Get more details of what I did during the Long Practicum in the Learning Blog. |
Perseverance: The Word of the Year
I cannot believe it, its finally December and that means I've finished my Long Practicum. It was a very rocky start, since I lost my motivation and drive to teach and I considered leaving the program wondering what the point of starting the semester with a teachers' strike. During the first week of Full Immersion, I began to wonder if I had bitten off more than I could chew.
I wanted to leave the program a few times, but ever time this negative feeling crept into the back of my mind, I remembered WHY I wanted to teach: I wanted to inspire other people and impact their lives. I would never be able to accomplish this if I left the program. I also remembered all the students I've helped so far, the teachers who supported and inspired me, and all the time and energy I spent.
My former students. My inspiring and supportive teachers. My time and energy. I couldn't leave. I invested too many things to get to this point just to throw it away on a negative feeling. There had to be something good somewhere.
And there was. I remembered that things worth doing are always hard. I realized that all of this was a test; I was being forged in the teacher's crucible, making sure I am physically, emotionally, and mentally strong enough and have the perseverance for this profession. I am. I KNOW I am. Making it to this point is proof that I am strong enough and have the perseverance to do so.
Perseverance. That is my word of the year, perhaps the word for the rest of my life. Every teacher colleague (we're no longer student teachers) in my LUC module has the same capacity of perseverance because they made it to the end of the program with me. Even though I still have a course to complete before I become a fully certified teacher, I am not going to let that stop me. My road to becoming an educator may be different from the rest of my teacher colleagues, but I am certain I will get there. I know I will.
Although this post seems slightly self-centered, I would like to point out that a person cannot persevere without support from others. I certainly did not re-discover my drive, motivation and passion to teach without support from family, friends and my SA at Chimney Hill. They helped me re-discover why I wanted to teach in the first place. They also pushed, encouraged, inspired me to strive to become the best teacher I could become. They were there to lend an empty ear as I vented to let off steam, became a shoulder to cry on, there to hand me a box of tissues when the shoulder became too wet, and were there to make me laugh when I needed to relax and take my mind off things even for a brief moment over jajangmyeon (Korean black bean noodles) and k-pop. To all of them, I extend my heartfelt thanks to them for all they have done to support me in this program.
And to you, my audience, my reader. You are the reason this blog exists. I want to thank you for reading this blog and most importantly, helping me see the positive things in challenging situations. You are the inspiration for fun things such as The Table, you helped me write once more. Which is something I love to do, but haven't done in a while. My heartfelt thanks to you as well.
But don't worry, this is not the end. I will keep adding more posts as time goes by. I will write for you soon, I promise!
I wanted to leave the program a few times, but ever time this negative feeling crept into the back of my mind, I remembered WHY I wanted to teach: I wanted to inspire other people and impact their lives. I would never be able to accomplish this if I left the program. I also remembered all the students I've helped so far, the teachers who supported and inspired me, and all the time and energy I spent.
My former students. My inspiring and supportive teachers. My time and energy. I couldn't leave. I invested too many things to get to this point just to throw it away on a negative feeling. There had to be something good somewhere.
And there was. I remembered that things worth doing are always hard. I realized that all of this was a test; I was being forged in the teacher's crucible, making sure I am physically, emotionally, and mentally strong enough and have the perseverance for this profession. I am. I KNOW I am. Making it to this point is proof that I am strong enough and have the perseverance to do so.
Perseverance. That is my word of the year, perhaps the word for the rest of my life. Every teacher colleague (we're no longer student teachers) in my LUC module has the same capacity of perseverance because they made it to the end of the program with me. Even though I still have a course to complete before I become a fully certified teacher, I am not going to let that stop me. My road to becoming an educator may be different from the rest of my teacher colleagues, but I am certain I will get there. I know I will.
Although this post seems slightly self-centered, I would like to point out that a person cannot persevere without support from others. I certainly did not re-discover my drive, motivation and passion to teach without support from family, friends and my SA at Chimney Hill. They helped me re-discover why I wanted to teach in the first place. They also pushed, encouraged, inspired me to strive to become the best teacher I could become. They were there to lend an empty ear as I vented to let off steam, became a shoulder to cry on, there to hand me a box of tissues when the shoulder became too wet, and were there to make me laugh when I needed to relax and take my mind off things even for a brief moment over jajangmyeon (Korean black bean noodles) and k-pop. To all of them, I extend my heartfelt thanks to them for all they have done to support me in this program.
