How to Fix a Bad First Impression

 Earlier this year I looked up an article on bad first impressions. It said if you make a bad first impression, but make eight positive impressions after that, you can win someone's "approval." That sounds really desperate after seeing it written out (although it was a Harvard study). That night I was especially worried about how things had looked to my student teacher after her first day. I was supposed to be showing DiCaprio's Romeo and Juliet movie to my freshmen the first day after break. I got there early--7:25--and my first class was third block at 9:30. She was already there when I arrived. Predictably?! it took me literally until about 9:15 to get it working, and THEN I was afraid to touch my computer even for attendance. I'm not a huge "show a movie all period" teacher, but we had pushed to finish the play the day before break, and I was ready to show parts of the film and then discuss Baz Luhrmann's choices. (I'll just admit it--it was one of those days when the movie was my lesson plan.) I don't remember how I finally got it going.

    Most of the time during my struggle, she was talking excitedly to me as you would the first day of student teaching, wanting to get a computer and keys and get set up with email and onto Infinite Campus as soon as possible. Also, she was just happy and trying to get to know me. I planned to give her at least ninety minutes of the two hours that morning my full attention (as would be appropriate) and instead I looked like a MORON playing around with the nonfunctioning movie not knowing if I would need to create a new lesson plan for the day; simultaneously, I was trying to talk to her and help her with questions. I didn't want her to straightaway think I was a technology idiot (I am), to realize I can get pretty flustered (I do), or to feel like I was ignoring her (I wasn't). 

    However, I was so stressed and felt ridiculous having an audience of a stranger who would be counting on my assistance for eight weeks watch me during this long fiasco. I had come early to ABSOLUTELY avoid exactly what happened. And it happened for about 100 minutes. Bleh.

    So what, right? The day finally went okay. She came back on Tuesday morning. We had a staff meeting that second afternoon and a colleague teased her about "actually coming back" after the first day. Then I told them how ridiculous the morning had been and that I literally googled ways to fix a bad first impression. She said she hadn't noticed anything. She's a kind person. 

    I hadn't had a student teacher in eighteen years. I had a tough experience with one--her end goal was to be a sub and work at McDonald's. She was falling asleep while observing other teachers, not fulling prepping, and she also didn't learn many students' names. I had to recommend that she try again and the college concurred, but who wants to crush someone's four-year efforts? They said they'd give me a great one next time. It took a long time for me to try again. (Taylor was GREAT!)

    I also worried about being a little too excited for a student teacher. I wanted  her to learn so much and grow confident in her skills, to help students learn and grow, and to become even more passionate about teaching.  But, I know myself, and I can be "a lot." The last thing I wanted was for her cooperating teacher to be a hindrance. I had so hoped to immediately put her at ease, to assure her I'm "supernormal."  I felt that was destroyed the first day--hence, the effort to make eight good impressions. 

    The eight weeks went so well with Taylor; she is student teaching her second half in Poland! Later I brought up again that I looked up the article after that initial encounter. She laughed and said she didn't even notice.  Why would her first day be all about me anyway? Fewer things are about me than I think. Thank goodness.