As with many things in life it is a lot easier to continue forward when you are in a groove, a rhythm, a routine of sorts – the same is true for teaching. So after about eleven weeks of teaching day by day and coming in before anyone in the department (because I think better at school in the morning then I do late at night in my apartment) and probably leaving school (after soccer) after about everyone in my department I think that I have gotten into a groove.
It is really hard to explain, this groove, but I feel like I have a good handle on the school, the staff, who to go to and for what reason, how to make phone calls home, how to handle tough situations in the classroom, and just really feeling comfortable in front of the students (not that I wasn’t before, but just that it is a lot easier right now because I know them). From there it has been really feeling like a valued member of the department and of the school – from CSAP proctoring (which I did not have to do, read on and you’ll find out why), to soccer, to administration members saying hello – Arapahoe has become a comfortable and good place for me to student teach. Now it has also become a much better place for me to teach now that I have balanced and put together my life, teaching, and everything else into a groove. It feels good. I am happy, energized, comfortable and now ready to finish out the last couple of weeks of student teaching.
