A tale of two feelings...
So far student teaching is going like the opening lines to Charles Dickens' famous book The Tale of Two Cities: "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times." I've had days that I've felt went really well, and I've had days where I was almost dreading going into school because I felt like I was doing so horribly.
Now before anyone tries to encourage me, be forwarned: saying that you know I'll be a great teacher really doesn't mean anything to me if you've never seen me teach (and I think that applies to most of you). It's one thing to have a fun personality, it's another thing to actually be able to translate that into teaching. I often feel like so much of me and my personality is lost when I teach. Partially because I have to be so hard-nosed just to keep the classes in line. Granted, it's still the first week and a half of my teaching, but I feel like the students are still trying to push me, and I have to push back or else it'll be a disaster; the students will walk all over me.
But right now I'm feeling alright about it (as long as I don't think about how much work I have to do and how little time there ends up being this weekend), so I want to tell you about one cool thing I got to do this week. I got to do a demo w/ Sodium and water. : ) Those of you who haven't done (or don't remember) chemistry, that doesn't sound all that interresting, but some of you may know that it can be really cool.
First off, I had to get all dudded up in saftey ware (the head of school science safety for the district and the impotis for science safety for the state teaches in the room next door). Here's me looking really fasionable.
For those of you who haven't seen a demo like this before, the gist of it is that 1st period elements (the first column on the periodic table) react with water. Sodium (Na) actually splits water to form NaOH (sodium hydroxide) and releases hydrogen gas. The heat released from the reaction ignites the hydrogen, which is what causes the flame you see. Pretty Cool.
Now before anyone tries to encourage me, be forwarned: saying that you know I'll be a great teacher really doesn't mean anything to me if you've never seen me teach (and I think that applies to most of you). It's one thing to have a fun personality, it's another thing to actually be able to translate that into teaching. I often feel like so much of me and my personality is lost when I teach. Partially because I have to be so hard-nosed just to keep the classes in line. Granted, it's still the first week and a half of my teaching, but I feel like the students are still trying to push me, and I have to push back or else it'll be a disaster; the students will walk all over me.
But right now I'm feeling alright about it (as long as I don't think about how much work I have to do and how little time there ends up being this weekend), so I want to tell you about one cool thing I got to do this week. I got to do a demo w/ Sodium and water. : ) Those of you who haven't done (or don't remember) chemistry, that doesn't sound all that interresting, but some of you may know that it can be really cool.
First off, I had to get all dudded up in saftey ware (the head of school science safety for the district and the impotis for science safety for the state teaches in the room next door). Here's me looking really fasionable.
For those of you who haven't seen a demo like this before, the gist of it is that 1st period elements (the first column on the periodic table) react with water. Sodium (Na) actually splits water to form NaOH (sodium hydroxide) and releases hydrogen gas. The heat released from the reaction ignites the hydrogen, which is what causes the flame you see. Pretty Cool.
I don't know if this will work or not, but here's a video of one of the reactions too...
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