Journal Entry for 9-2-2008

I guess when I first fully decided to become a teacher it was last spring, although I suppose I could have known that I wanted to be before that. I know that around middle school I decided that I wanted to coach track and field, or cross country, so I suppose that becoming a P.E. teacher isn’t far off from that. I’m already assistant coaching and I love my P.E. classes where I get to work with kids from the community schools. One of the things that worry me the most about teaching is the concern that I will be a good teacher. I know that I’m smart enough to do the job, and that I’m a people person, so maybe it’s that I’m nervous. I just really want to do a good job and be the kind of teacher that students like to see when they come to class, and I suppose that my desire to be that kind of teacher will in turn help it come true. Another concern of mine is not knowing which grades that I want to teach. I would really enjoy elementary school because I think that I could act really carefree and the kids would just have fun with me, but with middle and high school kids I could focus more on sports and games than just developmental things. However, middle school kids don’t wear deodorant, and high school kids would be fun to teach but I don’t think that it would be the best option to begin with straight out of college. I wonder if the best possible solution is to just keep my options open and see what kind of job options I get before I commit myself to any one grade level or school level anyway. I really enjoyed what we did in class Thursday. I liked the popsicle sticks as a way to separate the class into groups, and then also letting us know that it wasn’t you who would put us into groups without our friends should we find ourselves without them. Also, I thought it was funny how you said we should separate by numbers, and if nothing else it was a good way to break the ice and make us loosen up. With the separating of the groups, at first I think I was a little confused, because I didn’t know what the other groups were doing and I think that we all, in my group anyways, felt like that we didn’t know exactly what we were supposed to do. I think that our combined uncertainty helped though, because at least if we came together and all worked on it then it was the four of us that would be doing it wrong together if we did do it wrong, instead of an individual doing it wrong and messing up. It did help me feel comfortable that one of my better friends, and someone that I have three classes with this semester was in my group, but I think it would have happened the same way if there were different people in my group. I thought it was really cool when we started noticing how much more learning was accomplished when more freedom was given. Could the age of students change how much freedom you can give them? And if this is the case, then does that make it harder to teach multiple things to younger students, or does it simply mean that at times you will have to do things different instead of not doing them at all? I like the self discovery way of learning, because like you said I think that it is one of the best ways to learn, and also that it is one of the most practical ways to learn because for the most part in life you really do need to either learn on your own or with the assistance of others, but not always with 100% guidance. I will tell you that I’m afraid that at times I will feel apprehensive because of this, because I am one of those types of people who like to know exactly what I am doing at times, and likes to know if I’m doing something wrong or right almost before I get started that way I don’t have to start over again, though I feel I am getting better and being more flexible in these types of situations since I’ve started going to college. I think teaching is something that should hopefully come natural to me because my mom is essentially a teacher, and my dad works at a preschool. One of the biggest reasons that I know that I want to be a P.E. teacher in my opinion is the way I feel when someone asks me what I’m doing in college, or what it is that I am going to school to be, I tell them that I’m going to be a teacher, and I almost always get a goofy smile on my face and then start talking about all the different reasons why I think that I want to be a teacher and everything that will make it fun, and what could make it hard, but still it’s what I want to do anyway!