Student Teaching

As promised back in February, I'm now writing about my student teaching which started last August!

I was so very excited when my student teaching experience was finally so close to beginning, because I had waited through all of college to get to it. I am always looking forward to the next step that will get me "somewhere"...(and I'm getting better at enjoying each moment!) But to have it actually tangible gave me a wonderful, but also anxious, feeling. I ran into some struggles when trying to get my student teaching placement in the spring, because my old school was hiring an intermediate school Spanish teacher for the fall, so I tried to let the school administrators and my student teaching coordinator know where I stood in relation to graduation and being qualified for the job. Following the suggestions of some of the teachers in the district, I took my resume in to the superintendent and introduced myself. My student teaching coordinator said that he was also going to bat for me. So I waited hopefully. And was disappointed when nothing came of it, but I didn't let it get me down too much. Then, when a host teacher was located for me in a neighboring school district, I was hopeful. That only lasted until I met with her and learned that she wasn't sure she wanted me. A veteran teacher of 23 years, she had never had a student teacher. That wasn't a very welcoming feeling, and my options for a Spanish language placement in the area were limited by various factors, included not being wanted, teachers not being qualified, or teachers not having tenure. In the end, it worked out that the teacher decided to take me on. It felt good to have a placement. I met with her a couple of times over the summer and the school year quickly started with a week of professional development for teachers. I enjoyed the school, the staff, and the environment. All was going well.

Then I hit another emotional bump in the road... I found out that the new Spanish teacher they hired at my old junior high (turned intermediate school) would be going on maternity leave in October, and they wanted me to take over for her as a long-term sub when she went. I was so excited by that prospect! I would have the traditional student teaching experience for about half the semester, and then get to be on my own as a long-term sub for the second half! The principal of the school approached me about it and was excited that it would hopefully work out. My coordinator and I talked and he promised to start making plans for me. That was my plan, and I was very pleased with it. Well, God had other plans.

As I was getting ready to start a lesson which I was being observed on one morning, my coordinator walked in and informed me that I would not be able to be a long-term sub partway through. He said that with my university, there were problems and it wouldn't happen. He was apologetic, but I was crushed. It took all that I had in me to teach the lesson without letting that news bother me, then to sit down and talk with my administrator about it afterwards. I made it through the day, but on the way home, I lost it. For the rest of the afternoon and night, I was a wreck. I thought that everything was finally going to work out wonderfully, give me a great experience in a school where I was wanted, and the plans would seamlessly fall into place. But that day the plans changed and I had to get used to a new idea of how the semester would pan out. Within a week, I was over the bulk of the disappointment, but still it felt like I had been on such an emotional rollercoaster for the last several months that it was hard to adjust to all of the highs and lows. Eventually, I came to accept it.

The rest of my student teaching went well and I loved being with the kids everyday and teaching them! I learned so much about teaching, lesson planning, grading, and communicating with parents, administrators, students, and co-workers. I was busy day and night with all of the above, but my experience took care of any doubts that I had about wanting to teach. Even with a teacher who hadn't wanted me and who I didn't connect with as much as I had hoped, I was very much liked by the teacher, students, and administrators, and that left me with a good sense of self-confidence in what I was doing. By the end of my student teaching experience, I was tired, but happy. It was sad to leave, but my time there was done.

Graduation came quickly, and it felt good to REALLY be done! Despite all of the ups and downs that I went through, I'm grateful for the road that I traveled.