First Post!

Quick first post because I have lots of homework to do (including posting to this blog actually, but with an assigned topic)...

I am newly enrolled in the Rhode Island Teacher Educate program at Rhode Island College (RITE at RIC) and I've been asked to start a teaching blog for two of my classes - so there will be posts here that are assigned, but also maybe I'll post of my own free will - though we all know (and by we, I mean me) how often (not) I posted to the personal blog I started a few years ago when I was in Iowa missing the ocean...

It's the third week of the Fall 2014 semester and it's been a whirlwind for me - I didn't actually know I was in the RITE program until the second day of classes. So I got a rushed start and I'm still feeling like I'm getting caught up - and I generally like to be ahead of the game, so feeling behind makes me a bit anxious. On top of that, it's been a long time since I was last in school (plus, I watch way too much TV so my brain's a little mushy - it's good to have so much reading to do to get that muscle strong again) and for the past five years I had a professional job in which I had a lot of responsibility and I was good at what I did and people respected me - I'm trying to avoid saying I was the "big guy on campus" because it wasn't like that, but I did have some authority and I felt confident and proud of my position - and now I'm feeling kinda like an 8th grader on the first day of 9th grade, a little off my game.

But day by day I'm finding my footing and when I have a chance to stop and reflect, I am really glad to be in the RITE program. I could go on and on here about what a teaching career means to me, why I left my old job, how much I love science and education and working with young people... but, again, that homework is calling - that's for another blog post. But what I do want to say is that while I have always felt that I have a natural ability for teaching, I am so glad to be getting some training. Sure, I could have been thrown into a classroom and probably not been terrible... but I want to be great. And so far I am loving my classes, the things I am reading and learning, the discussions I am having - just being in the culture of teachers and thinking about teaching in a more meaningful way. I'm kinda geeking out about it all.

Which brings me to the name of my teaching blog. I thought about it for the last couple days and asked my friends for suggestions (most of which were hilarious but totally NSFW). I wanted something professional and meaningful but also a little light and not too obvious or boring but also not too heavy-handed... not sure I actually accomplished any of that but I like where I ended up. (Side note to the other person on Blogger who already has a blog of the same name - sorry, but you don't have any posts so I thought it was no big deal - plus, yours is a question and mine is a statement - so, totally different.) So You Think You Can Teach. Because I think I can... but I'm about to go deep and really find out.