thoughts from a 1st time teacher

The end of a week.... I can not help but let out a sigh of relief - though there is always a little anxiety that I am not sure what next week will hold yet in my classes. How quickly I've had to learn classroom management, when to be strict and when to be more laid back... how to grade subjective assignments consistently... how to create lesson plans, both short and longer term... Teaching is so rewarding when the students "get it" and exhausting to think about how to make class more creative, more interesting, more... there is always MORE. I really enjoy this subject, bringing in a medical aspect to class, and explaining it all to the students as they stare at me blankly at times, but I cannot begin to explain the exhaustion I feel at the end of the day! (Perhaps this has more to do with my entire job than just teaching... but still! Teaching is hard work!)
My own learning curve on how to teach effectively has been high, but I am thankful for the familiar subject and small classes. I have been encouraged by seeing the students learn and some of them even spark interest in wanting to know more and go further in depth. They have done one project and presentation for me so far - and I've enjoyed being able to sit and listen to them share with their classmates the information about different elements, minerals and vitamins that are necessary for our body to function. I have had fun challenging them to learn how to learn for themselves - and be proactive in searching out their questions instead of just expecting someone to give them the answers.

Here are a couple remarks or quotes from students that I've heard, they have written on tests, or other teachers have come and told me about...

"This class always goes by so quickly!"

"I've learned that teachers can learn from students. Also, students can realize that teachers deserve to have respect and care from us for it is a tough job to teach others; you have to know accurately and abundantly to teach someone else; must have confidence; must explain in the language that others understand, etc."

"The human body was created by God so wonderfully. God intended for the human body to have a stable internal environment... (goes on to talk about the negative feedback mechanism) Praise God for how He created us!" I am thrilled when the students understand the bigger picture, and it is my prayer that they see the imprint of God on their very being as we continue to go in depth and learn just how perfectly we were created. This next week we start talking about cells, but I will be gone on a retreat for a couple of days so I am showing the Louie Giglio movie "How Great is Our God" - and pray that the students are able to grasp with clear understanding the miracle that the human body is!

"For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together." Colossians 1:16-17