Fine

 Day one has come and gone. Coming into this school year I was a little bit apprehensive of what the semester had in store for me. Truth be told, I am still somewhat uncertain of what the near future holds. Over the past couple of years, I have been placed at several schools in the district, each one with its own flavor, its own positives and negatives. All of my placements up to this point have been just fine. Sure, some have been better than others, but the resounding theme of my observations up to this point has simply been that "everything is going fine." And honestly that is my biggest concern for this semester. I don't want to go into this school and walk away with the same perception at the end of the year. I want to come out of this semester, and even more-so this year, feeling more accomplished than just fine.

But how do I change the trend? Obviously the answer has to start and end with myself. In the past I have been somewhat unwilling to step out of the role of the unobtrusive observer. My mentality has always been that, "This is somebody else's classroom, not mine. I don't want to get in their way, nor would I want them to get in my way if the roles were reversed." This mentality, I have determined, is completely fair. I have also come to the realization that this mentality is ultimately irrelevant so long as I act within certain boundaries. While I would not like for a classroom observer or a pre-student teacher to get in my way and undermine my authority were I the one in charge, I would be more than willing to accept the help that they can offer. I would love to somebody around that could offer perhaps a different perspective during a lesson or help guide my students when I am not able to answer every little question during a group project.

This is my biggest goal for the semester: that I assert myself up to a point within the classroom's social structure, while at the same time avoiding the potential issue of surpassing my cooperating teacher's wants and needs. I want to build stronger relationships with the students than I have in the past. Fortunately, with the extended time in the classroom, I feel that this is a very reachable goal. Achievement of this personal objective will only bring about more easily flowing and creative lessons in the future. When a teacher has developed an authoritative but amiable rapport with his students, learning becomes far more natural and far less forced.

Ultimately, I just want to have some fun this semester. I want to leave the school feeling more than just fine.

This is a test and only a test. It is a test of all testing testable tests testers for whom the test must be tested.