Howdy!
Well, after a relaxing weekend, I woke up this morning with a feeling of excitement and apprehension. Yes, today was open house, where parents bring their students in to get their schedules and meeting their teachers. If there's one thing that every new teacher is cautioned of, it is the parents.
The morning went smoothly, as open house didn't start until 12:30. I did a little more bulletin board work, put up some posters (that didn't want to stay up), and had a planning meeting with the other 7th grade math teachers to create a pacing guide. Then, lunch was provided for us.
Finally the hour arrived. Parents were beginning to arrive.
Previously, my co-op and I decided that we would introduce me as "another teacher" in the class room, and not as a student teacher. We will be teaching gifted students and my co-op explained to me the mind set of the parents of gifted students. According to them, any problems the child has are because of the teacher, never because of the student. And as far as these parents are concerned, student teachers would just mess everything up further.
Well, needless to say, I thought this might be a bit of an exaggeration. And for a while, it seemed as though I was right. Parents came and went and were more than happy to meet me and my co-op without any questions. Some even surmised that I was a student teacher and wished me luck.
Then, one mother came along. We gave her the usual introduction, and she looked at me and said something to the effect of "Oh, a student teacher??" with somewhat a nasty tone. Not wanting to lie to a parent, I told her yes I was. Her reply: "Oh. Great." She then proceeded to look at me like I was something she found on the bottom of her shoe. So, one parent already hates me, and everything will be my fault.
But the team that I am teaching in all said not to worry about it. Some of them had interactions with this particular parents before and they said she just likes to make waves. Even the principal was supportive and told me to come to her if I was having any issues with this particular parent.
Other than that, open house was much better than I was expecting. Of course, I got a little tired of sitting there for 6 hours without really doing much. But meeting the parents was much better than I figured it would be. Seeing some of the students and parents was definitely a little more eye-opening to the new culture I'm in. I saw a few mullets on some kids... Yikes.
I'm just really glad that I was placed in such a supportive environment. My co-op, the other teachers in our team, and the principal have all made it clear that they are hear to help me have a great student teaching experience.
I really can't wait for Wednesday so I can get into teaching. It should be interesting getting used to this particular block schedule, but more on that later! I'll probably have more to share on Wednesday!
'Til Then!
The Tenderfoot Teacher
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