With my heart set on becoming a teacher and my tenacity to get what I want -- that certificate -- I can't describe the bittersweet feeling of going through a program which requires a lot of dedication, sacrifice, and practice. Practice. What an odd word to stick into a sentence for a teacher-in-training. In my younger days, I played the piano, and with lots of practice, I perfected the skill to recognize music and play it. I'm not a professional at the art, but I know that in due time, with lots of practice I could play the long version of Moonlight Sonata without any effort (I'm at intermediate level, by the way). Just like teaching. Have you come across a teacher and he became your "favorite" teacher? Now I know why: that teacher had a lot of practice and eventually became good at what he does. I want that feeling to come from my students.
This is what the program does: it gives you 2-3 years to practice, over and over again at every session, the skills that are taught inside WWU's TEOP, until you are comfortable doing it. The skill must be perfected due to an important reason and one reason only: we must NOT LEAVE ANY CHILD BEHIND. With Washington's requirement to hire highly qualified teachers (HQT as it is solely nicknamed), it is the University's responsibility -- as well as any Educational Program -- to ensure that we meet the needs of every child inside a classroom. Every single one of them. And that means a lot of practice.
The pressure in school has been a tremendous weight on every one of us in Cohort 32 that it was difficult to figure which way was up and which way was down. It's the very reason I didn't update my blog: I felt the pressure, too. In looking over my syllabi for Special Education, PE, Literacy I, and my practicum, there was too much to sink in. That was on the week of Sept 20th - the week school started. I'm still trying to sink it all in. BUT...and I say this with a big BUT...after doing my homework for these classes, it wasn't all that bad. Just trying to take that first step forward was difficult; but afterwards, it was okay. The amount of work seems to have tripled this session.
I am writing this blog only because I am done with all of my homework. It's amazing how much I can get done in between breaks with housework, kids, and errands on a weekend. I am still feeling a bit overwhelmed, but as long as I keep up with the assignments -- I hate procrastinating -- I think I'll do fine this session. As for my teachers, I have one online class whose class I missed at the start of the ELED cycle; she has been kind enough to accept me inside her classroom. I have one teacher who we had two sessions ago. Her enthusiasm about teaching is contagious and she makes learning engaging and fun. She's my Literacy (Part I) teacher.
Then there is my PE teacher. I was never a huge fan of PE because of my young mind's stereotype on jocks. Jocks loved PE -- they always WIN at everything. Why did I hate it? I got picked on and harassed by some of the boys in my high school PE class which made my high school experience a nightmare. I won't go into details. This teacher, however, delved into the educational part of physical education, hence, the word "education" after "physical. What a tremendous difference he's made on my view about PE. He's made me understand what PE is and SHOULD be all about: teamwork. I never had that experience growing up in my PE classes. Old school, I guess. There are a lot of activities and ideas that he's giving us to practice so we can use them in our classrooms. Many of them are teamwork-type of activities, many are self-challenges (I'm currently working on learning how to juggle -- extra 5 points if I can do it!). None of the games/activities allow a child or group of children to say "neener-neener-neener, in your face!" to another child/group. This teacher is good -- really good. He gives physical education a whole new perspective and it makes everyone feel good about it. I can't wait to use the games we practiced in school.
My other class -- my practicum -- will be at my son's school: View Ridge Elementary. It has been my "dream" school for a long time and I'm officially they're practicum student there. I have met with Mr. "L" (he is really called by that name because his last name is difficult to pronounce) and is hoping that I get to be their intern, too. If you have kept up with my blogs...I was an art docent at View Ridge when my son was in kindergarten (he's now in the 2nd grade). The tremendous PTA support was overwhelming that during meeting times, there is standing room only in their library. I'm not joining the PTA this year for obvious reasons. Anyway, my practicum supervisor, or overseer, will observe me in my practicum classroom again. I will be working under "Cynthia" who is an AM/PM kindergarten teacher. Starting Tuesday, my homework will pile up a little more as I am to write and document observations for the entire school day!
But...I won't think about it right now. I have other obligations as we speak and it's time to put my fingers to rest (for now).
Keep you posted...
