My first several weeks of student teaching have been wonderful, intimidating, and unpredictable. I started the semester off by going to my first in-service, which was an interesting experience. By the end of the week, I had most...okay, several, of the students' names memorized and was thoroughly excited for the rest of the semester. Then, life threw me a curveball and I was unable to attend my placement during the second week. Thank goodness WSU classes hadn't started yet.
My personal life aside, I absolutely LOVE my placement, CT (Ms. H), and students. I have already learned so many valuable things that I will carry with me when I'm a teacher. I am beginning to take over the classes, and have received quite a bit of constructive criticism from my CT. While I certainly appreciate and NEED criticism, this is exactly my problem. I have no doubt that I need as much as advice as I can possibly get so that I can grow and improve, but I tend to associate criticism with failure on my part. Ms. H will say something like, "You did a great job today, but next time you may want to expand on this particular point." This is what I hear: "You sucked today. Do better next time." My problem may seem silly, but I'm guessing that I am not alone in my sensitivity. How can I accept (much needed) criticism without beating myself up about my teaching performance?
