assignment 4

Well this is the last week of my student teaching here at Red Lake High School. Wheeww the time has flown by, today was a particular hard day... my teacher and some of my students went on a field trip down to the cities. I know that next week I will be working here and seeing them but one student will not be back. We had a lovely chat this morning about his hopes and dreams. He has come a long way this year and he is now finishing up in a different school setting. I am nervous for him, but I told him no matter what I know that he will be just fine! These 12 weeks have been uplifting and heartbreaking at the same time. Some teachers here say that this is a place either you love and stay forever or you hate and leave. On the notion that I am coming back to be a sub starting next week I know that I am one of those that is in the LOVE category. Being in that category I now am understanding that I am "RUINED" as the teachers put it, in a good way of course :) I am ruined in sense that I will not be able to teach in a regular school setting where teachers are not necessarily needed as we are here in Red Lake. Not only am I a Secondary Social Studies guru, but also a math, English teacher; a counselor, friend, and parent CRAZY!!! But a good crazy at that. I know when I wake up in the morning, I am needed, I have to be here, I am one of only a few influential people in my students lives and that my friends makes me very, very happy! I have accomplished teaching a class of ten with each one of them having some sort of issue that hinders their learning ability and to me that is a goal in itself. I was given a pat on the back by my fellow teachers for being able to keep a class together and teach it completely all at the same time. So I feel like I have accomplished more than I ever had imagined. I am now a person who people look to for advice, look up to for guidence, and see me a as a person who was and still is a kid but a mature one at that! I have learned how to bond with kids, make them laugh, make them think hard..., how to be a kid and a responsible student in a world that hinders them. I feel that what I learned will be a great asset to the next school I encounter. Having students coming to me with issues that should only apply to adults on a regular basis, opening their hearts to teach them that people may leave but it is their thoughts that stay with you for the rest of your life. To realize that there are three types of people that come in and out of your life. The first is one that brings you down, has negative impacts on your life as a whole. The second type, leaves you where you are... just hanging not expanding your mind in a positve way. Then there is the third type, the person enters your life pushing you to get outside the box and realize that in the end it is only you that takes care of you. My kids now realize that. With the morning cirlce discussing important and real life issues, having me explain where I have come in life from the choices I have made. Small quick confrences outside the classroom to discuss serious personal issues where we decide what action they should take and whether or not they need to seek help. My kids know that I am here for them, that if they are not sure about the decision they should make, that I will ask them the right questions to get them in the right direction. The counselors have told me what I have been doing has an awesome impact in the students lives. In the last two weeks I have been eating lunch with many students and asking them where they see themselves ten years from now and if they were to run into me what would they love to tell me. When put that way it gives them a goal that they can picture and know that if they run into me in ten years they want to be able to impress me. To me I now know that being an educator is what my gift is and I want to be able to share my gift with others. Helping those who need help: children!