Also the title of my teacher Instagram, my journey with student teaching has just begun.
As I’ve mentioned in previous articles, I am a secondary social studies education major. I have been wanting to teach social studies for nearly 8 years now. Although in 7th grade I decided I would become a civil rights lawyer, I eventually turned a different direction and I now want to be a civics teacher.
The reason my Instagram account is titled Miss Arvelo learns is because I am consistently learning. I was once told by my theater teacher that learning is a lifelong process. To this day, I still believe that as well. I think that no matter a persons age or skill level there is always something to be taught and learned. This is the exact point I want to make with my teacher Instagram. The process of learning recently completely changed for me.
I got in the habit of learning by listening. From my college experience, I was used to lectures, notes and quizzes or discussions. I had to listen in order to be successful in my learning. I became really good at that type of learning because it was my normal. My learning style had always been auditory and I thrived listening to someone even if I wasn’t actively looking at them or following along. I was one of the lucky ones that could simply hear the background information and have it stick. However, when I began student teaching a few weeks ago as well as starting a new semester of school, I realized my way of learning needed to change. Suddenly I no longer learned from listening but I had to learn from doing.
I felt overwhelmed and really challenged by this because my normal was gone. When I started classes, I realized just how quickly I had to move in order to stay caught up. Though I had a week in between assignments and classes, that time would fly by because of teaching and I already found myself using my crunch time. When I got into my school itself, I quickly realized that I no longer knew how to talk. When I got in front of 15-18 year old’s, I was no longer the big bad college senior and I was not the short woman in the corner of the room. How was I supposed to get kids taller, bigger, louder and not far off my age to listen to me and see me as a teacher? I don’t really know but they did. I soon got “ma’am” and “miss” right off the bat. I had all eyes on me and they stayed there. I didn’t do anything but show up and show out. I dressed professionally. I made my presence known. Most importantly I established myself. I am still in the process of doing this but it is becoming easier. Slowly my shakiness and anxiety are leaving my voice and being replaced by laughter and confidence.
I am not a teacher, I’m a student. I always will be a student because I will always be learning. My student teaching journey just began and is going to be hard but I am nearing the end of a chapter. As scary as it is some days, I am learning more and more inside my classroom. I’ve already learned to laugh at myself and my mistakes and how to tell students to be quiet when I am talking and how to make my presence be known. Everyday is a new day for me to learn more and more as I’m there. That’s why I want to be a teacher, because I will always be a student.
HCXO,
Cecilia