Teacher Cadets Initial Training (Winthrop U)

Today marks the second day of training for Teacher Cadets, and I am overwhelmed, but at the same time, very excited. Heck, we got to watch a reinactment of a guy proposing to his girlfriend by singing her a song that he wrote. It was incredibly romantic and weird all at the same time. It is strange how you can feel so many different emotions simultaneously. :)

Anyway, I feel like I am going to be embarking on a wonderful journey as the Teacher Cadets instructor at Gilbert High School. Mrs. Harpe has been in this position for so many years, and has done the job so well. I hope I can do it justice and that I will enjoy the longevity that she did. The curriculum seems to be one that will take me back to the main reasons I became a teacher in the first place.

Carol Jackson, one of the teachers who is leading the training here at Winthrop, shared a great insiprational quote today. She told us that we should be the kind of teacher who is the "first one to the window" and then shared this scenario:

During class one day, it suddenly begins to snow. The first kind of teacher would close all of the blinds, forbidding children to be distracted by it; the other kind of teacher would be the first one to look, admiring the snow and then immediately change the lessons to incorporate the concept of snow in as many ways as possible. I know that we have so many things to juggle as teachers, and now, more than ever, we feel the dark clouds of accountability and standardized testing hanging over us. However, after reviewing the Teacher Cadet program curriculum, I have remembered what it means to teach and have been able to change perspectives. It's funny how I had really felt so inadequate this past year, even contemplating looking for alternative employment. Now, I have a fresh mindset and plan to refocus myself before the fall semster begins. I have to prepare my mind and my heart as I begin my nineteenth year in this profession. Maybe some of the joy, hope, and integrity that I may have lost these past few years is going to be recouped. I have every reason to think that it will.

I appreciate this opportunity and am grateful to my principals, Ann O'Cain and Laura Covington, for allowing me the privilege to teach this course. I am so excited to be embarking on this new territory in education.