You’re shocked I’ve managed to post twice already this week? So am I! But I’ve finally finished my teaching portfolio for my senior/graduation grade and have just a little extra free time before I start my second eight weeks of teaching. Be prepared for the heartfelt but slapdash posts to continue in the near future, at least for the next eight weeks, as I struggle to get through the final stretch.
Now, I’ve got some xstitch updates to show you all. No hope of starting the Christmas projects early though I fear, but at least progress is being made on the current project. But before I get into all that I’d like to get a little emotional here and talk about why I love my job (or, technically, what will be my job once I’ve officially graduated and found a full-time position somewhere).
There are plenty of people, I’ve met my fair share and I’m sure you have too, that go into education because they couldn’t think of anything else to do. English majors in particular seem to gravitate towards teaching a few years after they’ve finished their undergraduate degree and realize they can’t make a living off their poetry, the writing world isn’t hiring the way they thought, the internship didn’t turn into a job, etc… The list goes on. I started out as an English Ed. major and was one of the few who didn’t change their major after the first round of observations, or the second round of teaching, or the third round of teaching, and have made my way into the student-teaching/practicum semester. For a while I was worried about being a teacher. I was depressed at the thought of never being able to sit in a classroom and learn about books anymore. I thought teaching meant giving up something the lit and writing majors got to hold on to.
Then I started my student teaching. I had the opportunity to get to know 100 of the neatest kids I could ever think of (don’t get me wrong…I had my bad days…you can’t love 100 teenagers 100% of the time, let’s be honest) and, get this, I got to teach them about books. I got to teach them about writing. I got to teach them about language. How cool is that?
Sure, not all of them love English, not all of them loved me, but being able to watch these kids make connections, discuss a novel, and write a decent paper (without too many grammar mistakes) just made me happy. I got attached to all my students. I learned about the things they wanted to do with their future and found myself really hoping they’d get everything they wanted. When something good happened to one of my students I felt genuinely happy. When they turned in a revised paper and actually paid attention to my comments I wanted to show it off myself.
There’s something about teaching that makes me genuinely happy. Sure, I’d still love to go to grad school and write that thesis on a Dickens novel, but if this is as good as it gets, teaching day in and day out for the next half century or so, I think I’ll be pretty happy. Of course not all schools are as nice as the one I was lucky enough to do my student-teaching at, but hey there are good kids everywhere if you look for them, so that’s what I’ll do.
Now, not to change topics awkwardly or anything…but here’s my stitching update for the week. Let’s hope I’m able to make some progress on my off days this week so I can dive into those Christmas projects by November at the latest!