I started this for my own personal reflection as I begin my final semester at Bradley University. Throughout this semester, I will be Student Teaching in a second grade classroom at Whittier Primary. I have a week before my clinical starts and the excitement that I have is unimaginable. At this point, I have met with my coordinating teacher and met some of the staff. Without having been there for more than two hours, I already feel completely accepted and comfortable in the environment. Along with connecting this to my schooling, I wanted a way to keep track and look at my progress in regards to healthy living. I am one of those people who needs to develop a routine and stick to it. Whether it be through having a workout buddy, keeping reminders on my phone calendar, or having to fight the urge to eat snacks by reminding myself of my ultimate goal, I need the reassurance that a schedule provides me.
To begin my preparation for teaching, I have gotten my notebooks, binders, and schedules all laid out and set up for the beginning of the year. School supplies shopping has always been one of my favorite things to do towards the end of summer. I should have known I wanted to be a teacher by the amount of time I could spend looking at writing utensils and the office supply aisle. I have gone through Whittier's school calendar as well as their handbook and taken notes on the key ideas that I found essential. Pinterest has been a huge tool in helping me think of new ideas or lessons that I can bring into the school. One of the perks of being a student teacher is the ability to tweak the ideas that your teacher has in a way that provides innovative and fresh design. As I think of how successful I can become, I can't help but think of the first few words the principal told me: "be a sponge." These may seem to be unimportant words to some, but to me, these words had depth. To soak up all the information, observations, and critiques that I am going to be lucky enough to witness and experience will only help contribute to my overall success. I think that it is important to go into my semester knowing that I will not always bat 100. There is no way that I will be flawless, go through the day without an error, or perfect a lesson. Having a mindset that is aware of this is something that I think will allow me to grow and develop my teaching skills. Working with children, there is no guarantee that anything will go as planned, and there are slim chances that it will. I can only hope to be able to become the best teacher that I can be. Through trial and error, positive feedback, and my own reflection, I am going to go through this journey with an open mind and big smile!
As I mentioned before, I need to have set goals/plans/schedules. Without having these, I am setting myself for being lazy, forgetful, and stressed. Before I even get my toes in the water, I decided to set up a plan for the semester that will become my routine day. One thing that I have begun to plan is my eating schedule. As they have always said, "breakfast is the most important meal of the day". If that is so, than why is it my least favorite?? Because I want to start my day refreshed and energized, I am going to make an effort to have a well balanced meal to start my day off right. For now, I have planned to make eggs and have a grapefruit. Along with this, I have purchased rice cakes, special k cereal, and protein bars for the days when I am on the run. I also want to make sure that each day I am eating a healthy and filling meal for lunch. I already decided that cafeteria food would not be an option for me, seeing as I have always been a cold lunch kind of girl. For now, my plan is to cook 3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts on Sunday. I will cut the chicken into strips/bite-size pieces and portion them into tupperware. To keep with the hopefully healthy theme, I am going to try to have at least one vegetable/fruit per meal. Choosing between cucumbers, carrots, oranges, apples, grapes, and bananas, I am planning to be successful with this. I also have started a new beverage choice in order to steer away from my usual soda addiction. I have began to drink cucumber water to get over the fact that I don't usually drink water to begin with. By filling a 64 oz container with half of a cucumber and water, I easily attain my daily water intake and am able to feel refreshed about myself. In fact, I have never been this hydrated in my life. I think that this routine, if developed and followed well, will be a wonderful stepping stone into creating a healthy and productive lifestyle. By having healthy habits in my twenties, I am hoping to influence myself to keep them going throughout my life.
Another area that I have had to set up a routine for is my wardrobe. From kindergarten-high school, I have always had a uniform. I have not had much practice in preparing my outfit for the next day, unless you count picture day. My own goal that I am putting into plan is having my outfits planned out a week in advance. On Sundays, I will arrange outfits so that when I wake up in the morning, there is no stress of something not working out or not being able to find something to wear. I will also be keeping track of my outfits in order to not double-up as much as I can. I think that getting into this habit will be essential in becoming a teacher. One thing that I have vowed to myself since I decided I wanted to be a teacher is: I DON'T WANT TO LOSE FASHION TO TEACHING. I can't name the amount of times that people tell me that teachers have no sense of fashion. I consider myself to have good taste in clothing and shopping is my only sport. For these reasons, I will not let my career path hinder my ability to dress in a stylish, appropriate manner. I want to maintain my appreciation for fashion throughout my journey and not become overwhelmed and sink into the common pool of black slacks and a sweater.
The other area that I have focused on getting into a routine is working out. I am tired of finding myself making excuses for not working out. I want to be proud of my body and live a healthy lifestyle. To do so, I know that it is important to make time for working out. Because I will be working the 8-5 shift of the day, I know that I have to make the decision to work out prior to teaching or after the work day. While it is so much easier to say that sleeping in sounds better and the gym would be easier to get to after work, I can't fool myself. If I wait until 6 o'clock to workout, the only thoughts running through my head will be of my bed and the work that I still have to get done. These reasons are evidence for why I have decided that my new workout time will be bright and early at the five o'clock hour. What better way to start the day than with a sweaty workout and the sunrise?? I am going to start my trial at Gold's Gym in order to see if I like their programs and if it works out, I will hopefully be attaining a membership. This will help me to get on track with being able to get to a healthy weight. It will also allow for me to have a clear mind and give me the energy to get through the day. I am more of a morning person than most, so I think that this will be something that can easily happen. I also plan to do this workout with one of my friends. Having a workout buddy allows for accountability and gives me more drive to meet and get our sweat on!
Throughout this semester, I hope to be able to find time to make more entries that will allow me to reflect on the various areas in my life as well as show progress, growth, and share stories :)
Enjoy my journey, I'm sure it will be a good one!
