Skip to main content

My Next Big Leap

  This semester for my month of practicum, I knew that I was going to be assigned to a 3rd, 4th, 5th, or 6th grade class. The night before we were getting our placements, I told my roommate that I would be so happy with any grade BUT sixth, because I knew that I would NEVER teach sixth grade. Ever. Well, you can guess what happened the next day. I got my placement.... Sixth grade. I didn't CRY, per say, but I was definitely a little teary-eyed walking through campus. I had a two hour break before I needed to be at work, so I got on my computer and researched the school and classroom I would be in. To add insult to injury, I learned that I would not only be in sixth grade, I would be in an ACCELERATED sixth grade. I lamented that now not only would all of the students be TALLER than me, but they would also be SMARTER than me.
     
     So I came to the conclusion that I was supposed to have this experience in sixth grade to confirm the fact that I would never ever be a sixth grade teacher. The night before practicum started I woke up about every hour I was so terrified, and those who know me well know that I NEED my sleep. My sisters call me Grandma because I'm always the first one to go to bed. The first day went well despite the lack of sleep, but I left still fully believing that this would be the extent of my experience in sixth grade for the remainder of my career.

   Everything changed when I started teaching. I taught a little of everything: Ancient Rome, math, science, literacy, and so on. Teaching sixth grade didn't feel like work. It didn't matter that I was being evaluated, it didn't matter whether I was stressed, had other things on my mind, or even if I'd had the stomach flu all weekend and still felt awful. When I was teaching, I became a version of myself I didn't even know existed. I was just telling my mom yesterday that I thrived more during those four weeks as  teacher and was more passionate about my career than I had ever been before. I loved the material, I loved relating it to the students' lives, and I LOVED the students!

   During my last week of practicum, I interviewed for an intern teaching position. I spent the entire afternoon at work that day staring at my phone. It came to the point where I had to HIDE it under my desk so that I would stop checking it and get my work done! Well, eventually it rang and the principal of Art City Elementary offered me an internship. She said that it would be either 1st, 4th, or 6th grade, and that she would call in the next few days when she had decided for sure. Before I even hung up the phone, I knew exactly what grade it would be. Sure enough, the next day she called back and told me I would be a SIXTH GRADE intern! Yes I cried again, but this time the tears were happy ones!

YES my students will all be taller than me!

YES I sometimes can't sleep at night because ideas are churning in my head!

YES I'm a little bit terrified!

YES I'm so excited I can hardly stand it!

  I am so thankful for the many ways in which I have been prepared for this next big leap. I am so thankful for a Heavenly Father who knows me better than I know myself. I am so thankful for my friends and family who have supported and continue to support me. Finally, I am so SO thankful for my past teachers who are my heroes, who have helped me become the person I am today, and who have inspired me to want to be a teacher!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Until We Meet Again

           On Friday, my Grandma Freeman passed away. She was almost 90 years old and lived a long, full life. She was kind, loving, a hard worker, and fiercely loyal. She taught elementary school, and I've always loved the fact that both of my grandmas were teachers, and good ones at that. We joke in our family that teaching runs in our blood, and it's an honor to be able to carry on her legacy.            For most of the years I was growing up, she lived in New York, in the small, small town of Hornell. My dad would take us on weekend trips to visit during the summers. In fact my first time driving on the highway with my learner's permit was on the way up to visit them one summer, and I remember proudly announcing that when we walked into the house. We would always start off our visits with a trip to the ONLY restaurant in town (Pizza Hut) and then stop by the ONLY grocery store in town (Wegman's) for ice cream to take home,...
1 comment
Read more

My Journey to Self-Confidence

This is a picture of me almost exactly three years ago: And this is a picture of me now: Now, you might be thinking this is one of those stories that you see in Weight Watchers ads on T.V. endorsing a diet. I promise it's not. This journey was about so much more than a number on a scale. It was about working towards being able to recognize my divine nature as a daughter of God. I'll start at the beginning. When I started my freshman year at BYU, my self-confidence was at an all time low. I would try on about five outfits every morning, look in the mirror, and then immediately change. My low self-esteem was reflected in the way I talked to people, the way I dressed, and just the overall way that I carried myself. I compared myself to everyone else around me and was constantly tearing myself down. My lack of self-esteem seemed so obvious, yet it seemed like no one truly understood how I felt. I knew I needed to make some changes, but I just didn't know how. Af...
4 comments
Read more

Never, Ever, Ever, Give Up

           I remember when I was 8 years old, I joined our neighborhood pool's swim team. To say that I was an AWFUL swimmer from the beginning of my ill-fated swimming career was an understatement. For starters, my dive into the pool was basically a glorified jump with my arms over my head. I remember we would get ribbons the Monday after a meet for each event that we had placed in. If you didn't place in any of your events, you got this yellow ribbon that said "Good Swim" on it. I had a nice collection of those "Good Swim" ribbons by the end of that season, but it didn't curb my enthusiasm in the slightest. I loved swimming and even though I was the slowest one in my age group and my three younger sisters could each swim circles around me, I went to every practice, gave it my all, and even started swimming year round.           No matter how hard I practiced and trained, I never became a great swimmer. The older I got, the more...
1 comment
Read more