Sub for a day!

Today was BY FAR the best day of my student teaching, so far at least! My CT told me last week that she was going to be gone today because she had a meeting to attend. In order to get my feet wet and take some initiative, I asked her if I could be the "teacher" for the day and just let the actual substitute observe my teaching. She told me that that would be fine since I already have a connection with the students and know the routines, so it would make for a pretty smooth day. When I got to school this morning, I wasn't sure if the sub was aware that I would be there of if she would mind just sitting back and letting me jump in. When she walked in, I immediately introduced myself and told her that I felt completely confident in my ability to teach the entire day and that I was ready to just go for it..and if anything went wrong she would be right there to help out if I needed it! She seemed content and pretty excited that she would have a laid back day and agreed to let me do it all on my own....and I'm so glad I did!!!

Before today I was very unsure about my ability to teach, to take over in the spring, to be full-time, to be able to manage everything on my own, etc...all of the things that pre-service teachers worry about. Because I hadn't had this opportunity before, I was very nervous about how things would go and if I would be able to make it or not. As it turns out, the day went GREAT! I am so happy that I took over today because it really gave me a sense of what kind of teacher I am going to be and showed me that I have the ability to handle things and I should just believe in myself and give myself more credit, be more confident. I tried not to rely on the substitute for much, even when it came to getting materials ready while the kids were at recess or walking around and helping the students with the project they were working on. I did this because I know that someday when I have my own class, I will be on my own most of the time and I will need to learn how to stay organized and manage my time, even if that means coming in an hour before school starts to make sure everything is completely ready to go so that I don't have to worry about it the rest of the day. I was also able to get some really great feedback from the substitute at the end of the day. She had some really positive things to say about my management skills and the way I deal with the students, as well as my ability to be flexible (since I had to scrap the last lesson due to time constraints, meaning I had to think on my feet and decide what to do instead). I think her feedback meant more to me because she is an outsider who has never seen me teach before and doesn't know anything about me, but yet she observed me the entire day and was able to make comments about the way I handled things and the way I ran the class. It was really nice to hear.

Anyways, I won't ramble on anymore about the specifics of the day. This blog isn't about how wonderful the day went or to brag about the great feedback I received...I just wanted to write a blog about the day that I first realized I do have what it takes to be a teacher. Eventually I hope to have what it takes to be a great teacher, but I know that that will come with experience. But for now I am comfortable in knowing that I can make it from the beginning of the day to the end of the day without any problems, without any help...just me and my students, my lesson plans, and my confidence, because I can do it!!!