go to the school’s store, but I didn’t want to miss your class since you were teaching today.”
I’d only been in this classroom two times, and she was already telling me this.
I felt so good.
And I began class.
I really think it went well. I saw my teacher laugh when I held up Charlie Sheen’s picture. (That’s always a good sign.)
I covered the board with notes for the students…
I completely submerged myself in the lesson and those kids, and it was amazing!!
Did it go perfectly?
No.
Were there things I could have done differently?
You bet.
However, for a person under the intense pressure of working full-time and attending school full-time, it wasn’t bad at all. In fact, it’s a lesson that I would have been thrilled to have taught to my own students.
After class was over, I got feedback from my mentor, and before I left, he gave me a hug.
It had been a very good experience.
Though my mentor is a completely different kind of teacher from me…he’s much more relaxed…I learned a lot.
I left the school with a huge smile on my face and a load off of my shoulders.
I also left with a grateful heart.
God had been in every moment.
Believe it or not, my week was NOT OVER!
On Saturday, I had to attend class all day.
I’ve gotta tell you that second Saturday classes are so much better than first Saturday classes.
By that, I mean that every term, we have to attend two Saturday sessions for each class.
The first Saturday finds me and my classmates with deer-in-the-headlights looks on our faces.
I typically go home those days and nap.
I. Cannot. Handle. Life.
Second Saturday classes usually mean that we’re over the hump of the first four grueling weeks of class.
I told one of my instructors that I like second Saturday classes because I can see light at the end of the tunnel. She laughed.
This program is incredibly demanding. In fact, some of the courses are transferable to a four-year college two hours away for a Master’s program.
Yeah.
So, I didn’t really mind attending class on Saturday. I actually wanted to ask a couple of my professors questions.
My technology teacher is amazing. She’s in charge of instructional technology in the public school system in town, and she really knows her stuff.
Did you know that if you open up iTunes and go to the iTunes store, there’s an iTunes U button at the top that you can click on. From there, you can click on various colleges and listen to or watch lectures of different classes. You can take virtual tours of museums. There is a wealth of information there, and it’s all free!! That was my favorite tip from the day.
I saw the professor who had observed my teaching the day before, and she smiled when she told me that I had done a good job with my lesson plan. Her words touched me.
And so Week 12 ended. I have one rather large assignment left to do in one class and smaller assignments in my other classes.
Because I’ve busted my butt the last four weeks, I am ahead of schedule; however, I am going to continue working hard so I can hopefully finish my classes early and take a breather before Round Three begins.
Week 12…you’re outta here! Let’s see what Week 13 brings!
Filed under: Teaching | Tagged: certification classes, EPI classes, teaching | 1 Comment »
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