And to you, my audience, my reader. You are the reason this blog exists. I want to thank you for reading this blog and most importantly, helping me see the positive things in challenging situations. You are the inspiration for fun things such as The Table, you helped me write once more. Which is something I love to do, but haven't done in a while. My heartfelt thanks to you as well.
But don't worry, this is not the end. I will keep adding more posts as time goes by. I will write for you soon, I promise!
The Last Week of My Long Practicum
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Long Practicum Status Update
It's hard to believe that I've passed the halfway mark of my long practicum. It seems so long ago that I had almost lost my motivation to teach. I just my midterm a few days ago and both my FA and SA challenged me to take more risks during the second half of my practicum. I definitely need to think about what I can do to set myself apart from my other classmates who are thinking exactly the same thing. As of this moment I am willing to admit they have the upper hand... for now. It's very late in the evening and my second cup of coffee has lost its caffeine, which is often a tell-tale sign that I need to get to bed.
I wish I had more to tell you about my long practicum. Alas, there aren't enough hours in the day and I need to practice my mental stamina to keep my readers engaged with my adventures. I have thought about having a spin-off to my self-acclaimed popular blog series The Table, featuring my Chimney Hill student teacher colleagues. This spin-off blog series will be called The Coffee Table, but I just need to find the time to sit down and type our back and forth collaboration and bantering.
For the meantime, thank you for your patience and understanding for my tardiness in maintaining this site.
I wish I had more to tell you about my long practicum. Alas, there aren't enough hours in the day and I need to practice my mental stamina to keep my readers engaged with my adventures. I have thought about having a spin-off to my self-acclaimed popular blog series The Table, featuring my Chimney Hill student teacher colleagues. This spin-off blog series will be called The Coffee Table, but I just need to find the time to sit down and type our back and forth collaboration and bantering.
For the meantime, thank you for your patience and understanding for my tardiness in maintaining this site.
Long Practicum Status Update: It's A Go!
The news we had been waiting for has finally arrived: the Teacher's Strike is over and its time to head back into the school. My practicum school, Chimney Hill Elementary, decided to have their student teachers start on September 29th. This was both good news and bad news. The good news is that I finally get to go into the school. The bad news is this gives me less time to work on and finalize my unit plans.
I am trying not to let my panic-filled imagination get away from me. There must be a reason the administration at Chimney Hill Elementary asked for us to start early. They obviously believe we can do this and do this well. Since the news of the strike ending, my stress levels have gone down and have been replaced by a different set of stress: the stress of try to finish unit plans. But I can do this. I know I can.
I am trying not to let my panic-filled imagination get away from me. There must be a reason the administration at Chimney Hill Elementary asked for us to start early. They obviously believe we can do this and do this well. Since the news of the strike ending, my stress levels have gone down and have been replaced by a different set of stress: the stress of try to finish unit plans. But I can do this. I know I can.
Long Practicum Status Update: Unknown
I'm back for my 405 Long Practicum! It was fun to see my fellow student-teacher colleagues and catch up with them. But the thing on our minds was "What will happen to our Long Practicum with the ongoing Teachers' Strike?" Alas, there is no clear answer to this question. If all goes well and the teachers' strike is resolved soon, the Long Practicum will start on September 15. If the strike continues beyond September 15, we are expected to remain in campus and do some module work. Our FAs (Faculty Associates) also said that our placements aren't set in stone because due to the teachers' strike our SAs (School Associates) may have changed their minds on mentoring a student teacher.
You can imagine hearing all this on our first day back from summer vacation, my stress levels increased. It makes me slightly happy that I slacked off on creating my unit plans. If I had spent all summer creating unit and lesson plans for a grade I may not even have anymore, that would be time wasted... I think.
You can imagine hearing all this on our first day back from summer vacation, my stress levels increased. It makes me slightly happy that I slacked off on creating my unit plans. If I had spent all summer creating unit and lesson plans for a grade I may not even have anymore, that would be time wasted... I think.