Alright peeps,
So first of all, I want you to notice the box to the right
of this post that says “Follow by email”. If you enter your email address here,
you will be notified every time I post something new. This means that you won’t
have to keeping checking back here to see if I’ve added anything. Instead,
you’ll receive a lovely little email notification telling you when I do.
Alright, now that we have that taken care of… today was the
first day of my official 16 weeks of student teaching. One Monday down, 15 to
go. It actually feels really great to finally have the clock counting down, and
to be able to start thinking like a teacher rather than just an observer.
Although that’s what I’m still doing, and probably will be doing for a while, I
chatted with my cooperating teacher today about what exactly I’m expecting from
these next 16 weeks. I was able to ask her a ton of questions regarding the
fine details of how the 5th grade curriculum is organized, and
therefore taught at the school.
Because it’s an international school, everything is ENTIRELY
different from what I’ve had experience with so far in Montana. They don’t use
the same standards that I’ve grown accustomed to, they don’t use the same
strategies for teaching, and I don’t think anyone creates full lesson plans.
That being said, I’m really excited to start embracing this new way of
teaching, and becoming a more well-rounded teacher. I expressed to Nandini
today that although I definitely don’t want to step on her toes, or take class
time away from here, I really want to get to the point where I can solo plan
and teach a good portion of a unit. This means I would be planning and teaching
every lesson for 4 weeks or so. She seemed more than receptive to the idea, and
let me know that whenever I was ready I should feel free to jump in with any
ideas or complete lesson plans.
YAY!!!! SO MUCH
YAY!!!
After hearing this, and then getting a lot of my questions
answered, I felt truly excited for the teaching experience I’m going to have
here. This is the first time I’ve felt this way since arriving. It’s just so
reassuring! It was such a complete switch from how I’ve been feeling these past
couple of days…
Culture shock has definitely hit. And it sucks... so much
about India sucks. There isn’t a single thing that is familiar, and I can’t
even describe the level of depression that brings about sometimes. I knew going
in to this adventure that there would definitely be times like this… but no one
ever tells you what an emotional wreck you’ll be. I don’t even know what sets
it off sometimes! It’s just so overwhelming to be 4 months out from anything
that feels natural. People say don’t think of it in months, just take it one
day at a time… EXCUSE ME! Do you know how long a day is?! There have been so
many times already where the length of a day feels like an eternity! 24 hours
stuck in a secluded town in southern India. Walking the streets everyone
stares, everyone calls out, you don’t even know how to go buy groceries for
yourself, and all night long all you can hear is the stray dogs and blaring
Indian music. I’m not going to lie to you all, this is so much harder than I
expected it to be, and it’s made me question whether or not I can actually
handle 4 months here.
BUT!
Remember, I’m a roller coaster right now. With every “low”
there has been some sort of an “up”, and today was my biggest “up” yet. So
before my grandmother calls the Embassy to haul my butt home, I’ll remind you
that today was a good day. And I know that even though there are going to be so
many more days where India is going to suck, I know that I will be a better
teacher and a better person because of this experience. I can totally do this!
So it’s officially 6:55pm, and Mariah and I have dinner
plans with a fellow staff member at 7:00. So although this wasn’t nearly as
thorough as I wanted it to be, it’s going to have to suffice for right now.
I’ll leave you all with the incredible fact that I have managed to get a sun
burn in January :) That’s right! I’m talking pink cheeks, nose peeling, looking
awesome (sarcasm) sunburn.
I miss you! I’ll post again soon, until then…
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