First meetings

So we sat through an introductory meeting lasting a whopping 8 and a half hours yesterday. today we had an advisor meeting which was 3 hours and a capstone meeting which was also 3 hours. Man what a beating. I always knew that in services and what not will be a pain in the booty but this was a beating.

So meeting: First we got there and all the important people introduced their selves. I think that is so important seeing that only middle level students are actually through the college of ed so many people don't actually get to see them each and every day. Then they had a husband and wife come up and talk to us about sexual harassment and anything that has to do within those boundaries. The very first thing he said when he walked up " If there is anything that you will remember when you walk away from this meeting is this mantra. I WILL NOT HAVE SEX WITH THE STUDENTS!" We all just sat there mouth agape staring. Are you serious. Do these people really mean what they are saying. Then they played a song that had to do with a girl who always got her way and when she became a teacher she had her way with a student. WOW! WOW! WOW! alright now I will go on. Then you typical what to and what not to wear when teaching. Like our placement professor has not come into our classroom every semester and not drilled that into our heads. alright understandable. The male in the front row was the only one who had to say what was inappropriate, which to him if you were not wearing 50 year old pants, a turtleneck, and a jacket then you are inappropriate. Actually he said the turtleneck was inappropriate because it was too tight! what!!!!!

So then classroom management. Yeah that was taught by a kindergarten teacher to us. Oh and it was all about how to manage kindergartners. Sorry lady. If i was teaching kindergarten then this would be absolutely amazing. But I think if I try that with most of my 8Th graders then I would be laughed out of the room. It was\ interesting but not very useful.

Basically everything else went along the same way as before. The Advisory meeting was just introducing yourself to everybody. "Hi I am Taylor. i am teaching XXXX and this XXX school. I want to open my own cooking school for children when I am done traveling the world with my fiance after we get married and teach in those countries. I have a brother yada yada yada." It was interesting to hear the stories of other people. I actually knew two of the people other than the two that were in all of my classes. Capstone was basically our teaching introducing us to the only class we take the entire semester. I was excited to get out early and head down to midland to see Dylan. now I'm sitting on his couch realizing and getting more nervous about Tuesday.

The only thing they kept reiterating was that this is the hardest time of my career. i will be tested to the limit. I will be pushed beyond what I think is capable. Say goodbye to my social life (Good thing Dylan lives 2 hours away) and prepare to just submerge yourself into teaching. I can do this. It is not like I have not taught before. I am pretty confident of myself. I am excited and way nervous. i do not know how my students will take me, how they will react to my presence. I am a young good looking girl. I am afraid they will look at me more as a friend than as a teacher. I guess pull out my bad bone and be mean on the first couple of days. i have some great ideas to bring and I can not wait to bring them.

STUDENT TEACHING BRING IT ON!

Introduction

As a student teacher, I will be pushed to the limits. The limits of what an 8th grader and 5th grader can push me to. I will be teaching 8th grade history and 5th grade English for my Student teaching term. I have not had experience in either one, but the school and the teacher that I requested is the one that I got. I am extremely excited and I can not wait to start. I am so nervous that It is quite silly. I had never taken any TAKS test in my entire life, but it is this semester that my students will be taking them. I talked to my teacher and he told me that he wanted at least 80% commended. Wow pressure is on! I can do it. I know that with my teacher we can both get above and beyond that!

Last semester I taught 6th grade Taks Intervention. It was in a school district that was not one that I was from. It was extremely different to see how these students just did not care about going to school, the consequences of not showing up, or even just caring about class. They did not have much homework assigned in class because most of the students just did not do it. I have soon learned that these students are the ones that I want to teach, the ones that I want to make an impact on in my life. These are the ones that need it. There was an instance where a student had missed over half of the school days. The teacher called their mother and you would never guess what the mother said. She said "So... He don't wanna be there he won't be there." I grew up where I never missed any school. I think that I went my entire high school with out missing one day of school! I could not even fathom missing a day of school, let alone half of the semester. And for the parent not to care at all! Wow. I will leave it at that.



As for this blog, I will be changing names and altering events. For the safety of not only me, but for the safety and privacy of my students. I hope that you enjoy this adventure and get a couple of laughs out of it!