Hanging On
The first teaching experience I
faced was nerve racking to say the least. I felt as nervous as I did the first
time I went rock climbing, two different experiences that had the same
feelings. Nerves kick in and the adrenaline starts pumping through my veins, I
walk in front of the classroom and walk up to the mountainside. All I can think
about is hoping everything goes well. I grab hold of my first rock, my first
slide of my PowerPoint appears and I start talking. The lesson goes on and I
start climbing higher and higher, afraid to look down. The class is talking a
normal amount and responding well, I climb on and think there is nothing to it.
I notice my class is starting to get out of control with their answers, this is
when I look down to see the ground far below. Panic starts setting in as I
cannot get my class under control, I can feel myself beginning to lose my
footing. I raise my voice and try desperately to get them under control; I
reach out for another rock to regain balance. I miss the rock and am barely
hanging on; my class is completely off topic now. Suddenly I hear another
voice, my CT’s, calm the class down and help them refocus; a hand reaches down
to me and helps me making sure I do not fall. Relief floods through my veins as
I realize that the chaos is over and I can finish my lesson with smooth
sailing. I made it to the top of the giant rock, part of the mountainside. I
look out and see the valley below. The feeling of joy occurs when I realize
that I survived my first teaching experience. Even through everything, I would
do it again.
Fantastic genre reflection Sheila! It was great hearing you read this out loud during our workshop, but reading the final product to myself was a true pleasure. As mentioned before, I totally relate to your narrative and I'm sure everyone else feels the same. Though teaching within a classroom and scaling a rocky cliff are entirely different scenarios, the sweaty noggins and racing heart beats are still present in both situations. I like how you transitioned each scenario back in forth and the final edits worked out well. Thanks for giving us this well-written reflection and I'm looking forward to more!
ReplyDeleteSheila,
ReplyDeleteThank you for such a well-developed analogy. Though I have never rock-climbed, your imagery, word choice and pacing created such an intense experience that I was engrossed in where your overall analogy was going. I never would have thought to compare the two, but you made excellent links between the steps of both experiences, allowing me to vicariously experience one through the other. Reading your reflection set me to wondering what analogy from my own life I could use, and I decided on the first time I sang with my band. I love it when one piece of writing sparks ideas for another. Thank you again, and I hope each mountain gets a little less steep as you climb higher, figuratively speaking.
Yours,
Krystal