This is the blog that I have been dreading! This experience was so embarrassing that I can barely write about it. In my last semester at Drexel University, I needed to complete my student teaching in order to apply for Pennsylvania state licensure. I had been dreading this because I needed to coordinate baby-sitting just to make this possible. It was difficult, but doable.
I started my first day in a suburban school outside Philadelphia. Whatever you may have heard about a "teacher shortage," it's not the reality in the wealthier suburban school districts.
Teachers are literally on the waiting list to teach in schools.
I started my first day of kindergarten and was very excited about the prospect of teaching in the district that my husband attended as a child. I knew from the moment I met my host teacher that something was wrong. I could see on her face that she was not happy to see me. Maybe it was because her original student teacher suddenly quit or maybe because I was a Puerto Rican woman in a predominantly Caucasian school district.
To put it bluntly, this teacher treated me poorly. She was constantly dissatisfied with whatever I did. She would say "paint that bulletin board green," and I would paint it green. Then she would say how much she hated the green bulletin board. So, everyday I would wake up knowing what I was going to face the next day.
The final straw came the day I was sitting in a small kindergarten chair. I jokingly asked my host teacher how she could stand sitting in these small chairs all day long. She said, "Honey, if you were svelte like me, it doesn't bother as much. Good kindergarten teachers should be svelte."
So, now I was ethnic, and fat! I was so distraught by her hurtful comment that I ran to my advisor and told her I wanted out. I was willing to risk my graduation just to get out of this abusive situation. This was one of the most difficult decisions of my life. I had put so much effort into coordinating baby-sitters, getting approval of the student teaching placement, and in my mind I was ready to walk in the big June ceremony. I couldn't even tell you how hard it was for me to tell my advisor that I needed out.
But this story had a happy ending. Thanks to the efforts of my advisor, she quickly called everyone she could (literally while I was sitting in front of her sobbing) and found me a placement at the school I did my pre-student teaching. I was placed with the most wonderful teacher of 32 years, who taught me everything she knew. Ms. Robinson was the most gracious and wonderful host teacher anyone could ask for.
She was very warm and extremely helpful. She asked me to eat lunch with her coworkers, where they shared personal experiences. My horrible experience in the suburban school, made me appreciate the experience in the Philadelphia school district.
To this day, I still keep in touch with teachers in Philadelphia. I truly had a great experience.