One of my biggest concerns and areas of improvement for myself as an educator is the confidence to know that I am not horribly screwing up at every stage of the process. I have been reminded, coached, teased and hassled but I still have a perfectionist approach to things that can drive me nuts. I will sit and tweak a word, a sentence or a phrase for an hour at the expense of an evening that I'm sure the wife would prefer was spent with her. I have the desire to make sure that I am being the best that I can be in the position but I need to temper it with an acceptance of the results that I am able to produce. It is unrealistic to expect to be comfortable and confident with zero experience so I need to learn to let go of that.

In teaching in my content area, I feel confident in my knowledge of the content. Where I will need to focus is the creation and following of a curriculum, timing my lessons and my units to hit the timelines I will need to hit and making the process work for me. I have been warned by almost every teacher I have observed that the first year or two will be rough and uneasy. My hope is that I land at a site that has a decent amount of support so that I am not pulling my hair out (prematurely).