So the Adventure Begins...

I don’t have all too many fears about student teaching, however, I know there are many things on my mind when I think about the whole experience. I believe I am the most worried about how well I will get along with my host teacher, what that relationship will be like, and how I will learn all I need to in the short 8 weeks we have with each of them. I want to know what all I will be expected to do; will I work on grading? Will I write and teach lessons? Will I participate in parent teacher conferences? Do art teachers even do those? Will I take over the class by the end of each experience? There are just so many thoughts going through my head. I am as ready as I think I ever will be, and I have plenty of confidence, because I feel like I’ve been well prepared, yet there is still that fear of the unknown. Overall, I know I am far more excited and anxious to start than anything else. I must say the only actual “fears” I have are how my life outside of the classroom is going to go during student teaching. I don’t know where I’ll be living, what school district I’ll be in, how I’m going to manage to pay my bills, what it will be like if I have to hold down an evening shift job and student teaching, how I will balance a social life and student teaching so that I don’t get overwhelmed and so I still have a space to vent when I need to, etc. Many more of my concerns lie outside of the classroom than within. I know that I will make mistakes, I know that I will become overwhelmed at points, I know that kids will get under my skin some days, however, I also know that I love what I am doing, and that I will learn and experience more than I ever thought possible, so I am more excited to start than I am worried to go into it.