2019: Chapter 2 - My Student Saga
September.
Fall, to me, is the best time of year.
When the leaves die, yet they change.
When people intentionally dress up and let themselves free, despite wearing masks.
When the cold becomes to come, and the sharpness makes one alert.
Autumn.
September.
I began my student-teaching on September 5th. I was placed at Santiago High in Corona. I had never heard of the school before in my life.
I dressed up all nice, actually did my hair, and drove there in the early morning. I got to see the sunrise over the school. It felt telling of my time there.
I met my master teacher, a powerhouse of a woman. She immediately hugged me and told me how excited she was to have me. It eased my nerves.
I watched the students pour in. I just watched and smiled, absolutely terrified on the inside.
I did not yet understand the school's schedule, so I did not know I was only meeting a portion of the students I would be teaching ten weeks later, in November.
I introduced myself to the first, third, and fifth periods that day.
I was nervous, yet incredibly excited. I wore my brand-new dress printed with foxes and wolves and deer and polar bears. I had no idea they were studying Animal Rights at the time. It was almost providential.
I do not remember much from my first day there.
But I definitely remember the second.
I introduced myself to the second and fourth periods that second day.
Off the bat, second period became abundantly clear that they were going to be my good kids.
I had actual interaction during my introduction - I had shared interests with a few of them.
I met M.C., the outspoken and comedic one. Quite inappropriate at times, too, but it made me laugh.
I met T.B., the foil to Matt. Quieter, and very sweet.
And then I met T.W.
It's rare to meet human beings who immediately give off that sense of sunshine. There's that kind of warmth that radiates from them that makes you spontaneously realize Hey...this person is freaking amazing, and you're gonna have a fantastic time knowing them.
This kid immediately stood out to me with his welcoming attitude, eagerly showing me his anime interests and asking me about mine.
Then he mentioned having gone to Japan, and I about punched him in the face with my jealousy.
(Just kidding, please don't sue me).
Anyway, I was blown away by the reception I received from second period.
Little did I know just how much they would change my life.
I met fourth period, and the second day came to a close quite quickly.
Each week was a baby step in getting to know each student individually. I devoted much of my time to reading their Senior fact sheets, knowing their names, what they aspired to be, what colleges they were (or were not) interested in. I wanted to get to know them as quickly as I could - I find this deeply important.
I began to shyly practice their names, asking them about what I had learned from what they had written about themselves, and even handwriting a few students notes from myself as an icebreaker.
The weeks honestly raced. I was working hard in and outside of the classroom. Not only was I daily commuting to and from the school, but I was also going to CBU on Wednesday nights for seminar, working on the edTPA, and completing numerous assignments for my seminar course. I also met with my PLC group on those nights, and my supervisor as well.
My supervisor was seriously an angel.
I cried many days, in and outside of the classroom. I was still dealing with that shame and grief from April that I explored in my previous two posts.
And my students shocked me with their responses.
This was before I even began to teach them at all.
They were immediately concerned. They asked if I was okay. I received numerous hugs and encouragement.
My supervisor told me I had a gift. A gift of knowing when students needed extra help or care, and a gift of quickly developing relationships of trust with them.
I felt deeply encouraged by all of these events.
I continued to work hard, panicking often about the dreaded edTPA, which I feel my program did not properly prepare me for. That's a whole other story.
October came. I turned 23. My classes sang Happy Birthday to me, and it felt amazing. And awkward.
October honestly sped by. The next thing I knew, it was Halloween and I knew I was taking over the classes by myself the following week. I was absolutely terrified.
I was teaching Hamlet. For the first time. By myself.
Shakespeare and Seniors do not exactly mix.
I knew I had to do my best to make Hamlet as appealing to checked out, tired, and apathetic twelfth graders as possible. (Not all of them fall into those categories. ...Actually, nevermind, everyone fell into the tired category).
[Also, this is a joke. 99% of my students were absolutely freaking fantastic].
It took some convincing to make them believe Hamlet was interesting as a story, with the deep, dark themes it presented.
I ended up having philosophical discussions about life, death, religion, the afterlife, and the meaning of life (or meaningless of life).
The students (again, for the most part) were on-board. Whether they believed it or not, they were so incredibly smart, and liked to express their views on controversial issues (which was an objective of the course).
I continued to develop deep relationships with each
Comments
Post a Comment