Dear Chinquapinians,
As my journey at Chinquapin comes to an end and my junior/senior project also comes to an end, I would like to share some of my most memorable moments during my project.
Clammy hands, sweaty forehead, and nerves run through my body: it’s the first day of class. Not just any class, and not a class I was taking, but one that I was and would be leading for the next several months. It was then and there where I had to set aside all negative thoughts going through my head. Normally, to the public, I am an out-going and ambitious person, but on the inside, I’m a wreck. I easily get overwhelmed but eventually rise to the occasion.
There was no turning back now, my foot is in the door of the “tech room,” and now I had to teach. Day one. “Welcome to C.A.L.S 101…” a moment of hesitation, a student raises their hand, “What does C.A.L.S 101 mean…” “It means Career and Life Skills.” I thought the questions were going to be more challenging or personal like “How much will I have to pay for college?” or “What college are you going to?” It wasn’t long until I slipped into the mindset of being at ease. The negative thoughts of not knowing if I am going to be able to teach the students information that they were wanting to know or not being able to provide the students with some form of an accomplished end goal. Ultimately, I learned two things on day one. I had a partner, who would be the person to pick me up when I down, whether that be emotionally or helping answer a question that I have a brain-fart on. In addition to my partner, I found that failure, in any case, is bound to happen at some point. The real skill is learning how to bounce back from that downfall.
In regards to my partnership, we are what I like to call, “polar opposites,” while we are both outspoken, we have different ways of going about things. This called for a great duo, I liked thinking about a plan, verbally, Alan (my partner), liked to type it out on a document. So I would be the one to say what was needed and he would write it all out, making tweaks. Our energy in the classroom is really what ran the class. Alan and I agreed that we didn’t want a stern classroom. We decided that we would try to think creatively to engage our students. So we put ourselves to the test by being ourselves: crazy, fun, and encouraging. We wanted to make sure that the students were getting something out of the class. By doing that, we learned so much about our students. From what career path they were interested in to their favorite color. We tried to make sure they had some guidance on what to expect in the coming years. In my opinion, Alan and I aren’t so different from Chinquapin teachers. They too are themselves. They show personality, character, investment in our day-to-day lives, and they try to make the class unique. As Alan likes to say, “Can we have cake that’s in the office now, since, you know, we’re teachers?” This elective, which for me was the exposure I needed to find my potential career path in education.
“Can we have cake that’s in the office now, since, you know, we’re teachers?”
At the start of my senior year, I knew that I was going to be challenged trying to teach an elective. Now looking back to that first day I am impressed and overwhelmed with joy with what my partner and I have accomplished.
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