I've already mentioned that my phase III CT was the CT of my phase II CT. Which is pretty funny, especially taking into consideration that student teaching placements are strategic rather than coincidental. Of all the people and of all the personalities they could have placed me with, I sort of got the position of the Fourth Hokage (the center blonde dude in the above manga scan). An even more interesting thought: if I stick with SCUSD, I'll probably end up with ST's in Kakashi and Naruto's positions a couple years from now. Weird.
Anyway, I visited my new classroom for the first time today. I think I will learn a lot. I see similarities between JL and KM, but there are also vast differences too. For one thing, KM finds social studies a little boring to teach while JL rigged up his classroom so that his students, and another 5th grade class, can watch Obama's inauguration in full this morning. On a digital projector. Streaming from the internet. And anything dealing with technology may *seem* simple, but the set up for it takes some careful thinking. Not to mention technical difficulties that might arise.
JL has high expectations from me too. It'll be harder to meet his standards than KM's, since KM didn't have the advantage of a previous CT to discuss me with. I'm pretty sure KM didn't hype-up my reputation, but I don't know JL well enough yet to judge how he takes insight from her. Also, I have little to nil experience working with males, especially those close to my own age, in this female dominated field. Let's hope we all keep things realistic.
But he seems personable and easy to get along with enough. I got pretty nervous and was literally shaking by the time I left. Well, it was only part nerves. The other part was from pure excitement at the new challenges and the very near free reign I'll have in JL's classroom to experiment with lessons. Also, it was cold. I know I'm lucky to have CTs who look out for my professional development and put opportunities in my path to grow as an educator. Not every CT is willing to share control of the classroom like that.
The students themselves seem very friendly and motivated. They did not display any massive behavior issues today. There might be some "show off-ishness," particularly in some of the boys. Which is normal, as upper primary goes, and there's nothing wrong with showcasing skills and abilities one is good at and proud of. I just hope I can channel that energy into non-egotistical ways.
I better work hard, harder even than last semester. These people are the ones giving me performance evaluations as well as recommendation letters, so no slacking here.
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