The first day of anything is always an eye opener.
It starts with your first day at kindy, first day of the school year, first day at a job...
Today was the first day of my one-year intensive teaching diploma.
Yikes.
Concepts seem to turn real and at the same time become somewhat overwhelming - in four weeks, we will be observing in a school. In only 6 weeks of class time, we will be starting to teach classes (albeit fairly unsuccessfully to start with). In the second semester of this year I will be teaching classes ALL on my own. And less than a year from now I will have my OWN classes - I will be a fully fledged teacher. I knew all of this before I started the course, don't get me wrong. But looking at our full-on assessment schedules and hearing about lesson plans and thematic unit structures and mapping out (on the first day) the books I will be reading as my Young Adult reading log (a pass/fail requirement for the semester) makes it so much more real.
I'm really excited to be finally doing the study that will allow me to follow my dreams but, at the same time, feeling really overwhelmed. It isn't the first time I've felt this feeling and I need to bear in mind that I just need time to sit and digest the information and work out a manageable plan. Scribblettes, do you ever feel overwhelmed with anything? What are your coping techniques?
I always remind myself to eat the elephant one bite at a time. :) And use lots of calendars, diaries, lists, highlighters and post-it notes. Stationery is your friend!p
ReplyDeleteI felt exactly the same on Friday when I had my first day of classes. I had been so excited about going back to uni and then they blurted all of the things that would be going on and all of the reading and organisation and tips for writing our thesis and I did a mini-freak-out, but in the end I felt really awesome about it because our group is so small, we have a really big support network with the staff in the department and I can finally delve into the topics that fasicnate me and do my own thing! I will remind myself of that when things get too much during the semester and I will keep the end of the year and my goal of obtaining at least first class honours as my focus!
ReplyDeleteGoodluck with all of your studying this year! You sound so organised and determined that I am sure you will ace it!
Ooh best of luck with the course! I felt a little overwhealmed starting my Law course, but soon got into the swing of things!
ReplyDeleteUse it as an excuse to buy lots of new stationary!
I think any new task/situation is always a little bit daunting, but I agree with Vicki, after a while, you just seem to get into the swing of things! :D
ReplyDeleteHow exciting! You'll be fine. You're probably fearing the change more than you are actually fearing the task at hand. You'll soon be on top of everything and feeling great!
ReplyDeleteScary!! I don't think I could teach a class!! lol. I wanted to be a teacher for YEARS.
ReplyDeleteWhat was your degree in before this teaching diploma? You do have to do a previous degree eh?
Enjoy hun!! After this year it's out to the big-bad-ass world :)
I felt the same way starting my journalism course last year and I totally took Andrea's advice - eat the elephant one bite at a time! Try not to think of the huge picture, just break it down into little manageable chunks.
ReplyDeleteAnd remember your bloggy friends are always here to listen if you need to vent.
BTW - you're so brave doing teaching! I got through 1.5 years of a teaching degree before I realised how much I loathe children (and I don't discriminate , anyone under the age of 18 should be avoided - yuk!)
Wow. Intensive indeed.
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