Before leaving for Argentina school was starting to lose its, how to put this… oomph. Every semester started to feel the same. Classes meshed into the previous classes, teachers started losing their faces, and content began to seem unimportant. I even contemplated changing my major to get some change in my life. I relied on clubs and extra-curricular activities to bring some interest into my life. Becoming a teacher didn’t seem too appealing to me anymore. The classes were all the same to me and I felt I wasn’t getting anything out of them. Thank you Argentina for changing that.
I see the importance of everything now. I started reading a textbook from last fall semester because I finally saw the correlation and the need to learn these concepts. I have something tangible that I can start planning for, at least I think I do. No matter where I end up teaching, I know that I will be prepared for my classroom. I can now envision my future students, the ways that I manage them and the methods that I wish to use inorder to guide them in their learning endeavor. When is graduation? I just want to teach.
Now, I can’t get too ahead of myself here. I still need to take these classes to figure all of the loose pieces out. There is so much I have to learn yet. Part of me wants to take some of these classes over again, so I can try and extract more important information. I didn’t realize how crucial most of this information was. I mean, I really need this stuff!
I spend most of my days thinking of my experiences in Argentina. From the classroom teaching, the meetings, the tours of schools, the times with students, everything, I think about how those moments have shaped myself as a future educator. I saw many things I could improve on in my own self, and I found some great models of the way I would like to be. A special thank you to the director of the Colegio Naciónal. You are such a great role model, and an inspiring educator. I hope that we have the pleasure of meeting again.
The wonderful director of the Colegio Naciónal
-Amanda Glunz