Self-identity. I find myself
questioning my own identity from time to time. Mostly I question if I am going
to make a good mother, or even a good teacher. As the semester winds down, I have realized
now more than ever that I am extremely nervous for my student teaching
semester. My observations have been great this semester, and I have had nothing
but great feedback. I know that my CT will be there to help me with anything
that I might need: help plan, coordinate lessons with the strategic planning
guide, classroom management, etc., but I am still nervous. I care about the
education of my students; I am always worried that I am going to say something
incorrect or teach them something incorrect. (This I must admit is my biggest
fear of all.)
My three week unit went very well,
and I have been incorporating bits and pieces of it into my semester plan. I
had great feedback from everyone that watched my teaching, and I will be making
some adjustments because of the feedback. I am extremely nervous for this
coming semester, though. My CT and I do not know what will be in the strategic
planning guides for the next semester and are on pins and needles waiting to
know what we will be teaching. When you are a student teacher (or pre-student
teacher) and you are anticipating your next semester, it can be difficult and
slightly nerve-racking when you do not know what is in store for you.
… On a different note, I am
curious on how to create a safe learning environment for all of my students. I
want my students to know that they are welcomed into my classroom every day, at
any time they may need it. I do not want any student to feel uncomfortable in
my classroom. My hope for my classroom is my students will use their reflection
journals to share things with me that they may not be comfortable sharing in
front of the class. Many students may not use this opportunity in my classroom,
and that is perfectly fine. As long as one student is able to let something out
that they needed to get out, then I have reached one of my goals as a teacher.
Recently, we have been discussing
LGBTQ young adult literature and how to address these works within our future classrooms.
This brought up great discussions among my classmates as to how we would like
to address this, or even how it was addressed when we were the age of our
students. I left that discussion with many thoughts on my mind concerning my
future classroom. I would like to be cautious with literature that could be skewed
and cause an uncomfortable vibe in my classroom, but I also want to be able to
have literature that is going to reach my students. Again, I want my classroom
to be a safe environment for all students, unfortunately what literature that I
teach in my classroom will depend on where I end up teaching. I know that there
are still some school districts that “shy” away from some of these issues that
currently face our students. We as teachers need to be aware that there are
many ways that we as teachers if we are placed in that position that we could
still reach our students that could possibly need our help. Something as simple
as a small sticker by our desk could let our students know that we here for
them. We are there not just to teach these students, but we are there to foster
learning. That learning may just be that student learning about who they really
are, their own self-identity.
