The First Day of the Rest of Your Life

About two months ago, I was told that today is going to be the first day of the rest of my life.  That's because today is my first day of student teaching.

I've had many mixed reactions from people who went through their student teaching.  Some people loved it while others said it was one of the hardest and most exhausting things they've ever done.  I hope that my experience will be a mix of both.  Student teaching is what you make of it.  You can go in when the kids get there, teach your lessons, and leave when the kids leave.  Or, you can come in early, tutor kids to help them catch up, bring in your own experiences and lessons, and stay after for extra curricular activities.  I really hope to do the latter.  I have been lucky enough to be placed in a school I've loved working in and have had the pleasure of getting to know many of the teachers, students, and parents.

I've also had many mixed reactions about the grade I'll be teaching - 5th grade.  I wanted to be placed in this grade because I want to see if I have what it takes to work with older kids.  I love the challenge that comes with teaching an older crowd and I feel that, like myself, these kids are at such a pivotal point in their life.  They're starting to develop themselves as individuals and will be going through a lot of changes as they advance through middle school.  The begin to discover what their interests are and where they fit in with the rest of the world.  I feel like kids these age need a lot of guidance, and I'm excited at the prospect of getting them ready for middle school.

Unfortunately, it looks like I won't be able to give the blog the attention I have been giving it in the past few weeks.  That doesn't mean I'm going to stop posting, of course, but the posts may be a little less frequent.  I was very fortunate to have a long winter break because it gave me time to decide in what direction I'm going to take the blog this year and store up some posts for the upcoming weeks.  I hope to also share my experience as an up and coming teacher, not just to other teachers but to young professionals in general.  I feel like your quarter life mark is an exhilarating time because it is full of change and new experiences.  Starting from scratch in a new job is always difficult, and I hope to keep inspiring others with my story.

I have really loved watching how much my blog has grown over the past few weeks and I deeply appreciate all of the new followers and reading the comments you have left me.  I love being able to teach others about how to stay active and healthy and yet at the same time sneak in some recipes to indulge in.  I love sharing my story and hearing about your own in all aspects from changing jobs to changing running shoes.  I hope you will continue to follow my journey over these next few trying weeks as I slowly start to discover what it means to be a teacher.

Posted by Ali B at 7:56 AM