Friday, May 13, 2011

The "You're an Idiot" look

If there's something I've learned about myself in the last year, it's that I do better with Gr.9's and 10's than I do with Gr.3's. Especially Grade 3's at a certain local elementary school.

Today was the last day of my 5-week teaching practicum. It's over. I can't believe it. It was awesome, and unbelievably tiring. The good news: I'm in the right profession.

The last week or so of my practicum is when everything really came together. Over the last few weeks I'd lost almost all nervousness, and I could both successfully teach and control my Gr.9 class, a group that my teacher had described at the outset of my practicum as 'the wildest group she'd had in her room in years'. I had a little running joke during the last couple of weeks: I have a "you're an idiot" look - and it works like a charm. Some kids get it, and are well suited to it, more than others. It makes me chuckle every time I use it. Hey, anything that keeps you sane!

It's nice that Fridays are short days in high schools. It was equally nice that it was one of the first sunny/shorts days of the year. My last day was rather easy: gave both my classes quizzes, and did no more than five or seven minutes of real teaching in either block. The only real work was leaving my mentor teacher all the information she needed to re-take-over her classes on Monday, plus marks for the plethora of assignments I marked over the last few days. After school I rushed home, switched into shorts, grabbed some shades, and took off in search fora liquor store and anywhere they sell wings. These next two weeks are both well deserved and going to be sweet.

Is it a bad omen that last day of practicum is Friday the 13th?

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