Thursday, May 26, 2011

An oblogation

Get it? Man I’m so clever.

So today was the last day for students – tomorrow I have a teacher work day, and then I’m done for the summer (awesome). So I thought if there ever was a reason to write a blog, this is it.

I feel that I should have some insightful comments on the end of my second year of teaching. How I’ve changed, how I’ve improved, things that have come up unexpectedly, what I did or did not expect to happen, and so on – but I really have no big revelations. I suppose I could come up with a few anecdotes if I tried, but overall I don’t feel all that different from when I started.

Of course, I know I’ve grown in certain areas. I enjoy teaching, and I think it shows in the fact that, though my students may be difficult at times, they (for the most part) seem to genuinely like me and enjoy being in my class (though they may not be enjoying the actual class part of it).

I am much more at home with being an authority figure – I used to feel weird about telling all these little people what to do, but now it come very naturally. I think that’s a good thing.

I guess the reason I don’t have a whole lot to say about it is just that I don’t often sit down and have a think about what it is that I do for a living. Mostly I just go, teach, and come home. Growth happens behind my back.

It’s the most stressful thing I’ve ever had the pleasure of doing. It’s nice to realize that no matter how frustrated I become with this student or that parent or whatever happens, when I ask myself “do I like teaching?” the answer is always yes. Yes, idiot, you love it.