Trust The Process

Image result for positive vibesDuring my student teaching experience I have faced a lot of "feel good moments." Often times those feel good moments come from my students. These moments usually catch me off guard and continue to give me the "why" for teaching. My students have a way of knowing when I need to hear and feel some positive vibes coming from them. This week I was over joyed to hear a student tell me "Ms. Kuhlman I really enjoyed learning today, thank you for making class fun." I had another student share that they were glad they got to know me. This week I had the opportunity to get some other positive feedback from someone else in the school, the principle.

You see, one of our assignments was to interview with an administrator as if we are applying for a job at the school. I think this is a great assignment allowing each of us as student teachers to continue to develop ourselves for when the opportunity arises for a "real" interview. This assignment probably had me the most nervous out of them all, because well it's the principle. What would happen if things didn't go well? What if I don't say the right thing? My list of "what ifs" could go on.

Related imageI realized as I went into this mock interview it was okay that if everyone one of my "what ifs" came true, it's a learning experience. This mock interview was my chance to work out my nerves of a teaching interview and further develop myself for the future. 

As I headed into the principles office, we were stopped by the vice principle who asked if he could join as well, the more the merrier. I had the chance to go through questions that they were asked during one of their most recent interviews, taking time for feedback after each question. I gained a lot of insight into what exactly an administrator is looking for in an answer and how to make myself stand out. 

Image result for trust the processThere were many feel good moments during this interview. It felt great to get to know both of them a little more than just the typical "hi, how are you?" while passing in the hallway. Furthermore, I enjoyed hearing about what path they each took to reaching their position in education today. The biggest feel good moment came at the end of the interview when the principle said that he has many student teachers come through the school where he doesn't often get the chance to know them but he was glad that he got to know me. Without hesitation he asked if he could write me a letter of recommendation.

 I am glad that this assignment allowed me to make this connection and push me outside of my comfort zone. Over my years in the teacher preparation program I have heard the words "trust the process" a number of times, and I am so glad that I have.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Is Digital Note Taking more Effective?

Image
The digital era is upon us, what does that mean for the future of education? Many schools are choosing to become completely digitally converted providing students with their own personal I-Pads and other digital devices. With the digital conversion taking over will students be required to take digital notes? What does the mean for test scores? These are the specific questions I looked to answer during my action research project. I joined a digitally converted school for my student teaching experience and was pressed with the challenge of including technology in the classroom. Coming from a high school that still required teachers to sign out computer carts I was thrown a little out of my element. With a little warming up to the idea of students utilizing technology on a daily occurrence in the classroom I found that I truly enjoyed it. I was intrigued by how students chose to use their I-Pads to organize and take notes. Certain classes are already requiring that students keep their ...
Read more

We Are Family (Northern Region PAAE Meeting)

Image
I have always thought about Agriculture Education and everyone involved in it as one BIG family. We continuously connect with other agriculture teachers from across the country and click with them as we all have a common interest of having a passion for teaching the next generation of youth from all corners of the country. We all work together to make agricultural education the best that it possibly can be for our students. One way we go about doing this is through both state and national associations of agricultural educators. In Pennsylvania we specific refer to our organization at Pennsylvania Association of Agricultural Educations or PAAE. I have found a home in being a part of this association knowing that I will always have mentors to rely on for guidance. This family began long ago as I began to make connections with agriculture teachers in my home county and in my region. It was refreshing that one of our assignments was to attend the regional PAAE meeting with our Cooperatin...
Read more

A Place to Call Home

Image
How is it possible that the moment I waited for my entire college career has come so quickly. The first week of student teaching has come and gone. As I reflect back on this week, I can confidently say Central Columbia is undeniably the perfect fit to complete my student teaching experience. There's one word that continuously comes to mind when I reflect on my first week becoming apart of this community, home . Both in and out of the classroom I felt that I truly belong here. Not a single day has gone by that someone hasn't checked in to make sure I had everything I needed, made sure I knew where something was in the community, or checking that things are going well in my new home. I continuously found myself meeting new people who continued to tell me to reach out to them if I would ever need anything. I was greeted everyday this week by a student or a new teacher in the hallways at school with a "hello," "how's your day going," or "i hope your d...
Read more