Where Do We Begin?

This week starts the process of becoming a teacher (or educator if you prefer).  I have been working hard toward this moment and it is finally here!  I a bit nervous, apprehensive at times, and excited or stoked if you will.  I know that as educators and professionals, we will constantly be learning as we journey into our career.  That is probably why that is one of the teaching standards (NCTCS 3 and 5), but I would think that in any career you would want to continue to grow.  But we are talking #teacherlife here.  Some might think that teaching is easy.  They may categorize it as:

• you get summers off (free and clear of any responsibility AND get paid)
• you make a decent wage (which is true, but the amount of hours a GOOD teacher puts in: in and out of the classroom can arguably decrease the money to work ratio)
• you have all of the answers in the answer key (true but as we have learned pedagogy, behavior management, dealing with parents in a positive way, classroom design etc... are not taught as much as learned and there is not a clear cut way to deal with every situation)
• it's not manual labor....must be easy  

All of these, to me are misconceptions that people have.  Yes, school is out for the summer (I can hear Alice Cooper singing that chorus now), but that doesn't mean we are to neglect learning our craft.  It is a nice break for sure, but we can still be creating and learning through this time.  Learning HOW to instruct, why we instruct that way, and what are the outcomes of our instruction will be my goal this semester.  I plan on being proficient to the best of my abilities before student teaching and especially before I get my own classroom.  Will this happen in a school year?  Not fully.  It is a continuous thing, but I am confident in my classmates and in the instruction we have been given to lead us in the right direction.  I plan to take advantage of this experience to develop and implement my own style, pedagogy, class culture and teaching culture in my future school and classroom.

I have learned a lot from my CE already by asking questions.  How do you manage your classroom?  How are the learning blocks designed?  When is lunch? (really, that is important.  Have you every tried to teach a hungry kid?) What are the "behind the scenes duties?  etc...  I have found that using notes (Evernote specifically)  and learning as much as possible up front will be the key to my success.  Here is a list of Twitter chats that have proven helpful to me and helped me develop a PLN community:  https://sites.google.com/site/twittereducationchats/education-chat-calendar I have learned a lot from other educators as well as getting connected with edCamps and other teacher growth conferences.  This is how to stay up to date on the latest and greatest from those who have been doing this for a hot minute.