The Countdown

I am more than half way through student teaching and it is taking every last bit of me not to make a paper chain countdown. Countdowns seem to only make things feel longer and I can't risk feeling more time drag. For those of you who have had the pleasure of talking with me during student teaching, most likely have not encountered a Positive Patty, but rather a Negative Nancy. Both the nature of student teaching and the pressure I have put upon myself haven't made it my most favorite experience in life. The truth be told, there is only a fraction of things professors can teach you about the teaching profession in a lecture hall. My eyes have been opened to so many different aspects of being a classroom teacher. While there are positive and negative things, it has been a lot to process and figure out how things I've been taught in courses connect to the real-world.
Apart from my eyes being opened, I have put too much pressure on myself and have struggled stepping back and telling myself to RELAX. While there are people assessing me, I certainly don't think they are analyzing my every move to the extent I am. I am beginning to think they may actually have lives they go home to and might not spend there evenings critiquing my every move and word that day. You think?

Through my obsessing and stressing, I seemed to win over at least a few of the 2nd graders I had at my first placement. They left me with cards, goodies, and well wishes. The picture below is one of my favorite prizes from student teaching. (Note the card). If one of the kids thought I was the best teacher in the 2nd grade than I must have done SOMETHING right.

Going further, I will try to find more peace during the next 7 weeks. I will aim to put Negative Nancy to bed, as I do not want to send out apology cards with my graduation announcements.

Let the countdown begin!