Dear Heidi,
It’s January 2010 and you have decided to make a change in your career path and go back to school to get another degree. I know you are hesitant and questioning whether this is the right decision; well it is so stop doubting yourself. Two years until graduation seems like a lifetime away but it will go fast; I promise.
My first piece of advice is to pay attention in your CORE Education classes. They may seem boring at times and you will probably think you will never need to know all this information but you will. Don’t feel overwhelmed by the course work, especially the FERs. It is not as bad as it seems and you will get through it just fine. Manage your time wisely. You will be taking 16-18 hours a semester, coaching, and working. Don’t let all the stress bring you down. Stay organized and have fun when you can.
You will be nervous at the beginning of your last semester when you will be doing your student teaching. There will be times when you think that there will be no way you can do this, but you can. You will actually have a better experience than you could ever imagine. Yes, some of your placements at the beginning will be a let-down, but in the end you will end up where you were meant to be. You will learn more during your last semester than all the semesters combined.
In all honesty, student teaching will be the least stressful time. Yes, there will be times you struggle and feel like you have no clue what you’re doing. However, the Praxis, KPTP, and the job search will be things that begin to bring you down. Don’t let the Praxis stress you out. You will pass it and everything will be ok. It is overwhelming and a hard test but go in prepared and you will do fine. The KPTP, well that just sucks and there is no way to avoid it. It is the most time consuming assignment you will ever do. Do not put it off until the last minute. Begin working on it in January. Break it down and do a little every week and you will thank yourself in the end. Make a goal to finish it before spring break. Finally, there is a little thing called the job search. This will be an extremely stressful time. You will be disappointed; you will worry. Yet, in the end everything will work out. You will find a job and end up at a place where you would have never thought. You WILL find a job. Don’t stay awake until the wee hours of the night worrying.
You can do this.
HD
Heidi,
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing this. You included several aspects of your journey that resonated with me. First, you mentioned paying attention in the CORE classes. I remember feeling the exact same way: "Ugggh. So many notes. SO many classes. These FERs are going to be the death of me. Do I REALLY have to take all these notes?!?!" But I am glad that we both DID take all those notes and pay attention; I believe your diligence has paid off. Secondly, you talked about your nervousness. I share in this sentiment; pre-student teaching and student teaching can be extremely nerve-wracking, but I also think we can use this to our advantage. We just need to find ways to channel that energy through something--discussions with colleagues, lesson planning, school activities, etc. Lastly, thank you for mentioning organization. I think as teachers, we simply cannot be over-organized. If our ultimate goal is to be prepared every single day to facilitate the best learning possible for our students, organization is paramount. Thank you for reminding me again to always be organized.
Haha. The KPTP. It totally sucked. I could not agree more. At least it's done and we passed!
Best of luck, Heidi! You'll make a great teacher!
Amanda
Heidi,
ReplyDeleteYour advice is wonderful. Don't you wish that we really could have received these letters? My favorite bit of advice was to manage time wisely. Amen! It always seems as if there are more tasks than minutes in the day. Strong time management skills will be important for the rest of our career path.
I also love the encouragement about the job hunt. It is so scary, absolutely nerve racking. Reading your words of certainty gave me comfort as well. -- I have no doubt that everything will go well for you. You will be very successful. Good luck!
- Mercedes Spears