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There are no words

by J

Jan 8, 2012

Not a day goes by that I don't think back to last year, in teachers college, and thank God I am even alive to tell the tale. Everything is fine now. I have a teaching job that I love. But last year, things looked very, very bleak to me indeed.

It was, without a doubt, my darkest hour. In some jurisdictions, mentor teachers hold your entire future in their hands - and some take great liberties and enjoy playing God. They feel insecure about themselves and their teaching, and so take it out on you. It makes me sick just thinking back to what I had to go through last year to get to where I am today.

I had one mentor teacher who would have LOVED to fail me. She was just waiting for me to give her a reason, which I didn't. That didn't stop her from cruelly badmouthing me to everybody, while I was bound to silence by law. The students favoured me over her, often asking her if I could teach them instead of her. She used to yell at me in front of the students. I became clin...See More

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Leah Thanks for posting your comments. They will help LOTS of student teachers realize that a bad student teaching experience is not the end of the world.

Jan 9, 2012

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nancy watson J. What a horrible situation you were in. I'm student teaching now and have a great cooperating teacher. However, can you send a letter to the Board of Education, Principal and cc the teacher regarding how unprofessional your cooperating teacher was?

On 1/08/12, J wrote: > Not a day goes by that I don't think back to last year, in > ...See MoreJ. What a horrible situation you were in. I'm student teaching now and have a great cooperating teacher. However, can you send a letter to the Board of Education, Principal and cc the teacher regarding how unprofessional your cooperating teacher was?

On 1/08/12, J wrote: > Not a day goes by that I don't think back to last year, in > teachers college, and thank God I am even alive to tell the > tale. Everything is fine now. I have a teaching job that I > love. But last year, things looked very, very bleak to me > indeed. > > It was, without a doubt, my darkest hour. In some > jurisdictions, mentor teachers hold your entire future in > their hands - and some take great liberties and enjoy > playing God. They feel insecure about themselves and their > teaching, and so take it out on you. It makes me sick just > thinking back to what I had to go through last year to get > to where I am today. > > I had one mentor teacher who would have LOVED to fail me. > She was just waiting for me to give her a reason, which I > didn't. That didn't stop her from cruelly badmouthing me to > everybody, while I was bound to silence by law. The > students favoured me over her, often asking her if I could > teach them instead of her. She used to yell at me in front > of the students. I became clinically depressed and nearly > suicidal. It became physically onerous to smile. It took a > whole lot of medication to get me back to where I could > function normally the following semester. > > I just remember, at my final evaluation, when she was > really enjoying herself justifying the black mark she had > just put on my teaching record based on a 'gut feeling'. I > had a moment of clarity. All semester I had been sucking up > to her, scared of losing her as a reference. Then it dawned > on me that I could never use someone like that as a > reference. She was unpredictable. There was no telling what > was going to come out of her mouth. I remember beginning to > smile. And that smile disturbed her greatly. Behind that > smile was the realization that, "Yes, you tried really hard > to ruin my life, but I DO NOT NEED YOU. I do not need you > to live. If I cannot live this way, then I will find > another way to live." > > And here I am. I HAVE A TEACHING JOB, merely months later. > I did not need her reference. Good riddance.

Feb 3, 2012

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