Thoughts On My First Week of Teaching
Tuesday, August 28, 2018
Dress: Thrifted (Vintage) | Shoes: Thrifted | Purse: c/o Gamiss | Earrings: Target
Well, I survived my first week of school as a teacher!!! To be honest I don't think it really hit me till Tuesday, then Wednesday I hit a wall of tiredness and Friday was officially the shortest day ever! Needless to say, my first week in the classroom as a teacher was nothing like I expected it to be and everything I hoped it would be:)
For two weeks I had been counting down the days till the first day of school when I would finally get to meet my students, and the Thursday before the first day (when I got my class rosters) it all started to get a little more real because I could put names to my classes.
The first day seemed like a whirlwind! All my class periods went by so fast and it was all I could do to take in all the many faces, names, personalities, and abilities that walked through my door. After Monday I got into more of a routine as I got used to the daily schedule and slowly got to know each class better and each student more specifically.
Within our school district we are always encouraged to take the first week to build relationships, so my first week of teaching was spent getting to know my students, doing icebreakers, practicing teamwork, and getting to know different aspects of my students and each one of my classes.
What I learned and realized:
I've always heard teachers say that when you start teaching you will be the tiredest you have ever been, and apart from many other things, I can definitely agree that is true! While I might wake up at 4:45 am every morning its not necessarily the early mornings that get me (I have become more of a morning person), but rather the busy schedule and 24/7 energy! My personality and personality weaknesses as an Introvert have definitely been challenged since starting my job and I think it is more so my "Introverted" personality that causes me to feel EXHAUSTED when I get home every day....it's not that I am necessarily tired, but more so that I feel drained (which is understandable considering the environment that I work in). But I've heard it gets better so here's to pressing forward!
I've never drank this much coffee every day (well except for when I was student teaching). I now have two cups of coffee before 7:20 am every morning and some days make another cup around 10:00 am with the Keurig I have in my classroom:)
I don't think I have ever talked this much in my life!!! I went from talking maybe 2 hours total a day to talking close to 6 hours every day... that has been something to get used to. I don't mind talking in front of my classes, in fact I become a completely different person when placed in a teaching role (very animated and loud) and I haven't actually felt myself start to shrink into my "Introvert Shell" while teaching (now when I am with other co-workers that can be a different story).
Building relationships with your students is soooo important! While I have definitely only skimmed the surface of each of my students personalities, I can see, going into the second week, just how vital everything I did the first week was in creating the class atmospheres that exist currently. I also love that I had my students create their own class values, because they have actually started to keep each other accountable to behaving well in class, so I am curious to see how that continues to go:)
High Schoolers are awesome, crazy, & at times a mystery but I love the variety of personalities I have in my class every day and the variety of students ranging from athletes, band members, color guard, student council and more!
I can without a doubt say that my first week of teaching was probably one of the most CHALLENGING things I have done in my life (even more than my RA job in college), probably because it's just me & my students and I am in charge and the go to person. However, despite all of the craziness and at times overwhelming "to do" list it has been amazing! At times it still seems like a dream and at other times it seems like I am simply doing what I was always meant to do, but whatever my daily feeling I can't wait to see what else this adventure has in store!
Outfit Details:
So this isn't an outfit that I taught in, but a fun summer outfit a wore a few weeks back. I picked up this dress at the thrift store because it reminded me of Jessica Day from New Girl, which considering she is a teacher, and at times an unconventional one at that I can't help but look to her for "teacher style" inspiration:)
- Madison
