My Life as a Professor

January marks my anniversary for teaching in the College of Education at University of North Texas. A whole year. Wow. In 2009, I've taught EDRE 4450 (Literacy PreK-4th), EDRE 4850 (Assessment in Literacy), and EDRE 4860 (Language Arts Methods class). I know, so interesting. And because each semester my schedule has been so different, I've had the opportunity to have some students twice . . . and some three times!

I've been told that I'm one of the few professors people actually want to have again.

I've been told I'm cute (ok, well, that's after me telling them my "cutest teacher in the whole wide world" story).

I've been told that I'm awesome.

I've been told that they'll remember my laugh (why is it that I'm always known for my laugh?).

I've been told, well, the list goes on.

And you know what, I'm sure there are even some negative things, which fortunately have never been brought to my attention.

But, you know what, while I love the praise, I do worry. I worry about whether or not I'm doing a good job. I worry that I might not be equipping these preservice teachers with the experiences that will build that solid foundation they need to be successful teachers. I wonder if I should be stricter or more rigorous. I don't know.

But I think I might be on track because included in the list of compliments is that my students learn from my class. And to me, that's the best compliment of all. After all, isn't that the point of education?