Friday, October 14, 2005

easy like a sunday morning



I worry a lot about whether I will be a good teacher. Variously, this tends to drive my boyfriend crazy, as he tends to think that I am worrying a lot about things that are beyond my control. (This is entirely likely.) He may feel differently when he steps in front of a classroom next year—or, perhaps, when he steps into a university classroom and faces the 800 things that he has to hold in his head simultaneously that relate to teaching. And all this before he even gets close to the subject matter that he’ll be teaching.

I understand that this will get easier for me; that at some point the balancing act becomes seamless and invisible even to the user. But right now it seems like it’s all I can do to keep from being crushed by that. It’s hard to explain to someone who isn’t living this life right now…perhaps I ought to do semiotic or deconstructionist analyses of some of the legislature and documents that surround what I’m doing right now. I think it would make more sense then.

I’ve taught three lessons this week. The grade ten history class has gone pretty well so far; I will be showcasing my sweet PowerPoint skills tomorrow. The World Religions class is chatty as all get out, and I think I am the most afraid of teaching that class.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

My advice in dealing with the chatty students in religion is to say something crazy yet authoritiative in a loud booming way. This will elicit a collective "eh?" (for readers of this blog in the US, that equates to "huh") at which point you seize the moment, mention readings or homework they have to do, then go about yoru way. Do this a few timees and they'll be more apt to pay attention to you, even if it is with the weary eye one typically gives a crazy, unstable person. But you are becoming an educator, so it's not like you're far off that mark anyhow.

- R.