Preparing Myself.

These past 3 weeks have been a lot of learning about patience and learning about being a proactive student. This is BIG for me because usually that's not what I'm known for. Throughout my college career, I have been enthusiastic about people, places, and fun, and occasionally I have enjoyed a class or two. But lately, instead of watching my 3rd hour of Netflix (okay, realistically, my 5th hour.. But who's counting?), I find myself reading blogs about teaching students, better ways to administer tests, and ways to make the classroom a safe environment for learning. My Pinterest is no longer only filled with pins from the categories of humor, weddings, and food, but it is now filled with the essentials you need to know for your first classroom experience. These posts include "10 ways to use Google Drawings," "3 Brain Based Strategies Every Teacher Should Use," "7 ways to increase student engagement in the classroom," ways to practice social skills in the classroom, and better ways to prep your classroom for the next day. These have inspired me and have been helpful to push some of my doubts away, as well as get me thinking that this will be all too real, VERY soon. They have probably also annoyed my followers, but that's beside the point.

I have been in class with most of these girls in 435 since our very first education class sophomore year. We were young, we were new, and we were extremely confused. Granted, many more moments of confusion and frustration have been shared between us all, but it is somehow different now. We're older. We're more experienced. We have 3 years of college under our belts and we rely heavily on each other to get through these classes and to swap silly stories with. We speak differently (like we've been educated or something, go figure) and what we say is also different. It has been a joy growing with these girls and preparing myself in this way, alongside my classmates.

In this way, I have learned how to effectively collaborate ideas and I have changed the way I view education. These classmates have taught me to have a different perspective on how I view students and of the coworkers I will soon have. I look forward to working with people of all backgrounds and experience, because instead of trying to gauge whether or not I am more knowledgeable than this person, I am trying to always learn from them. One of my favorite lines in Disney's Tarzan is "in learning you will  teach, and in teaching you will learn." This is because we must always be looking for learning. Although there are many flaws in the system, we must approach this world as something new and something good. It is vital to our education to change our mindset in this manner. As people, we're trying to find our place in this world; as teachers, we're trying to better the world.

Much love,
Brittany Kertesz