Nervous Excitement - PWTA

What are you most excited about now that you've started and what are you now most nervous about. Why? Be specific-- we want to learn something about your experiences in your practicum so far based on your response.

Now that I've started my practicum, one of the most fun parts has been chatting with students and getting to know them. I've worked with these students specifically one on one, and as a helper in the classroom, but never with them in a whole class setting. The other part that has been really cool, which I didn't expect, was just how fun getting to know how the classroom works behind the scenes.

I have never been a part of planning time, so that was really cool. My cooperating teacher (here and forever known as "Kaleb") works very closely with, let's call her, Amie. They work together and teach humanities collaboratively. During planning time they talked about their plans for after this break, and shared the curriculum document with me. I got to ask questions about how the standards fit in to it and they answered that the "indicators" are, essentially, standards. We chatted about our middle school experiences versus what they're trying to do, which really helped me visualize their goals and expectations. 

I'm terrified about teaching a lesson. Middle schoolers are, well, a lot sometimes. I adore them, I do, but they're intense. During planning time they had PE, and when we got back to the classroom the teacher, who is incredible and super kind, seemed stressed. One of the girls whom I have built a relationship with over the year told me that PE was.... interesting. Turns out there were a lot of problems. It's an 8th grade class with a lot of strong personalities, and they have all been together for the past 9 years and are kinda sick of each other. My classroom management skills are not great, so I'm definitely planning on building some of those, and also building more relationships with students, before I attempt a lesson.