Two Weeks in...

I've survived! I have officially made it a whole two weeks into my teaching experience. Honestly, it's been pretty fun. I'm fairly sure I'm doing something I won't mind continuing for awhile as a career. I don't yet think that teaching is the worst thing I could have ever chosen to do, and I don't suspect that I will anytime soon.

Some great things:

First, teaching physics has been just about my favorite thing about teaching. You know why I like it? Because I can see them thinking. I can empathize with the process they're going through to comprehend the same things, and I can see the look of understanding on their faces when the concept finally dawns on them. The last thing is definitely the most fun. I love when someone says, "Oh! I get it!" Especially after I've been working with them for a bit before it happens. Then, I love seeing them explaining it to their friends, and seeing them get it. It's like a whole bunch of lights being turned on in a sequence.

After physics, Astronomy is probably my favorite thing to teach. The class is fun, but they still work, and the subject is really interesting, so I don't mind studying it to teach it later. The textbook defines astronomy as the study of the Universe. It defines Universe as "The entirety of matter, space, energy, and time." Occasionally I stop and tell some side story that has little to do with what we're actually studying at the time, but I always relate it back to the fact that Astronomy is the study of...well...EVERYTHING. It's nice that it's low-key, and there aren't any end of year tests to worry about.

Meteorology is a bit of a challenge...mostly because I don't really enjoy knowing everything about it. The weather is something that I really like to know about...insofar as it will effect my life. The fact that I don't love the subject makes it slightly more difficult for me to be as into it. I need to work on it, and make class more entertaining for myself as well as the students. Hopefully, that'll work out.

Overall, it's been great. I'm so tired when I get home at night, but Nate's been fantastic. He cooks! He cleans! He gives me back massages! He's patient with me even when I fall asleep while he's talking to me. I got me a good man, I tell you what.

Hi Ho, Hi Ho...

It's off to work I go!

Tomorrow is my first official day of teaching Physics, and the next day, I teach Physics, Meteorology, and Astronomy. These weeks in Provo have been pretty full of moving in, getting settled, and getting ready for a school year. Also, Nate had a birthday in there, which was fun, and we've even taken some pictures of the process.

As soon as I manage to find our silly photo card transfer cable, you can see the journey outlined. Until then...you can't. You can, however, watch this funny song. Please enjoy.

Praxis...check.

At 7:30 this morning, I was found sitting in room 445 of the MARB getting ready to take the Praxis exam. What is the Praxis? Well, it's a qualifying test for secondary teachers. You have to take it in your subject area. Someone today said, "It's like the bar for history teachers!" While I would say that that's a gross exaggeration, it is an important test. It's also stringently proctored--like the ACT.

Well, our proctor was kind of rude. I understand that she's supposed to be strict, but she took that to a whole new level. Examples:

1. Everyone was waiting to start the test, and a few people were missing, apparently. Someone asked if they could know who was missing so that they could call them. Now, the answer she gave was reasonable...it's not like we all didn't know about this test, but she scoffed at the student who was trying to be nice, and just said, "Nope! They can take it in January!"
2. This is 7:30 in the morning...on a Saturday, and someone asked if we could eat. There was no explanation, just a hearty...and rude..."Absolutely Not!"
3. No eating or drinking was allowed during the test. A girl in front of me took a drink out of her water bottle, which made one of those loud pop sounds when the plastic sucks in. She was quickly approached by the proctor, who said, in no uncertain terms, "Do you realize that I could confiscate your test for that? There is NO eating or drinking during this test, and you are making so much noise and disrupting other people."

It was one of those awful awkward feelings...like when the teachers in school would lecture someone in front of the class. I would say that it's more likely that SHE was more distracting than any plastic popping.

Oh well, it's over, and that's really all that matters at this point.

The Perils of Observation

I'm currently doing observations at a local middle school. This is also possibly the place that I will student teach. I came into class yesterday, and the students were supposed to be giving presentations on the presidents. Their presentations were stored on the main teacher's flash drive...which ended up at home. There wasn't a backup plan.

Result: I basically tap-danced for the kids for 40 minutes while the teacher ran home to get the flash drive. This wouldn't have been all that terrible, if I'd had anything planned or if I'd had some access to some of my materials. However, that didn't happen. Honestly, it was a disaster, and one that I certainly hope to never repeat in my actual career.

Things I've learned:
1. NEVER come to a middle school unprepared.
2. I will have some sort of "in case of emergency" activity in the event that I have to leave someone in a possible lurch.
3. There's a saying that goes something like, "Failure to plan on your part does not constitute an emergency on our part." Sometimes, that's not true.