Last Official Day of Student Teaching

Today was my last day teaching.  It hasn't set in yet that I'm actually leaving even though it's only a week away.  I didn't feel sad or sentimental about it.  I'm sure that I will next week.  

It's been such a great experience.  I will honestly be sad to leave.  I feel very fortunate to be placed where I was.  Before student teaching I wasn't entirely sure where I was going to fit in the teaching world.  Many of the other students in my cohort have always known they wanted to be a teacher or had that one great teacher somewhere along the way that inspired them.  I just knew that I didn't want to go to a job everyday that makes me miserable.  I hated being an apparel merchandising major and my grades were suffering because I had no interest in it. 

Teaching is fun.  I was so relieved about the laid back atmosphere that was already in place in my classroom.  I was worried about having to be super straight laced and buttoned up. I don’t think I would have survived.  It was the opposite though.  I got to be myself and wasn’t afraid to make mistakes.  I certainly did make mistakes but I learned from them and moved on.  I really have my cooperating teacher and supervisor to thank for my growth as a teacher in the last 11 weeks.  It was so nice to have a supportive system behind me that was helpful and encouraging.  My field experiences did not go nearly as smoothly and left me feeling doubtful about my abilities.  All the encouragement and wonderful feedback I have gotten has been so helpful.

I feel lucky to have meet all of my students in all of my classes.  All the students are such characters and I have been thoroughly entertained and challenged.  There really wasn’t a day that I didn’t laugh or crack up at something and there were a few comments, whether I was supposed to hear them or not, that have made my semester.  A lot of the students were so funny to me and I’ll never forget the first day of class when we did the survey.  Some of the answers from students were so great, off beat, and funny.  I knew nearly all of their names after that first day.  That day standing in front of all those kids I could barely choke out any words my voice was shaking so bad.  I kept moving my feet and hands to attempt to disguise my visibly shaking hands.  I can’t even imagine what my students were thinking when the first thing I admitted to was my crazy cat lady ways and how I’m obsessed with my cat who lovingly is named Grandma!

I have one last week to get everything in order before I leave.  I have done pretty well at staying organized.  I only have a few things left on my many lists that still need to be crossed out.  I’m so grateful to my parents.  They have been really wonderful and supportive about going overseas.  I don’t feel nervous about it yet but I’m sure my mother has twisted herself in knots over everything.  I’m so lucky to have such great parents and simply cannot thank them enough.  I’ll miss them when I’m gone.  I hope Grandma survives dad’s teasing while I’m away for 3 months!  J

Until Next time

-Madeline