I just survived my first week of student teaching.

Man, that feels cool.

I meant to write after my first day, although it was just an inservice day. It was really interesting to see teachers in…well, their natural habitat. I walked into a district wide seminar and was hit with absolute sensory overload. To see all the teachers speaking their minds and creating an environment that I would soon learn was actually very smooth in its chaos. (Think about it. Its a school. There are children. Where there is children there will be chaos.) I am continuously impressed by this school in so many different ways whether it be their faculty atmosphere, efforts to improve or even just provide the best possible support.

Anyway, maybe I'll talk more about that later. Right now I kind of just want to go through some quotes and moments from this first week.

Male Student : You're just a kid, aren't you (In the most sincere way possible. I swear I saw it on this kid's face.)
Me: Yeah, life is more fun that way except sometimes I have to remember that I have bills, groceries and adult stuff like that. (Kid proceeds to stick out his tongue in sympathy) Yeah, I agree.
Sometimes I truly cannot get over how much it means to these kids to somehow show them that you know what it means to be where they're at.

Male Student: Wow! Being a teacher is hard! (After I had asked him to help another student learn how to do an activity. Best part? He was 100% successful. I was so proud.)
Me: But isn't it fun?
Male Student: Definitely!

Male Student: You have to be the ONLY teacher who plays Minecraft! (I'm sure that's not true, but I made a point to comment on knowing what his shirt was referencing. He proceeds to call other students over and tell them how "awesome" I am. I couldn't help, but to laugh.)

Female Student: Why are you at recess?
Me: I haven't been to recess since I was a kid. (Boy, did I feel old.)
Female Student 2: Well, that makes sense! Recess is so fun!
(I am now convinced I need to work into my schedule to have recess with the students at least sometimes. I actually felt refreshed after 10 minutes of sitting on the playground with the kids.)

I had my students chanting about in/out boxes. "You put these numbers IN, and get these numbers OUT."

I told students that if they were quiet they could have a ticket, which is used for a weekly drawing of choice from the "prize box". They had to be quiet the entire way down the hall from the bathroom to classroom and I promised that everyone would get a ticket. I had students walking down the hallway with their fingers pinching their mouths so not to let a noise escape their mouths, but still managing to smile at me as they pass by. Everyone was quiet. I delivered happily on my promise.

When a student ran down to get her birthday snack from the cafeteria I passed around one of the birthday cards that I keep in my school binder (aka my keep-it-all-together-saving-grace-binder) for everyone to sign. I put the year and grade in it. She smiled so wide when she opened it. Totally worth dollar store buy of 10 pack of birthday cards.


Student teaching has taught me many things. I will continue to write this, because I want a record of my experience to share what I believe one of the best times of my life.

To sum it up what this week has taught me:

Pay attention. You'll miss everything and more in the blink of an eye. That is always when the real good stuff happens. 

Tomorrow is my first day of student teaching...

…and I'm terrified…but also ecstatic.

I was never the best in school. Let me rephrase that. I was never the best at being a passive student, which as our educational system stands now that is the direction we push our students towards as they get older. Post-secondary ed never interested me as something that could bring me a sense of fulfillment. Sure, you do it. Everyone should do it. Get some sort of knowledge under yourself. Find your vocation in college; its okay if you don't find your passion.

Let me explain. (With pictures! Honestly, I'm a visual learner so it may help you.)

So as I said, in college you want to find your vocation. What do you get a strong feeling of suitability from in order to be able to live your life? What fits? What allows you to fulfill your passion in life too.

What do you have a passion for? Like the English, do you enjoy your gardens? (You know when the flower first bursts through the soil you planted it in…that is nice.) Do you enjoy drawing things that until then only existed in your imagination? (Boy, I wish I had that talent. I don't. ) Do you like watches movies that are so bad they're good and posting reviews to be seen by millions of youtube followers? (Can you even comprehend how long I'd take on my makeup?)

Yeah, you can have a passion for anything. The world is a sphere of imagination if you go looking into it. I promise. The problem with passions is they usually aren't very sustainable. You know, lifestyle wise. Sure, wait for the next garden contest and hope you get the million dollar prize. It could happen. I've seen some pretty big pumpkins. Submit thousands of artwork samples to people because that is your passion. More power to you. I can't stand rejection and waiting. I won't even touch the youtube one. I wish I had your guts in life.

But I digress. Passion is what you do because you purely love to do it. Remember, I said usually passions aren't sustainable. However, I like to teach.

I mean, I love to teach. I mentioned how I did not like school to simply explain to you that I want to stop learning and start doing.

I want to make class projects the school begs to come see by classrooms. To see my students standing with pride next to their created projects (I'm not naive. I know they made them with their families…even better) would light my world.

 I want to make bulletin boards that don't just sit on the wall. They live in the kids' minds. Kids spend more time awake in my classroom than at home. Let them forget that they are there to learn, but not what they learn.

I want a student to hear that they are my student the following year and their minds ring with joy thinking of the things that students before them have done. I am not there to be their best friend, but I am also not there to be their worst enemy.

I want my reward system to be a coveted award. You get it when you deserve it and it is awesome to deserve it. Students must learn that they will be told when they do something because it is the right thing to do and there will be reactions regardless of outcome.

I want to do readings with my students that make the story come alive like never before. They will hear their own worlds grow right before their eyes. Books are an escape, but they can also be a little vacation to see the sights.

I want to high five my students when they win a game and buy them flowers when they're "just a tree" in the school play. I will give them my special pen when pop pop is in the hospital allowing them to find comfort in the reading corner as they scribble a letter they may never send. Through victories and defeats my students will know that I am there for them…that someone is there for them. At least as long as they are in my classroom.

I want to see students get something that they never thought they would get. Not because I taught them to do it, but because another student felt the confidence to help them with the tools I gave them.

The world is only as small as we make it. Students do not know they will impact lives. Everyone has the possibility to do anything. If I really can do anything, let me make my students believe this with me.

I am not going to be talking about this kind of stuff in a theory setting in the following weeks. I'm ready for the action. Tomorrow I start with student teaching. I am absolutely terrified…but also ecstatic.