Fall Down on Your Face Day

Reposted from my personal blog:

Today I embarked on the first day of my clinical teaching experience.  During this experience I will have the opportunity to observe and teach six weeks of Social Studies and twelve weeks of Language Arts.  It was one of the most nerve-wracking days of my life.  I also found such fulfillment in the fact that I've made it this far: I'm in the school!!!  But, there is still a long way to go until the end of my journey.

For this clinical experience, I was placed at my former high school, James Madison High School.  And during the first six weeks I have the honor and privilege to work with one of my all-time favorite teachers, Jon McNulty.  Our schedule is rather light, but I'm excited to jump in slowly.  I will mostly be working with the Pyschology kids and the Leadership class.  Jon also teaches AP Economics (which I am scared to death to teach, so I'll just observe) and Weight Training (I won't be PE certified, so I can't teach this).

When I showed up at Madison this morning, I wasn't quite sure what to expect.  I had laid out and pressed my outfit, packed my lunch, packed my "school" bag (complete with my cooperating teacher's folder, my work sample, the Pyschology textbook, a flash drive with Jon's complete curriculum on it, my lap top, and a few pens), and set my alarm the night before.  And, in the midst of all of this I realized that I was about to be the "new guy" once again.  I felt excited, a bit unprepared, professional, and ready to get back to school.  

 I looked like a rookie (you know, the over prepared dork we all laugh at when they show up to work for the first day), but I didn't even care. Aaaaannnnnd then, I tripped in the parking lot and fell on my face.  Lucky for me, it was 7:00am and there were only a few students and staff members around.  But still, in my dorky perfection, I picked myself up (smile and all) and kept walking.  Tripping in the parking lot was perfect.  It showed me that no matter how wonderful this profession is, there will always be the imperfect "fall-down-on-your face" days.

When I got inside, I saw former teachers in the hallway (some of them hugged me and others smiled like they knew me from somewhere) and younger siblings of friends.  It felt wonderful to be home.  But, it also felt different.  I no longer roamed these halls as a student, now, I roamed as a teacher.  It was sort of like the feeling I got when I saw "behind-the-scenes" of Disneyland; I felt like it was something I wasn't supposed to be seeing.  But, I think that'll make it all the more fun and exciting. 

Today I had the opportunity to meet the students and look over a few ideas for my work sample.  Observation and assisting is the name of the game for week one.  I will be teaching my work sample unit on Emotions and Stress/Health.  My ideas for success in this work sample are not getting eaten alive by high school kids, adequately covering the topic, and having A LOT of fun with my students.  Jon has laid a strong groundwork with them, and he's pretty much a rockstar.  So, I have gianormous shoes to fill when I take over the class in a few weeks.  I'm not ready today, but I'll work up to it.  I'm starting the process of coming to terms with some of my imperfections.  I'm ready to take critques and become the best teacher I can be.

Let's do this!