Today I attended my first Professional Development day. It wasn't mandatory, but I really wanted to go. This is going to sound super weird, but I love meetings. I don't know what it is about them, but getting together and talking about important events and ideas is really fun for me.
I also liked getting to talk some more one-on-one with my cooperating teacher. After seeing her lead the PD today and getting to chat a little with her during lunch and breaks, I am beginning to see that we are fairly alike. She is passionate but professional - I can tell that she has very strong opinions on different ECE topics (as I do), but she is not out to specifically tell anyone that they are "wrong." I often find myself inwardly cringing when I hear the things some teachers say, and I wonder if maybe this is the way she is, too. I really, really like her, and I am SO thankful that she is my cooperating teacher this semester. I count myself very lucky for getting placed with her. She is an ECE major, so our philosophies are very similar, and she is just a very fun person to work with.
All in all, my first PD day was a success. Of course, I couldn't really contribute as much as I would have liked to, but even just being a "fly on the wall" was so beneficial. I am glad I went. I am surprised that these days aren't mandatory, but I guess I understand that if OSU is not in session they aren't liable for anything that happens to us or that we do at our field site (out of our "scope of employment," if you will). But I think it is worth it for everyone to go, and I hope that more of my classmates at other field sites went to theirs, today.
Tomorrow I begin leading calendar time, though I don't need to turn any lessons in yet (even though I already wrote them...of course!). I hope that it goes well!
I am feeling more and more confident in myself as I think about leading the class. Maybe teaching isn't what I want to do forever, but I think that it is something I want to do right now, for the next 13 weeks. We will see what happens after that.
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