Well, that's that. A chapter in my life has been completed. Today I completed the last of my student teaching hours and said goodbye to my students and mentor. I am now the holder of a Bachelors of Arts degree in Elementary Education.
And, boy! What a roller coaster of a chapter has it been! Though I've maintained composure in my writing, I've honestly been all over the place with my feelings and emotions, particularly these past few months. I've literally gone from despising everything and cursing myself for "settling" on my profession one day to brimming with excitement and hope the next (and then back to despising everything the following day). I'd like to go into more detail about that, and I even have a post already written up, but because of the nature of the content, I shall continue to refrain from that topic for the moment. I am extremely proud of where I've been, however, so I doubt I can contain myself for much longer.
I also have a few posts in mind about the last nine weeks and my short time running solo during my student teaching. I've been holding off on posting recently, mostly for time constraints, I suppose. How terrible it is to realize that during my student teaching, I actually devoted little time to reflection. Yes, I did spend SOME time with my thoughts, but I feel that because I didn't write anything up formally, I haven't been thorough or honest enough with myself. What a retched feeling to admit to.
Now I'm ready, though.
Let the catharsis begin.
At least two separate posts about activities in student teaching, plus one explaining my predicament (if you will), will be posted shortly.
But first, I've noted that just as one chapter comes to a close, another one begins. Literally as soon as I got into my car to leave the elementary school for the last time today, I got a call from a day care that I had applied at offering me a full time position. I'm thrilled to say that I accepted. It doesn't pay much, but honestly, money's one of the last things on my mind. I DO need to save up for MTCM (I'm ready to send in my application, but I'm lacking the $1,500 that's due within 10 days of my acceptance), but I'm a simple girl and don't need much to live on.
Without going into much detail, I could tell I was on the verge of early burnout if I continued down the path I was on. I'm so excited to begin something new. This will be my first experience working with toddler and pre-school-aged children, but I'm eager to put into practice some of the theories and ideas I've developed from reading Montessori, Teacher Tom, Vivian Gussin Paley, Magda Gerber's RIE, and a personal friend that teaches at Head Start. The facility and staff seem to be laid-back, and I believe that everything will turn out wonderfully!
I'm still awaiting news on teaching positions for next year, but I'm not anxious about it. I know that whatever is meant to be will happen, and right now I'm just glad to say that I'm again filled with hope and inspiration thinking about my new job working with the very little ones!
