And then POOF I was gone!

I actually didn't go anywhere.  I just feel like I have been gone from the blogging world for awhile.  The last couple weeks I prepared to begin teaching and then began teaching two classes at Portland Community College.  I tend to obsess and freak out about new things.  Part of the reason that I gave up the idea of being a high school teacher is because there just wasn't enough time in the day for me to do enough that I felt like I had done my job and done it well while I was student teaching.  I would work 12 to 14 hours a day and still feel like I was barely hanging in there.  I also cried a lot.  However, part-time teaching is TERRIFIC because it leaves me with plenty of time to prepare and still have time to live the rest of my life!  I probably am working about half-time right now based on the number of hours that I put in, but I can see how the time will decrease if I reteach any of these courses.  For now, I figure that the extra time that I put in is just part of my contribution to society.

Here are my thoughts so far:

1) Everybody I have worked with so far has been super nice.  I have talked to and emailed a fair number of people during the new hire process, and I have really appreciated how genuinely friendly people have been!

2) Getting put into a bureaucratic system isn't particularly fun.  It takes a lot of time to fix a few mistakes made along the way.  At least everybody is nice while calling and emailing people, though!

3) I hate lesson planning.  It gives me the biggest feelings of inadequacy.  I feel incapable of making the best lesson plan.  I want to plan time for group work, but I can't seem to lecture for a short enough time to get that to happen.  I want to give them more time to work problems on their own during class, too, but that hasn't happened... yet.  The first week is crazy though.  We'll see.

4) Teaching is fun.  As soon as I get over the initial shock of having 30 people I don't know staring at me, I start to really enjoy doing my job.  I don't know how or why, but when I'm teaching I feel casual, relaxed, and in a groove of mathiness.  I occasionally make stupid jokes, and the students laugh at my ridiculousness.  I love watching peoples' faces to see that they are understanding what's going on.  (Although, it's a bit painful to see panic on faces occasionally... I think some of my students probably have my personality!)

5) Students are generally great.  I have students from all over the board from straight out of high school to coming back to college after having dropped out with a 7th grade education level.  So far, they have all been friendly to me.  Some have been so kind as to take the time to let me know that they are happy with how things are going so far.  I also have students who are honest enough to tell me that they are horrified about the speed of the class.  It's really nice to have students who are willing to honestly communicate.

As a student teacher and then as a TA, my strengths and weaknesses became clear to me.  I feel like I am really good at creating a good classroom atmosphere.  My students (in the past and this term) have told me that they like that I am enthusiastic, relaxed, not arrogant, not intimidating, and laid-back.  It makes me happy to know that my class is probably not one that they dread.  I also appreciate that I have a chance for ten weeks to let people know that someone cares about them and believes in their ability to be successful.

My weaknesses, as hinted at above, are in figuring out exactly how to plan "the most effective" lesson plan.  I got better at this during my six terms as a TA, though, and I expect that I will gradually figure things out again in this situation.

There you have it.  Now you know where my mind has been the last couple of weeks.  I have other blog post ideas that occasionally pop to the surface of my head, so we'll see what comes of them.

I hope you all are enjoying January!  Isn't it nice that the sun now sets after 5pm again?  I'm loving the changes as we head toward spring!