Well the first week of MTC flew by so fast, I can't believe it is over. Much has happened to me in the past 2 weeks with graduation and moving down here. It is hard to process it all. But what I do know, is that I am settling in well, for now.
The first few days were expectedly awkward. There are 24 of us and most of us don't know each other so it only makes sense that conversations seem forced. Plus, this is a new place for many of us. Not too mention that there was so much information thrown at us. It was all very overwhelming, but we went through it together. This has bonded us. Although at times things are awkward, we are much more relaxed with one another.
As far as orientation and getting down to the nuts and bolts of what we are actually here to do, the past week has been a blur. Like I said before, it is really hard to not only be meeting new people, but at the same time, trying to figure out the logistics of everything. I was very happy for Friday afternoon to come around mainly because I wanted a chance to take a deep breath and actually figure out everything that I am suppose to be doing. I think that weekends this summer are going to be like little treasures.
This week has also caused me to think a lot about what I am excited, nervous, and just plain scared of in respect to the coming two years. This may seem ridiculous, but I am scared of tornados! I have been thinking of it a lot recently, and well I know they happen out here. I am just not an extreme weather kind of gal. Slightly more important than tornados, I am nervous, really uncertain, of my classroom management plan. We have received a lot of great advise over the past week, but as far as classroom management goes, I have heard a lot of conflicting thoughts. Some say start really strict and then if the class responds to it and can handle being a little more laid back, then it is acceptable. Others have said the complete opposite. Don't try and be their friend, but also do not go in there stone faced and really strict. I have had a few years of experience lesson planning, so I am not as concerned about that. But at this point, I am really unsure of how I want to run my classroom. I see the benefits in both starting off strict and not starting that way. The question really is whether or not I can be that strict teacher even though that is not how I am naturally. I suppose that is why summer school teaching is so perfect. It gives us time to experiment with how we want to do things ourselves.
But overall, I am just really excited! I feel like we wont really understand the things that people are saying regarding teaching until we are actually in the classrooms ourselves. That is why I went with an alternative teaching program. I wanted to learn about teaching while teaching at the same time. I learn by doing, so I think just jumping into it all will really help clarify things for me. I suppose we shall see how things unfold in a few short days.
Great title!
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