Yesterday, Cooperating Teacher was at a workshop all day with 9 students. That left the substitute teacher (a friend of mine from MySchool) and me with all the kids.
Fortunately, first class was simple because most of the students had gone on the field trip. I allowed the remaining students to use in-class time to work on a review sheet they'd been assigned. Bonuses of making that choice: 1) They weren't going to complete the worksheet on their own otherwise, so this forced them to practice their work. 2) I am regarded as "benevolent student-teacher who understands how time-consuming being a high school student really is" because I gave them this time. 3) Even after this gift of time, we still had some time left over to review some of the more difficult content and they will be more prepared for the exam than their peers who went on the field trip.
Second class: The kids were definitely more chatty than the last time without Cooperating Teacher. We still managed to get a lot accomplished, they are viewing me more favorably and have more respect for my knowledge and proficiency in my subject area, and ... my pedagogy worked-- the new concepts I introduced were easy after the fun preparation activities I did with them. I got bonus points for my benevolence with this class because I explained how I'd convinced Cooperating Teacher to let me work on material with them which he had planned to make them responsible for learning on their own. They had a really strong grasp on it by the end of class! Yay!
Third class: Also soooo much better behaved than the last time Cooperating Teacher was absent. My pacing was a little slow and I lingered on the first part of my lesson plan longer than I probably should have ... but the students stuck with it (and me).
Afterwards, I had a great chat with the Sub, a former colleague of mine. He gave me tips about interviewing, networking, etc. It's funny to think that 3 years ago, we were classmates. Now, he's already in the field ... and I'm gonna be there soon!
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I was shocked today to learn of the engagement of two of my classmates (to one another), especially when I remember that the guy and I almost dated two years ago. Alas, it wasn't meant to be. It would have been a forbidden romance because he had broken up with one of my close friends two months before after they had dated for about 2 months ... and as is common in our school environment, a great deal of drama resulted from this. So he decided he was no longer interested in me because of the complications that would inevitably arise. Now he's engaged, and I'm incredibly happy for both of them.
I was talking with BestFriend about this today: As a senior in college, I see that many people around me are getting engaged and married. I can't even begin to fathom making that kind of commitment right now. BestFriend, who is engaged herself, told me,
"Estrella, you've said many times that you don't know where you're going to end up after Graduation! You're open to different geographic areas ... you've even thought about looking into teaching abroad! Your possibilities are virtually unlimited. For you to even think about making a permanent relationship commitment is just TOO MUCH. If you met the right guy, it could certainly happen ... because you, as a person, could be ready ... but I just don't think that you'd be able to limit yourself in that way at this moment."
I interjected, "I don't think I'm even in a good position to meet people right now. There weren't even any eligible guy teachers at the PlacementSchool faculty meeting today." (I had hoped there would be; my cooperating teacher told me the story of how one of his former student-teachers had been asked out by 3 different guys on the way to the copy room one day, and she just married one of them in the last year. Not that I was expecting anything like that to happen to me ... but ... I had hoped to see some younger, attractive male teachers ... *smile*)
We joked about the different places I might meet guys ("Hey, what about that guy at church?" "Well, it's a bit difficult when he seems to ignore me!") ... and I'm truly OK with it. It= being single, not being in a relationship, not headed toward marriage any time soon. I know I'm young, I have plenty of time ... and I'm pretty sure I don't want to settle down right now. BestFriend is right: I have so many different open paths laid ahead of me ... and I honestly don't want to limit my opportunities right now. God may certainly change that ... but I'm also willing to wait for His timing. I have to admit- I do secretly hope that His timing will be sooner (i.e. next 5 years) rather than later (10+ years) ... but I know things will turn out for the best. God always does a better job than I do. :-)
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