Week #1 January 13-16
This week I began my practice teaching. The first two days of the week were dedicated to the Teacher Candidate orientations where we were provided with the Practice Teaching Manual as well as the syllabus and expectations of the course. I will not lie, I have to admit I was overwhelmed, and still find myself feeling so because it is an incredibly large amount of work. I understand why all of this work is demanded from us but it is still a lot to take in and process. On my first day at the school I felt excitement. After three and a half years of preparation, I am finally putting it all into practice and it’s a great feeling and achievement but it is also a terrifying moment because all the insecurities emerge. From the moment I walked into the Juan Ponce de Leon School, I started doubting myself completely. I have to say though, that the school was so welcoming that the feeling of fear and insecurity abandoned me completely. My cooperating teacher, Harry Bonkosky treated me like a colleague the moment he met me and it was a good feeling to hear “Ms. Garcia”, especially when I’m not used to it in any way.
One of the hardest moments for me was standing in front of the students and presenting myself as the new teacher. Again, all the filters came up because I kept thinking What if they don’t like me?, What if I’m not as good as Mr. Bonkosky?, What if I can’t get them to learn anything? And many other questions and thought as the day passed.
On Friday things were a little bit different. That morning I woke up, gave myself a peptalk and told myself I could do it. So, this day I decided I would begin interacting with the students. I figured that if I was going to be teaching them for a whole semester, I needed to start getting familiarized with them immediately and so I did. When the students had their hands raised, I would go up to them. If I needed to explain something then I would asked them their name and as I explained whatever their question was, I would throw in their name in there do they could become more comfortable? It was strange I’m sure, not only for them but for me but it felt like the correct thing to do. My fears was that the students or the teacher might feel I was invading their dynamic or their pace but the teacher reassured me that it was the correct thing to do. I was very happy with this. From now own my focus will be on the student’s names and breaking the ice with them so that when the time comes for me to take the group it will be a comfortable experience for both parties.
I can’t wait to see what next week has in store for me!