student teaching post 1

What do you find most daunting about finishing student teaching and graduating from college?
I fear that all my preparation and hard work working to get to this point won’t necessarily get me a job. The job market is a scary place for teachers. Since I have a family it makes finding a job harder then someone who could just get up and move. I just hope that I will be able to find a job teaching within the next year or two. Writing lesson plans, doing homework, looking for a job and having a family life is a lot of work.
What was the pivotal event that made you decide to become a teacher and enter your teacher preparation program? Employers almost always ask a question similar to this.
The first day of kindergarten I knew I wanted to be an artist, when other kids wanted to play house and be mom I was the famous artist living in Paris. It didn’t hit me till I was in Junior high that I wanted to become a teacher. The only thing I ever felt I was really good at was art, so when everyone was telling me about the horrible art teacher, I was really worried. What was I going to do if she was horrible? I don’t have sports; I’m not smart, how I’m I going to find my place. Who knew that years later she would be one of the most influential people in my life? Junior high is a rough time in some people’s life because of all the changes that happen. She was the first person that made me feel good about myself and that she genuinely cared that I was there. She always pushed me to do better and work harder. She showed me compassion but still was stern. She helped push me to get good grades and I was on honor role till I graduated. She helped me get into art shows and meet people that would help me further my art. As the years went by it only made sense that I wanted to do art and I wanted to connect with students as she did with me.

In what ways will you wardrobe change during student teaching and as a teaching professional?
I feel that my wardrobe will change from semi causal to more sophisticated. Student teaching my wardrobe might be more fashionable and semi causal. When I move more into teaching professionally I feel that I will pay more attention to things as comfortable shoes, jewelry that won’t get in the way of working with art materials, etc. I will buy things that are more expensive and sophisticated but comfortable when I have a career, and when I can afford.

If you could add any article of clothing to your professional wardrobe, what would it be?
I would have to say a simple black dress. A would want a black dress that can be dressed up with the right jewelry, or dressed down by adding a sweater. In the professional world you need to have a wardrobe that can be constantly changing.

day 2 of student teaching

My first day of student teaching. I was so exhausted after the first day of teaching. I had thoughts of “Is this really what I want to do for the rest of my life”. I know it was more of an overwhelmed feeling than anything else. Thank gosh for the 2nd grade class that finished my day. They were so behaved and well mannered, they reminded me why I’m doing what I’m doing. I also remind myself that I want to teach older children and I knew this was going to be a challenge for myself. As a teacher I know there are going to be some classes that are going to go better than others do. I really enjoy having breakfast duty because I get to know kids names better and get to talk to them outside of the art classroom.

Today I started my student teaching observing in a kindergarten classroom. I actually enjoyed the students they were so eager to learn and they were all so smart. I will have to say kindergarten teachers should get paid more than what they do. If you don’t believe me volunteer in their classroom for one day and you will understand what I mean. To be able to keep those little people’s attention and yet have them learn something new is a pretty hard job.

I’m really excited to start teaching in the classroom. I’m really nervous but excited. I know that I’m not going to be a perfect teacher and I know the more I teach the better I’m going to be. That’s why I chose to teach the fourth and fifth grade first. These guys are the closest to the age group that I would prefer to teach. We’re going to first start with a lesson using glue and pastels and then were going to work our way into printmaking. I hope that printmaking will go pretty smooth, it probably won’t but I can hope. I have a lot of knowledge and experience with printmaking so I hope that excitement will rub off on them.