One down, Nine to go....

I survived my first week of student teaching.... yes, let's all take a collective deep breath. I kind of can't believe that I'm finally here. I feel like I've been at this for such a long time. In a few short months I'll graduate. They're actually going to give me a license to teach.

It was a pretty good week. I started out just doing a lot of grading but I ended up doing quite a bit of teaching. I subbed for my host teacher all day Thursday and part of Friday. I was surprisingly not nervous. Not surprisingly, a few of my students tried to push the limits to see if I would cave or not. I didn't. Classroom management has been something that I've been worried about. I worry that I won't be able to get them to pay attention to me and participate. This week went a long way to soothe my nerves. There were a few moments of minor panicked thoughts of "Oh crap, what do I do now?!" but we all got through it in one piece.

There will still be the students that try to sweet talk their way around the rules, those that will sleep through class, the back talkers and jokesters. I know this. Yet, I am now fairly confident that I will be able to handle this.

It was a long, exhausting week. I've been battling a cold all week on top of grading, planning and trying to get some semblance of a routine going. Some nights I came home, said hello to the roommie and crashed. Yet, despite the sheer exhaustion I drive home every day thinking - "that was fun". Okay, maybe it hasn't been 'fun' every day but I am thoroughly enjoying myself.

Highlights

• Student wrote "this sub is awesome" on the whiteboard on Thursday for my host teacher to see the next day. They haven't quite figured out the difference between a substitute and student-teacher.
• Students finally understanding grammar compliments and compliment vs. complement. They have been working on this for quite a while and weren't getting it until Thursday.
• 2B discussion on Satire and Mark Twain...they were completely engaged and I hardly had to say a word.

Low lights

• Losing my voice after teaching all day Thursday and coughing frequently while trying to teach.
• Not sleeping due to said cough.
• Student attempting to stare my down...he lost because I walked away without engaging.

Student quote of the week... "Your shoes are cute. My mom has those same shoes."