Wow moment...

So just so people know (that is if anyone reads my blog) I have started student teaching at American Fork High School. I am teaching FACS classes. I have one Adult Roles class, one Foods 1 class, and two Interior Design 2 classes.
Student teaching has been a challenge! There have been hard days when I would love to just drive home to College Ward and cry to my mom but in reality there have been more good days than bad days.

I have learned so much!! I have learned probably more than my students could ever learn from me and I have learned about myself and I have learned about my teaching style.

I have had challenges. In my Foods 1 class I have a mid to high functioning autistic student. This student is really smart and understands what I teach and can contribute to class. He roams around the classroom when he gets frustrated and I can't have him roaming around. The other day he got mad at me and there was a point that I felt like I was going to get hit. He threw his binder on the floor and the contents flew everywhere and then he stomped away. In our SPED classes they teach us about disabilities and learning disabilities but they don't teach us how to deal with them so i didn't know what to do. his aid was no help. then he was mad at me for the rest of the class period and he refused to work then he was roaming around while i was cleaning up from my demo telling me how mad he was. (sigh) All I could do was acknowledge him and say "I know that you are mad but I need you to sit down and do your work." What do you do in that kind of situation? how do you deal with it?

That experience makes it sound like I don't enjoy what I do. Well actually I LOVE WHAT I DO! I love teaching. I love being in front of my class teaching. I love being with the students and learning from them. I love hearing their opinions and learning about them. I love being around them. I love being in their midst. I didn't like high school but I love being around these students and knowing all the things that I know from my own experiences. I am finally getting used to being called Ms. Atkin. though it is still a little weird. It finally sounds like music to my ears to hear "Ms. Atkin, can you help me with this?" I didn't used to like it but I do now.

Well today I had a breakthrough. A small one but nonetheless it was a breakthrough. I have had a hard time learning my students names because I have a hard time remembering things. Well today in Adult Roles I got some of my students to finally participate in the discussion that I was having with them. This is a big deal in this class because sometimes getting them to respond is like pulling teeth.  At the end of class I tried something new. I addressed a few of the students by name (the ones I could remember) and asked them what they thought and they responded so much better. WHO KNEW? who knew it was as simple as using their names that would get a better response. (sigh) It was definitely a Wow moment...