Student Teaching

Well, student teaching is under way. Completely, thoroughly, exhaustingly so. I have five classes filled with twelve to thirteen year olds, and I love it. Many people react with appalled horror when I say that I'm teaching at a middle school, but I love it. The students at that age are not as cynical about life or school as high school students are. In high school, it can be "teach me. I dare you." if you don't have the right chemistry. In middle school, I am more the grown up, and the students are still young enough to enjoy school (most of them). I have been doing pretty well I think, and an added bonus is that my mentor teacher and I get along really well. We have very similar temperaments and senses of humor, so life is entertaining. I've taken over all the French classes, and will take over the English classes next week. I'm still trying to learn everyone's name; I keep telling my kids that I need to go to special ed for name remembering. It's quite awful. I am really enjoying my time, and I'm grateful that I was not as nervous as I had anticipated. The classroom management part has been easier than I was thinking it would be, and I fully acknowledge that this is because of my time working at the group home. Working with those kids helped me a lot with my "authority voice" and it's made life as a teacher much easier.
In spite of my enjoyment of my student teaching, I am tired all the time. I am still working at the BYU Telefund, so I go to school in the morning, have an hour after school to get a jump on lesson planning, and then I go to work for four hours. By Friday I'm wiped. For example, today I could really use a shot of adrenaline. My mentor teacher is in Seattle for her son's wedding, and so it was just me, Ms. Dean, with the kids all day and no prep period. This means no break from children or teaching. Even lunch was not responsibility free, as I had to get ready for the next period. Even though I'm tired all the time, I'm so excited it's kind of ridiculous, and everyday I go to work and just tell everyone what my kids did that day. This may be my last post for a while, as I will have no life for the next three months.