# Had a good day student teaching :)



## FerociousFleur (Oct 30, 2012)

This is kind of a long post, but I'm excited. lol. 

I'm in a student teaching internship (for elementary special education), which is insanely stressful and brings out my SA like nothing else. I enjoy teaching and don't have SA symptoms around kids that age, but it's socializing with the teachers that's hard. When I first started there, I was very quiet and shy, and I'm pretty sure all the teachers/teacher's aides I met thought I was weird. But it's been getting better -- I've had a few setbacks, but also a lot of progress.

Last week I was extremely tired and my social skills went out the window... the main teacher seemed really annoyed with my mumbling/awkwardness/lack of conversation, and she literally stopped talking to me or acknowledging me by the end of the day, even though I have to follow her around for my internship. Dunno about you guys, but when I'm tired, my SA goes way up and my social skills go way down. :\

So I was dreading going in today. I didn't get much sleep again (went to bed late, then took a Xanax to help with my anxiety about going to the internship... but all it did was make me cry uncontrollably after I took it :sus), but I drank some coffee and tried to focus on being social.

And it went well!! I had good conversations with the main teacher and teacher's aides, although I'm sure some of them will always think I'm awkward. Whatevs.

I wound up talking to a teacher's aide one on one for a while, and we were having a great flowing conversation until I asked her a question about something she'd already told me, and she seemed annoyed. Oops! I'm sure she doesn't give a crap 2 hours later, whereas I'm sitting here dwelling on it, but I need to pay more attention to other people when they're talking to me. Maybe it's a social anxiety thing, to be more focused on yourself and analyzing your own behaviors...?

Anyway... Gotta say it was a good day! (_didn't even have to use my AK_ -- Ice Cube)


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## 0589471 (Apr 21, 2012)

I'm so glad it went well today!! I'm sorry to hear about your previous experience, but bad days tend to happen unfortunately. It is kind of awkward that the teacher kind of stopped talking to you at the end there =/

I did a temporary student teaching learning experience at an elementary school too, for my education class. There's really a lot that goes into it, and it's definitely nerve-wracking communicating with the teachers. But it was also enjoyable working with the kids, and then the teacher I had was really nice and helpful toward the end.

I'm glad to hear you're starting to familiarize yourself with the other teachers and aids too. It just takes time, and yes SA makes us think a lot about what we've said and done, even much later while most others have forgotten or let it go. 

:squeeze congrats! I hope you have many more better days, and good luck with the teaching internship!!


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## Lmatic3030 (Nov 3, 2011)

That's wonderful!

I work at elementary school to so I definitely relate to how difficult it can be to socialize with the staff. 

Looks like you're doing a great job so far. The more you talk with them the more comfortable they will become with you and hopefully vice versa. 

Good luck with the rest of internship!


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## TryingMara (Mar 25, 2012)

Awesome! :yay I student taught a few years ago and can relate on how scary it seems. I was petrified months in advance. It turned out to be a wonderful experience, one of the best I ever had. You can definitely do this! It sounds like you're off to a great start.


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## Donnie in the Dark (Mar 15, 2011)

Glad things are going well for you! I also hope to teach in a few years so it is nice to see someone on this site being positive about it. I agree about SA and social skills when tired.... it does get so much harder to keep it together.
I bet they didn't think you were awkward, and maybe that teacher's aide is just very easily annoyed. I think with SA we tend to presume everything is our fault. 
Good luck with it in the future.


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## FerociousFleur (Oct 30, 2012)

Thanks, you guys!!! :boogie Wow, lots of us are in the education field... that's awesome! It honestly was the last thing I would have thought I could do with SA. So happy that you guys have been there, gotten through it, and enjoyed it!

TryingMara, glad to hear student teaching was such a good experience for you. It has been really great to see students learning and to feel like I'm doing a good job... that's a huge confidence booster!

Donnie in the Dark, what are you hoping to teach? I'm glad we can have a positive thread about it, too. Teaching can be very stressful and challenging with SA (hell, it still is even without SA), but on the days when you feel good about yourself for speaking in front of groups, being a leader, and socializing pretty much non-stop -- in addition to seeing students learn and grow because of what YOU taught them -- it's completely worth it.


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## Donnie in the Dark (Mar 15, 2011)

FerociousFleur said:


> Donnie in the Dark, what are you hoping to teach? I'm glad we can have a positive thread about it, too. Teaching can be very stressful and challenging with SA (hell, it still is even without SA), but on the days when you feel good about yourself for speaking in front of groups, being a leader, and socializing pretty much non-stop -- in addition to seeing students learn and grow because of what YOU taught them -- it's completely worth it.


 I am hoping to go abroad in a few years and teach English, maybe in South America. I am learning the language and have plans for 10weeks of volunteer teaching in El Salvador planned this summer...:afr
I hope I can experience that feeling of helping others to learn. I think I would be very happy if I could help people explore and enjoy new knowledge and make a difference in their lives. thanks for the encouragement by the way!


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