Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Ms. K!

In keeping with my Delta pride and more importantly, my Blue Devil pride, I chose to read Ms. K’s blog.  She’s the only second year teaching at my school so I figured it would be an appropriate choice.  My first thoughts while reading posts so very familiar to the ones I just wrote centered on those seemingly expert second year teachers who, only one year ago, were in the exact same place as me.  It’s strange to think of them in this way.  To me, the second years seem like such grounded and experienced teachers.  They’re not just posing as teachers, they actually are teachers.  Reading Ms. K’s first blog entry about arriving in Memphis and heading south for the first time ever was so bizarre.  The only Ms. K I know is the one that calls Mississippi her home, not some foreign territory.  She’s established here, seemingly comfortable and happy, but the girl from the first entry was someone different - someone I never knew.  As I read on, many of her blog entries were on the same topics we had to write earlier this summer.  Once again, imagining her class in the same situation as my current class is just plain weird.  It’s almost like being a freshman in college again and thinking about what the seniors were like when they were in your shoes.  They have evolved so much from that moment.  Naturally, the next thought that crossed my mind was picturing myself a year from now, with me being that (dare I say it) experienced, wise, and established teacher (keeping my fingers crossed) and a whole new set of first years going through what I’m currently going through.
Even though many of our blog assignments were the same, it was nice to read another opinion or viewpoint, especially on the two books we had to read this summer (Delta Autumn and The Reluctant Disciplinarian).  There was one passage in Ms. K’s blog that made me bust out laughing, and I have to reference it here.  It was part of her feedback from watching herself on tape.  It reads as follows:  “I should have someone else tape for me, rather than tape from a table, because while I could always see myself, I could only see two of the four students, so as I'm watching the video, I'm not sure what the other two were doing most of the time.”  When I first read it, I thought I read it wrong, so I took a double take and realized no, she did say four children.  FOUR children.  Her summer school class was four children.  Four children.  And her complaint was that she couldn’t see the other two.  (Sorry if you’re reading Ms. K, I was just flabbergasted - I know you’re an outstanding teacher regardless!)  I believe my jaw dropped initially but quickly closed when laughter took over.  My summer school classroom consistently had about 30 kids in it as opposed to four.  I can’t get over that.  I’m thankful that our summer school experience was more realistic than theirs.  Four children...haha.
After reading Ms. K’s blog, I felt good.  It gave me hope for my future as a teacher.  I’ve seen Ms. K, and she’s good.  She’s real good.  But in the beginning, she was just another first year teacher, like everyone in my class.  It’s comforting to know she started in the same position as me.  All I have to say is thanks Ms. K, and see you in the fall!!!

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

2 comments:

  1. I found the transformation of the second years to be striking as well. After seeing them teach and how well they all did it, it's hard to imagine they were once where we are. It's definitely comforting to know that in time we'll all get better at this. It seems like just one year of teaching down here has the ability to tap into an unbelievable amount of potential. I'm very exciting for the inevitable changes that are about to occur.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hahaha! This is the first time I've read this. I didn't even know you guys had to blog about us! I just wanted to piggyback on your own comment about that excerpt from my blog and say: if you think I'M good, and I taught FOUR kids, just THINK what kind of awesomeness you're headed for with a summer school class of 30 under your belt! I've seen your teaching, Mr. Preacher, and I like what I see. Keep it up!!! And PS, you think you could reserve a spot for me in "theatrical club"?...

    ReplyDelete