I dedicate this to dedicated teachers.......

Upon pondering the other day and observing my at-the-time teacher associate who is amazing, I realized that the teaching profession is not just that, not just a profession per-se but a lifestyle.  Being a teacher doesn't require a dedication but IS a dedication.  It is a dedication that I am pondering whether or not I am fully prepared to embrace, whether or not I really can embrace it.  Don't get me wrong, I am in love with teaching and guiding, inspiring, leading, caring and all the many other wonderful things involved with being a teacher.  What I am talking about is the always-in-the-forefront of your mind, dedication to students.  I am not sure as I am writing this if dedication is really the right word.  To be more specific, while supervising our class of students in the gymnasium I noticed that my mind was wondering at times to things like: what was I going to make for dinner that night, or when was my five year old's tooth was going to fall out or how many hours of sleep was I going to catch up on over the weekend.  While I was doing this mind-wandering I was jolted back into reality regularly when my associate would yell across the gym "great try" or "you did such a great job on that one" or " how are you today?" as a student would pass by.  Why wasn't I thinking or saying these things?  It seems to me that a teacher is someone who gives their whole "being" to others.  They are so self-less.  Am I prepared to be that?  

Through the walls

On Friday I taught three classes of grade 6's an art lesson on realism.  The lesson from the classroom I was teaching in was broadcast to two other classrooms using Adobe Connect.  It was a really great experience for me and a great way to share information and interconnect teaching in general.

IN the Beginning...

Preparing for the future................what differences can I make?
It is week three in my teaching block now and I think I am BEGINNING to get a handle on the teacher/student dynamic.  I am a firm believer that my experiences as a parent have helped me so far  in the classroom.   In fact, if I didn't have these experiences under my belt I think I would be feeling severely overwhelmed.  Furthermore, I have  come to the conclusion that the secret is to be real.  It is  too hard to try and shape the things that cannot possibly be influenced by you.  Things work better if you are being true to yourself and therefore inherently to others.

On the starting line...

Tomorrow is an important day as I am beginning the process of realising my aspirations.  I will be teaching an art lesson tomorrow not only for my class but (thanks to help from my associate), broadcasting the lesson to other classes throughout the school so they can participate in the lesson simultaneously.  This is very exciting, a bit nerve-racking and kind of unbelieveable.  I am in love with the idea of integrating art with technology and here I am at the starting line.....it has begun and there is no turning back!