What doesn't kill you....

I am done with Student Teaching; the fourteen weeks are over. It was quite the ride; full of ups and downs. It seems like I just started and now it's over. (Technically, it ended last Tuesday, but I have been so busy until now that I haven't had the time to post about it.) And I still have papers to grade and a test and review guide to write, but as far as the teaching goes, I am finished.

It is definitely a bittersweet moment for me. On the one hand, I am glad to be done with the time-suck known as lesson plan creation and all of the stress that it created. But on the other hand, I really miss the actual act of teaching the students. I finished teaching on Tuesday and on Wednesday, I was in a funk. It took me a few days to figure it out, but I believe it is because I am no longer able to interact with and lead a hundred teenagers.

...Makes you stronger
This was my mantra I kept saying to myself the last few weeks. My cooperating teachers definitely made it difficult for me, but I feel like I will be a better teacher as a result. In two of my three preps, I had to fill the last month and a half with material that I created myself and I couldn't use anything that either of my cooperating teachers used. There were plenty of moments when I was so frustrated and upset with them. But I know that that is how my first year of teaching is going to be like. I want to have the classes be my own and the only way for that is to do everything yourself. I went out for a few drink with some of the other teachers and I was talking to a first year teacher. I told her what was required of me and she told me that she was doing the same thing right now. So I feel better prepared for my first year. Talking with other student teachers in my college program, I am a little ahead of the pack in that regard. I think it is also something I will bring up on job interviews as well, to try and separate myself from everyone else. I am glad that my cooperating teachers had high standards for me and didn't let me take the easy way out and just use their materials. (I hope to replicate these high standards for my students.)

The best part was that I had an opportunity to say all of this to my cooperating teachers before they left on Tuesday. And they also returned the nice praises as well. It was nice to hear that the hard work was worth the effort.