Monday, December 05, 2005

November 18 - December 2

Well, the NCSS Conference was interesting I learned a great deal about teaching as well as professional events. I was able to meet many history teachers from around the United States. I learned new techniques in teaching the social studies.
This coming week is my last; this has been such a memorable experience. I have learned so much that it is hard to put it into words. There are so many things that people tell you about teaching but you cannot truly understand until you actually take it on and do it yourself. I not only learned about teaching this semester, I learned about myself. I learned that I am capable of being a teacher, actually being in the classroom proved that. I learned that classroom discipline has to be tailored to your preferences, that what works for one person does not always work for another. I learned that sometimes a simple hello could win over a student over to your side. How a little extra attention to something a student likes can make their day. I learned that students will complain about almost everything that you ask them to do. They will try to get away with almost everything, and test you every minute of the day. Some days I will go home completely exhausted, others go home smiling and happy about the day’s achievement. I was scared going into this experience that I would not be made out for this but now I feel as though I can do this. When students’ eyes light up, when you give them, a complement for doing well makes the days that go bad seam far away. One more week left, I am going to miss so many of these kids.

1 comment:

Kelly in Kansas said...

It sounds like you learned what you were supposed to learn during student teaching - most of which can only be "learned by doing."