TWS

An update from my last post: Last week went smoothly and everything went well. I got almost everything done that was on my "To do" list and my combined groups went surprisingly well. The students we so great and the TA's were a huge help. It was scary at first but was a great learning experience. So here is my newest challenge. . .

Surprisingly this semester has probably been my easiest one yet. Professors and advisors constantly try to prepare you before hand by telling you that you will be so busy and never have time and be running around like crazy during student teaching, but I'm coming to realize they were over exaggerating maybe just a little bit. I will admit I have put in the most hours each week this semester than any previous one but I've probably had the least amount of stress so it all evens out. The hardest part for me is a large project called: The Teacher Work Sample (TWS) I have to complete by the end of the semester in order to graduate. A brief summary of it would be: 10 or more lessons to teach as part of a unit of my choice. It also includes a number of papers ranging from 2-4 pages each. Keep in mind that as much as I enjoy writing, anything more than 2 pages feels like it might as well be considered a novel. I've noticed that every night I come home I'm basically done thinking about school. As of now at least, I have enough prep time throughout the day that I don't have to bring my work home with me (1st time in my entire schooling!). The bad part is that my "classes" are 40 hrs a week so it doesn't leave too much time for me to work on this extra project and still have time to be lazy or do something of my choice. . . Welcome to the working world. So. . . I haven't really started it yet. I've tried to enjoy my evenings off and just get used to my new daily routine.

I've decided I've waited long enough. This project is still sitting in the back of my mind and constantly reminding me that it's not done yet and the days are quickly going by. So I decided to make a checklist and hopefully I will help me to get started on some of the smaller parts of it and slowly work my way through it. I don't want to put it off and be stressed at the end right before graduation and still be trying to cram in all in because it actually is kind of a a big deal. . . I can't graduate without it. So we'll see how this goes. My goal is 1-2 lessons or papers per week. This will give me plenty of time to get it done quickly and also have time in the evenings to relax and do something fun. It won't be too hard to do I just can't seem to make myself get started and just do it. We'll see how this goes. . . wish me luck!