Baby, I'm Ready to GO!

I am SO ready to go! Not "ready to go" as in leave student teaching, but "ready to go" as in ready to get out in the teaching world. I'm ready to have my own classroom! I want to spend every moment I am awake teaching students about physics and building relationships with them.

I LOVE student teaching. It wasn't really a full experience until I began full-time teaching. And now I see the whole beauty of teaching these wonderful high schoolers!

I just finished up my first of two weeks of full-time teaching. These kids are amazing. They give me a reason to get up in the morning. I can't wait to talk to them and help them learn something new each day!

There were several students that at the beginning sent me the wrong signals. They wouldn't listen in class; they weren't doing well, and they just all out got on my last nerve! But now, with some of them, things have turned completely around. I have one student who is now coming to me for tutoring on a daily basis. She is excited to speak up in class now because she understands it. I love that I can help students find confidence in what they know! I've also formed a relationship with this student where she trusts me. We can talk about things and she knows that I will listen.

I also like to have a conversational tone in my teaching. I like the students to know that I'm a real person too, so I throw in fun stories and ask them about their lives. I have one student who was baffled that I liked football. He just couldn't believe that I recognized names from the NBA. Another student asked me if I was going to the Titan's game Sunday since I went last week. These bridges that I have formed connecting their culture to me have helped me develop strong relationships with my students that make me smile every time I think about them.

It's these relationships that make my career more than a job. These relationships help me live out the calling of Jesus when he said we were to love one another. It's also these relationships that brought me to tears the other night...

I love my students so much. Yes, there are those kids that will never stop talking. Yes, there are those kids that can't seem to keep their eyes open in my class. Yes, there are those kids that just can't seem to grasp it. But every single one of those kids is an individual that has walked into my life and for that I will never be the same. God placed every single one of these teenagers in my life for a purpose. I hope that during my few weeks of being at MLK, that I've been able to love them and show them love like Christ did for me. Because I know they have helped change me and my heart in a way I could have never imagined. So anyways, the other night I got to thinking about my kids and how I don't have that much time left with them and I broke down crying. It really upsets me that I may never see any of these students ever again. They all have a special place in my heart and I pray I may never forget them nor the lessons they've helped teach me.

It's kinda funny how we go into the classroom intending to teach our students, but then we come out learning so much more from them than we probably taught them.

God knows just what we need.

Sad for change, but ready to GO into the teaching world,
Katelyn