Tuesday, June 12, 2012

It's the End of the World as We Know It

Hello everyone,

I am sorry that I am reverting to such impersonal mediums as a blog to update you with what's going on in my life, but I felt it was the easiest way to convey a lot of information in a short amount of time/space. I wanted to include all of this information in the notes I sent out, but unfortunately a 3 x 5 card was just not enough space for such a long-winded person like myself!

As many of you know, on May 11, I graduated with my Bachelor of Arts degree in English with a minor in Deaf Studies. Three days later, I began my master's program in Secondary Education (I had already been in school for two weeks by the time I spoke with most of you). The Teach Arizona masters program is a rigorous one-year accelerated program that prepares teachers for their certification as well as gives them a Masters of Education degree. I will be in school all day, five days a week for the entire summer (with the only breaks being weekends and an few odd days at the end of July) taking teacher preparation courses such as education theory, how to write assessments, how to write lesson plans, how to teach literacy in each content area, etc.

In July I will take the first section of my AEPA exam. The AEPA (Arizona Educator's Proficiency Assessment) is an exam that all teachers must take to be certified to teach in the state of Arizona; it is basically the Bar Exam for teachers. There are three portions to the exam: Content Knowledge (knowledge in English, Math, Science, Social Studies, Spanish, or whatever subject you will be teaching), Professional Knowledge (knowledge of secondary education and practical skills needed to be a teacher. E.g. "If a student throws a pencil at your face, what do you do?", etc.), and the US/Arizona Constitution exam. Each exam requires an 80% to pass. On July 7, I will be taking the Content Knowledge portion of the exam and lately (in all my spare time--NOT!) I have been studying my butt off for it. Prayers that I will ace it with no stress or test anxiety!

At the beginning of August, I will begin student teaching. I will be teaching at Flowing Wells High in Tucson teaching freshman and AP junior courses. I will be student teaching for the first part of the day, and in the afternoon, I will be taking additional teacher prep courses. We get an hour break in between student teaching and our UA classes every day and that time will be spent eating lunch and, for my fellow students, driving to Flowing Wells High where our classes will be held. My cohort is rather jealous that I am placed in the same school that our classes are and my hour will able to be spent planning instead of driving across town (many of my fellow students have at least a 45-minute drive to FWHS from their student teaching sites). However, I am going to need as much free time to plan as possible. As opposed to my fellow students in my 55-person cohort, so far I am the only one who is teaching two different preps (or grade levels/subjects), which means that I have to create two distinct lesson plans for every day. This is a daunting task for an experienced teacher let alone one who is just starting out. I have only met my mentor teacher once, but she seems to love literature and education just as much as I do and she seems as though she is going to work me to the bone. I am excited to learn everything she has to teach me, but at the same time, this master's program is intense enough on its own.

I hope to be able to keep a blog of all of my teaching adventures, so please tune in periodically to see if I have posted something! I will try and be better about blogging more regularly since I will probably not have enough time to call each of you individually frequently (even though I would love to talk to you!). After speaking with the head of the TAZ program, it sounds as if we will not be seeing the light of day until next May when we graduate. If you don't hear from me for a good chunk of time, it's not you, it's...Teach Arizona.

I do want to thank you all for always supporting me and investing in my life. It means so much to me to know that I have individuals like you who care about me and will care for me. Know that the person I am now has been directly influenced by who you are! I am always looking for a break from my massive amounts of homework and lesson-planning, so if you have the time, please send me an email at allison.sherer@gmail.com or call me at 480.773.5558. I would love to catch up with you and I will steal any kind of positive affirmation you may give! Thank you all once again for being the amazing people who God made you to be and for blessing my life! You all are wonderful and I love you.

Sweets to the sweet,
Allison

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