May 20
The only blogs I have written in the past were ones that I
kept during trips abroad, somewhat to have good memories later on down the
road, but mostly to keep my mom up to date on what was happening to me in a
country across the world and reassure her that I was still alive and (mostly)
well. Recently however it occurred to me that even though this summer I won’t
be doing any exotic traveling—for the first time in 4 years—I will be embarking
on a very new, demanding, and enthralling journey into the world of teaching.
And I won’t be making the typical entrance into this foreign territory: getting
a visa (aka a Master’s degree), boarding a long, exciting but somewhat rough,
flight (also known as student teaching), only to arrive jet-lagged, out of
sorts, and on completely unknown soil (the summer before starting your first
year). No, no. That would be quite atypical of my jump-in-head-first-eyes-closed-cannon-ball
style.
Instead, I am entering into a 6 week training program in
which I will “learn how to run a classroom” and “how to deal with those
difficult students” that will undoubtedly exist. At the same time I will be
starting classes for an Alternative Certification program that will land me
with a M.A.T and certification after two years. This will take me two years to
complete not because I am lazy and unmotivated. No, quite the contrary. Because
at the same time I am taking these classes, I will (with fingers crossed that
everything goes as planned) be teaching full time my own classroom of high school
students. To say I am absolutely terrified would be an understatement. On the
other hand, just as I was when boarding my first flight to France or Ghana, I’m
absolutely ecstatic. I thrive on challenges.
So, I have decided that this journey—which will with any
luck last much longer than my previous two-month trips—is worth documenting as
well. Though this time for different reasons (…if my mom needs reassurance I am
still alive, I’m a phone call or a 3 and ½ hour drive away). This time, my
inspiration came from a book I read called Educating Esme by Esme Raji Codell about her first
year teaching at an inner city school in Chicago. It was set up much like a
blog and I found it so inspiring that I decided to start my own. Even though I
doubt my blog turns into a book, I think it will be nice to have to refer back
to personally in case I need reminding about why I started and how far I’ve
come (which I have already been warned multiple times will most likely be the
case quite often throughout my career).
It’s
ironic and quite comical to think that just a little over a month ago, I had
decided I was moving home and back in with my parent afters completing my B.A.
in biology in order to give myself a year off to discover what it was that I
truly wanted to do ( I had an inkling it would be teaching). However, a mere
month or so before that, I was awaiting a response from the Fulbright on
whether or not I would be a Fulbright scholar at Durham University in England
pursuing a Master’s degree in Evolutionary Medicine (the outcome to that is
clear given my current situation). And less than a year before that, I was
spending my last weeks in the U.S. (before leaving for a two month “summer
enrichment program” in Montpellier, France working in an evolutionary biology
lab) studying for the MCAT and preparing a personal statement for medical
school—both of which were never completed. This may make me sound like a
flighty, unfocused, inconsistent young person and, in effect, a terrible
candidate to be educating today’s youth, but I find this to be evidence of quite
the contrary. My long and winding path through undergrad which took me through
careers of interest from epidemiology to a pediatric infectious disease
specialist helped prove to me that I truly belong in a classroom teaching. Because
when considering each of these fields, I never felt as totally confident,
exciting, and assured as I do when considering teaching. In fact, I thought of
all these potential careers as mere milestones in order to someday be a professor
at a research university—my all-time ultimate goal since starting college. It
wasn’t until as of late that I realized I didn’t have to wait 10-15 years to be
in front of a class providing what I believe to be the most important (and one
of the last remaining) renewable resources to mankind: education. Though I am
ultimately interested in educational policy, I believe I need many years of
experience in the classroom before I will be able to make any kind of informed
and rational decision as to what policies will benefit both teachers and
students in the long run.
I
stumbled across (as I so often do, both literally and figuratively) my
opportunity to put this chosen path of teaching into action immediately after
graduating by pure luck in a happenstance meeting with a man that runs a great
program to recruit high caliber students from many different states to take
part in the alternative certification program while also providing them some
monetary compensation but more importantly, the guidance of a peer mentor and a
“veteran teacher.” And so, after our brief (max 15 minute) conversation over
pizza at a meeting for a completely different scholarship program, I had
decided to stay here (about 250 miles away from my family), take the Praxis II
the next week, apply to the university’s school of education, and spend the
next two years teaching full time and pursuing a M.A.T. Yes, this sounds rash.
Especially to me. But the ease and certainty I felt as this all unfolded so
quickly assured me that I was making the right choice. And though I haven’t
started my program yet, I have not yet felt a single pang of regret. Only pure,
genuine excitement (accompanied by the expected anxiety).
So
now I sit, enjoying my last week and a half of freedom before the two year
whirlwind begins in June. I just heard yesterday from my peer mentor, a 7th
grade Language Arts teacher, whom I will observe for two days at the beginning
of June. Considering my passion for English and Language Arts, I’m very excited
for this opportunity, despite the fact that in the end I plan to be teaching
high school biology. In just a couple days I will have orientation for my
Alternative Certification program in which I will schedule classes and get the
rundown on everything that will be expected of me for the next two years
(mentally, academically, and financially..). Until then I am spending my free
time reading, working at day cares, going on long runs, shopping, and very
often planning my classroom and debating different issues that are likely to
arise in my first year. Here is my list so far of classroom issues to consider:
1. How will I decorate it?
2. Will I be able to respond when
they call me by Ms. Last Name? That seems so weird to me.
3. What will be my “style”. I would
like to get them to respond to me by being fun but I also realize that being so
young it will take much more to gain their respect.
4. What will be my main methods of
discipline?
5. What will be my main reward
system?
6. Will I be able to implement some
of the lesson planning I’ve been brainstorming already? Like have them teach
some of the topics to the class in groups. The best way to learn is to teach.
7. Will my board writing be
legible? Must remember to practice that one.
8. How long will it take me to
remember all of the high school shenanigans? Note passing, using cell phones,
asking for bathroom breaks when they’re not needed, dress code, etc. Yikes!
9. How quickly will I be able to
adjust to a public school that is guaranteed to be much, much different than my
public high school of only 700ish students? That will take some major
adjusting.
