In my classroom last week, I agreed to host a brand new teacher who is just starting out on her career. In fact, she doesn't even have her certification yet, so she's only allowed to teach because I was there to make sure she didn't murder anyone. Fortunately, today I didn't have to jump to anybody's defense (which is good since I'm not much of a jumper these days). She's still brand new, and it shows, but over all she did pretty well.
It brings back such memories to watch her try out things like pacing, group discussions, and behavior management. I remember those struggles so well, and I can hardly believe that it's been ten years since I was in her shoes. After most of her lesson was over, she came back to me, panic in her eyes, to say that her lesson had RUN SHORT! What was she going to do with the ten extra minutes at the end?! Luckily, I was able to help her out with a little sponge activity.
Do you remember the very beginnings of your professional life? Not classes in college, but the very first few times you really took out your shiny new skills and tried to use them? I remember it being such a terrifying, but also exhilarating, experience! Still, I wouldn't choose to go back in time. Those were also the times when I worked twelve hour days just to keep up.
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