Breakthrough Week 3- Meet The Teacher

This was my first official week of teaching at Breakthrough Collaborative. I am still unsure of whether or not I want to teach later on in my career, but regardless I am learning so much every day. I have 21 eighth graders, mostly boys, and the first day was exhausting and challenging. The boys kept making side comments, and there was even a fake cheating scandal they planned to “test” me. It was awful and much more than i was expecting or prepared for. My Instructional Coach and the director of the program were both there to show up for me and give me support. I also had support from my fellow co-teachers. Eventually the prank passed and I was even able to gain insight into these boys’ lives. They did not trust me easily and I couldn’t blame them for that. By day 2 many of them began to open up to me, about their families, their best friends, and even the things that they hate the most. I felt closer to the students each day of the week. A lot of them come from extremely poor families and have unstable homes. I had no idea how profoundly this first week would impact me. While I am the official leader of my classroom, I try to give students the opportunity and power to lead the class as much as possible. I bring them up to the board, i call on them constantly, i let them teach one another when they struggle, and I let them control as many of the experiments as possible. The more I give them to do, the happier they all seem. I am extremely eager to get back to my kids this next week and to keep having breakthroughs with them. I have never been so exhausted or felt so rewarded in my entire life and it was only week one of teaching. I cannot wait to see where the next 5 weeks take me.