Weird Feeling

Sunday night I was thinking how I was not going back to Northeastern. I was a little sad that I was going to be seeing my 8th graders again. I've learn a lot about myself and how I am as a teacher because of my co-op and the students at the school. When I taught my first lesson with them, there was not even a little bit of hesitation that I had experienced when I was in my placement for soph bloc. It was almost natural when I got up there. And, it was and awesome feeling to know how the students responded when I was teaching them about poetry. After that, I really felt part of the classroom. Students were coming up to me and asking questions; some of them even asked me to sign their agendas to go to the bathroom (I didn't do it, because I didn't think I was allowed). However, it was refreshing to be seen as a teacher.

When I first learned that I was going to be in the 8th grade, I groaned. I never thought of myself as an "8th grade teacher." I didn't think that my personality fit with the students, and thought that I would be better suited for an older grade. But, watching my co-op interact the the students, I learned that her and I had similar personalities...and maybe I could be an 8th grade teacher.

My co-op really helped me in my placement this semester--she encouraged me I had questions and took the time to explain that jargon at the school that I wasn't familiar with. Her rapport with the teachers is good. She wants the teachers to work as team and do what is best for the students. I noticed that when the other teachers start talking politics, she usually has a comment, then leaves the room--she knows it's important, but it's not what she is focused on all the time. She also wants her students to do well, she relates to them and what they are doing with their lives and plays off of that in the classroom. She helps the students when the have questions, and there is nothing like a stupid question with her. She wants to the students to know what she is talking about and wants them to have as much clarification as possible.