I love that I have a passion for education. I know that's weird to say, but I truly enjoy being passionate about a field that is so diverse and so topical these days.
I have a professor who today told me "I love what you bring to the class; there are so many students who don't even think to ask questions like that or look at situations from that angle". We were talking about discipline in the classroom and how easy students these days have access to information literally at their fingertips without having to be near a computer.
I definitely have to say being in this participation/practicum phase of the education program has definitely opened my eyes to a lot of things that go on in the classroom. Earlier in the program I resented having to observe so much because it was so teacher-based. This semester, I observe the classrooms about once a week and participate/teach twice a week (I only go into the classrooms three times a week). The one thing I like about observing this time around is I can watch the students, and watching the students is definitely changing my outlook on discipline in the classroom and classroom management in general.
We have been listening to presentations in one of my courses where each student did a case study in a classroom that included three observations and an interview with a teacher. Each presentation I have seen I have had questions regarding discipline, classroom management, and administrative roles in the schools. I understand that there are so many outside factors that come into play with a teacher and his/her teaching styles, but some of them I just want to go up and ask "Why in the world did you decide to do that?"
Sometimes I can't believe how much I actually know about education. I was talking to a friend earlier about how people can be 20-some years old and still speak like "He don't know blah blah blah". I got all into language acquisition theory and how people learn when they're younger and I remember thinking "I seriously remember this stuff?"
I'm also reflecting on INTASC (Interstate New Teacher Assessment and Support Consortium) principles for my digital teaching portfolio review (click here for the link) and each principle has things that I actually remember learning in my content classrooms and I'm like "WHY do I remember these things? I mean, I'm glad I do, but I don't remember specifically trying to remember these concepts."
Crazy right? I mean, I shouldn't be complaining or anything, and retaining this information has been more than helpful with not only my education program but also conversations with teaching professionals, administrators, and proving points in discussions with friends.
Good golly is Ball State onto something? Are they preaching conceptual understanding and actually successful at it? Because I swear I'm not consciously trying to retain half the information I'm able to produce, yet here it is!
Of course this makes me sound like a terrible person. I love teaching. I love learning about teaching. I suppose that's why I'm able to retain all this information; it's something I am passionate about and my brain realizes that I might like to use it later in life. I'm not becoming a teacher as a fall back job, or an alternative to putting myself out there in a different field; I've wanted to become a teacher for the past 12 years. For all intents and purposes, I could have come to college, started taking education classes, and hated them. But I didn't. And that's why I'm here today.
I think I'm cut out to become a teacher. I even think I'm cut out to become an administrator (although I'm not looking forward to being in school anymore haha). I honestly think I could become a principal that the school benefits from rather than one who is just a puppet for a higher up or has very little regard for the teachers and students. If nothing else, this undergraduate experience has shown me what I'm capable of without even trying to be.
This isn't just analyzing my thought process or conversations I've had with professors or teachers. This was reflected on an assignment I turned into my practicum teacher (by far my strictest grader this semester). It was an assignment over assessment and evaluation, and in complete all honesty it was an assignment that I through together very haphazardly, to the point where I probably couldn't recreate my process if I tried. Even reflecting on the assignment, I remember starting at a very awkward place and working in and out of that place, rather than beginning to end or even end to beginning. It was sort of working in the middle and going in both directions until I reached one end point.
With that being said, I got an A on the assignment, was in the highest category on the rubric, and was told that it was a "strong response to the assessment and evaluation assignment. It looks aligned in terms of difficulty and scope of what’s being measured."
...I'm sorry what? I mean, I'm not complaining but...are you sure?
I'm sure my mother is going to have a cow when she reads this. See, if I had put more time and effort into it, I could probably get a higher A or at least think that I deserved the grade that I got.
Or maybe this is my key actually. Looking back at the previous two stages of the education program, I had always gotten "basic" or "proficient" on my reflections, philosophy, and artifacts. Maybe being haphazard and letting my unconscious knowledge take over is what I need to finally reach the distinguished level. I mean, I'm only halfway done with my reflections, but they look a lot different than my first two sets, and those I made with the standards right in front of me. I've looked at the standard maybe once and have just been going with it.
I wonder if my mother will have a cow with that, too.
What was I talking about? I have no idea what this blog post is about. Sorry for the stream of consciousness!
But yeah...teaching...gotta love it. I do, at least! Oh and mom don't kill me :P
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