September 3rd-6th
So first week… what can I say? It had it’s ups and downs which is to be expected. I began the semester by teaching Workplace and Apprenticeship 30 class (for those who don’t know, this is a grade 12 math class).
So, the very first day of class I only had my students for 20 minutes since we had an assembly part way through the class. This was okay but it felt very chaotic. I had a few things planned but with my mind running everywhere, I came off as very disorganized and did not have a teacher presence/authority. The next day, however, I feel like my teacher authority came out when discussing the classroom expectations and rules and that I finally had established myself as a teacher (and not as some young person who thinks they can teach but can easily be run over by the students).
Things seemed like they were going well until my teacher had asked me to try “subbing” for one of her classes (don’t worry there was another teacher present!). I asked what class it was and when she said “Foundations 10,” I figured “Hey, it’s grade 10 math! This should be a piece of cake!” Was I ever wrong! The material that was being taught that day was converting units in the Imperial system (US metric system). This was most definitely not on the top of my “most favourite topics in math” list. In fact, I feel like I have put a block on this high school memory and I actually don’t remember learning it. Asking my friends, they admit that they learned this material so I have come to the conclusion that I just chose to forget it because it was that horrid! So, if you could guess, this lesson did not go so well! I had trouble explaining the material and we actually ended up moving to the assignment and not finishing the examples (with the promise that my co-op would go over it the next day). The one thing that I remember clearly in my mind is the fact that I kept trying to hint for the actual substitute teacher to take over (because he knew the material very well!) but he wouldn’t. However, as sad as I had become about this lesson, this was a huge learning experience for me and I’m glad that he didn’t let me back out. The next day I apologized to the class and taught the last example to the students. By doing this, I hoped that I could redeem myself as a teacher in those students eyes (which is huge I feel because I will be teaching them in about a month!).
With that said, my actual class went very well and I have already learned a lot! The sub day had me question myself as a teacher but you know what? We all have our bad days! It’s going to be okay and you know what? It’s only my first week! It’s not expected to go great! Internship is where you should be taking risks and making mistakes. Just know that if you make mistakes, take them as a learning opportunity and don’t let it get you down!
Ashley McMurchy 