And So The Chaos Continues

 Week 5 

This week was absolutely my most challenging this far in my student teaching experience. I picked up my 4th block class (Agri Ecology) starting Monday. Day one, I immediately realized this class was going to challenge me in many different ways. As a class made entirely of juniors and seniors, these students are much closer in age to myself. Further, this class has introduced me to my two most challenging students, Thing 1 and Thing 2. These students are definitely going to keep me on my toes the next few weeks but I find myself excited to challenge them as they are challenging me. This week's major takeaways are that "the good carries you through the bad" and "don't forget those that support you"

The Good Carries The Bad

Plain and simple, this week was tough. Tuesday in particular, I had an extremely tough time. Third block seemed more tired than usual, especially considering we were doing an involved lab I had had high expectations for. The students all behaved themselves but the class "vibe" itself didn't feel like it matched the effort/preparation put into the lesson. Fourth block my lesson felt long which ultimately resulted in Thing 1 and Thing 2 unleashing their inner chaos. I finished the day mind racing and feeling particularly exhausted. Just as I thought the headache of a day was over, I received news my family's dog had suddenly/unexpectedly passed. Needless to say, I entered the building Wednesday feeling very humbled and unsure of myself. Fast forward to Thursday's lesson, it was night and day. While neither lesson went perfectly, my timing felt better, student behavior was better, and overall engagement felt better. Leaving the building Thursday, I felt accomplished and ready to begin another week of teaching. As corny as it sounds, I felt everything bad from Tuesday wash away and be filled with the good things from Thursday. What this week showed me is that good days are what carry you through student teaching. This week for example, all it took was one mediocre/good day to carry me through what otherwise was a tough week. Looking forward I want to remember the importance of keeping my head high throughout tough days and letting the good days push me through difficult times.

Don't Forget Those That Support You

Coming back to State College Friday I felt like I was stepping back in time while also leaping forward. On one hand, it felt easy to lie to myself and pretend it was last semester and I was just having another class with the 2022 cohort. We all entered the room, set our belongings down and chitchatted just as we would any other class in the fall. On the other hand, it felt like we had leapt forward in time, each of us talking about our own programs, ideas, and most exciting stories. Chatting with my peers, I felt refreshed hearing things they'd been trying in their classroom, lesson/project ideas, and ways to become a better advisor myself. My big takeaway here was that I shouldn't forget to lean on my cohort throughout this experience. For me, I didn't realize how much I missed seeing everyone until we were all together again. That being said, I want to make a point to continue to keep in tough with my peers even if we aren't regularly getting to see one another. 

Funny Moments From This Week

• Meeting Thing 1 and Thing 2 
• Creating fun nicknames for students
• Things students say (I'll leave it at that)
• My students realized I'm 22 and for whatever reason think that's absolutely WILD