A True Success Story. Or more appropriately titled, Panic Ensues.

Today I learned... how to be a full-time teacher.
Yup. I got the call at 5:50am from my coop who informed me that her daughter was seriously sick and therefore, she wouldn't be in school today. She asked me if I was comfortable with having the lesson plans sent to me and asked if I could teach them for the day. Of course I said yes, simply because I'm that kind of person... I'm too nice to say no. And I wanted to make a good impression. So I said yes.
And here I am twelve hours later to tell the tale.
I survived. The students survived. All is well. But let's not talk about that moment quite yet...
So back at 5:50am. I hang up the phone and full-on panic ensues. I thought it'd just be a Monday. The text message I got at 5:31am from a dear friend said it perfectly, "Ughhhh Monday." Fast forward to 5:53 when I hang up the phone and my heart's pumping and my brain is racing. I'm not feeling prepared. I know I can do this, but I feel so damn unprepared. What was I going to do?
I rush to get my stuff together, feeling dazed by the news of having to teach all day. 6:00am. I open up the front door, step onto the stoop, and stop dead in my tracks. Heavy frost cover the windows of my Jeep. My Jeep doesn't defrost easily; without a hard top, it takes awhile to heat up and the heat doesn't stay inside. Panic ensues. I dump my bags into the passenger seat, turn on the car, blast the heat, grab the ice scraper and begin at the windows. It's barely coming off. Instead it leaves the wiggly lines of the edge of my scraper, leaving little hope for any visibility. Panic ensues.

I back out of my parking spot, with little visibility and I'm off. 6:04. Four minutes behind schedule, which means I'll get behind trash trucks and buses in the city. Precious time will be lost. I make a panic call to a friend and freak out for a moment. "Sorry, I just needed to shout," I say before hanging up. 6:07 I'm finally out of Millersville, alright, here we go...
The next hours are a blur. I'm in school in less than hour, I'm printing off papers, numbering book lists, preparing for the day. First period goes by, no more prep after that. Period two: those freshmen are a little grumpy but they do their work. I deem the period successful. Third period: honors seniors: they're smart, smart kids, and I'm almost intimated. I teach the lesson on something I never had before looked at prior to period one. I'm successful. They ask questions and I revel in the fact that I know the answers. Deep sigh of relief. Finally 11:03am. Lunch. This gives me an opportunity to vent again. Needed. Period four: back to the freshmen. They're rowdy after lunch. One kid tells the others to shut up so I can talk. Oh, hey thanks. One girl asks if she can call me by my first name. She tries it, but I don't respond. We do our work-- more work than period 2. We're successful. Fifth period has finally come. Finally the lesson plans I wrote, I'm most familiar with. I fall into a moment of comfort. We accomplish all our goals for the day. Finally it's 2:00: study hall. I breathe... Maybe for the first time all day.
I did it. I actually did it. I was successful. No one ran away screaming. I didn't scream. No one ran away crying. I didn't cry. (At least not yet.) The sub said she'd write good reviews on me. The day was good. No, wait, not just good, it was great. I did it. My students did it. I learned; they learned.
Relief Ensues.

The Doctor is in!

Hello week 2 of student teaching!

Over the weekend I sat with a group of friends discussing my upcoming blog post and I posed the question as to what I should write about for this week. As soon as Jess offered the answer, I seriously could hear the "DUH!" in my head. So what's this week's post about? About the importance of needing your friends... the essence of a support circle and the necessity of "me" time. 

I know I've talked about this a lot before and I've offered a thousand thanks to the amazing group of friends and colleagues that I've been privileged to spend the past 3.5 years with. But as we're all disembarking on our own life adventures and we're heading off in different directions, it's important to keep that close knit group of friends nearby to provide you with the support you need when the time comes. Because let's face it-- none of us can do this alone. I've never met anyone who could be all by themselves all the time. I've met people who have tried and sadly, they were miserable. I feel for those people, because at one time in my life, I thought I could do it all on my own. And let me tell you, I crashed and burned terribly. 

It was only through the support of some amazing friends that I had that I could pull my act back together and get back on track. Looking back, I know I could have never done it without them. And now I know that I can't go forward without them either. I'm successful because I surround myself with equally as successful people. We strive to work hard, because we have a close group of friends who work equally as hard to accomplish their individual goals. 

That being said, as we've been told time and time again, we know that student teaching might very well be one of the hardest and most demanding jobs thus far in our lives. My coop even said to me that with the exception of her first year as a full-time teacher, student teaching was, and still is, the greatest challenge she's ever been faced with. And just last Monday as we sat in our supervisor meetings, my supervisor said "Did they tell you to say goodbye to your social life? Because don't. You'll need them. You'll need to stay sane." He couldn't be more right!

There could actually be a medical diagnosis here. Let's play doctor for a moment. I'll be the doctor, you be the patient. Please answer yes or no to the following symptoms:
- After a seven hour day in school do you find yourself entranced by the lives of your students?
- Do you ever find yourself acting like one of your students?
- Do you find yourself sharing a joke you heard one of your students tell you?
- Do you find your mind wandering to find ways to help one of your students?
- Do you find yourself consumed with ways on how to teach a topic, even when you're watching a simple television program?
Alright enough, if you've answered yes to any of these questions, I've decided to give you a diagnosis... you are a teacher! Yes, these are completely normal side effects of the job, but keep in mind we're people too! We've been taught this before, but now is the time to really start listening to the professionals.
If we don't take the time for ourselves and have our "adult time" then we risk getting burnt out too fast. Burning out won't just affect you, it'll run your students into the ground too. The consequences are too high and it's selfish to think you're a superhero.


So since I'm the doctor after all, I'll write you a prescription. Take time for yourself once a day, every day. You know what activities you like to do: go for a run, call up a friend, kick back in front of the tube. Whatever it takes, set aside time for yourself. Even if it's fifteen minutes on your ride home from school: turn up the radio and rock out. And remember, we can't do this all on our own.

Now go forth and live your life!