This week, I want to share an experience that I had during my internship that tugged at my heartstrings.
This past Tuesday, our sixth grade students spent all day taking a practice FSA writing test. This test was serving as a diagnostic test, telling us exactly what outlining and writing skills our students retained from elementary school. It was finally fifth period, our last class of the day. Watching students write for hours at a time was a lot more draining than I thought. This was our gifted class, so I expected this to be a breeze for them. I was walking around, talking to students as they prepared their desks for class. I eventually found myself at Mikayla's* desk, and she asked me what we were going to be doing today, since all they needed was a pencil. When I told her that they would be doing a mock FSA writing test, her eyes grew wide and her skin became a slightly paler shade. "I've never taken the FSA before," she said. "I have no idea what to do." I told her not to worry, that it was just practice and if she put in her best effort she will do just fine. My teacher started to pass out the test, stressing the importance of the students trying their best since this would count as a large portion of their grade. As soon as Mikayla heard that the test was going to count for a grade, the tears started flowing, and my heart broke for her. All she wanted was to do well, and the seriousness and high expectations of this test were already getting inside her young head. I was able to calm her fears for the moment, and she got through her test as well as any of they other kids in the class. As a teacher, I understand the need to evaluate our students' learning and ensure that they are progressing as they should be throughout their education; however, I absolutely despise the stress it places not only on teachers, but obviously on the students as well. What do you all think? Have you seen anything like this happen in your schools or internships? *Student name was changed
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For the past three and a half years, I've already known that I have the most amazing boyfriend and best friend in the world. This past birthday, however, I found out how lucky I truly am. A couple weeks before my 22nd birthday, I decided that I wanted to go swimming with dolphins at Discovery Cove; however, when I found out tickets were $300 each, we decided there was no way we could make this happen. Angel (my boyfriend) was being extremely secretive concerning my birthday, and when the day finally came he showed up to my house with yellow roses (a tradition on my birthday for the past three years) and a piece of paper. That piece of paper confirmed one of my dreams would be becoming a reality: I was going to swim with a dolphin. We arrived at Discovery Cove on September 7th at 7:30am, and I was very excited to find out that our dolphin swim was scheduled at 8:00am. We geared up in our wetsuits and were escorted with three other couples down into the water, which was FREEZING! It was here that I met Cindy, an incredible fifty-year-old dolphin that gave me the time of my life. (Did I mention she was FIFTY YEARS OLD?!) After our experience with Cindy, we went snorkeling in another freezing pool full of beautiful fish and even stingrays, which scared me at first. We swam above bright, colorful coral reefs and got the chance to see numerous species of fish. My sister was nice enough to lend us her GoPro camera, so we were able to take amazing pictures like these: As if all of these experiences weren't enough, we also walked through an aviary, where we saw hundreds of amazing tropical birds. Upon arriving we were given a small cup of food and were instructed to hold our arms out for the birds to come and feed from our food cups. I was actually incredibly nervous for this part, but it turned out being an amazing experience just like the rest. We left the park around 5:30pm, the only reason being that that was the time the park closed. I left feeling so grateful to be blessed with an amazing man in my life that is already working to make my dreams come true. I am so happy to be able to share this amazing day with everyone and, if you are able, I encourage everyone to take a day to experience these beautiful animals.
My name is Emily Logan, and I grew up in the beautiful city of Orlando, Florida with two little sisters. We happily spent our days making up games and pretending we were whoever we wanted to be. I always made them play school, and if you asked them what role they played, their answer would never change: “The students, because Emily always had to be the teacher.” My passion for teaching grew from an insignificant game into a visible reality when I entered the fourth grade. My teacher that year was young, kind, and everything I wanted to grow up to be. From that year on I only saw one future for myself: to be an educator.
As a seventeen-year-old junior in high school, I stumbled upon another passion that I soon learned would intertwine closely with my first. I always knew I was talented in English, but my creative writing class that year opened so many new doors for me, letting me do things I never thought in a million years I could do. Now, I keep a journal full of self written poetry and short stories, as well as works of writing by others that I have found inspiring. This newfound confidence led to my second major career decision, to be an English teacher. Now, I am a twenty-two year old senior education student, troubled by the fact that thousands of children go to school every day hungry; that children are scared to go to school because of who they will encounter when they get there; that children can’t wait to go to school because they don’t care where they are as long as they are not home. Throughout my years of learning and thinking about being a teacher, I have come to the conclusion that my passion goes much farther than teaching English. My dream is to create a safe place for my students, to encourage them to find their passion and follow their dreams, and to support them when there isn’t anyone else to. I know that with patience, drive, and optimism, I can achieve my goal of inspiring students who don’t see a future for themselves to realize that they can be whoever they want to be, even who they pretended to be when they were just kids playing pretend. |
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