Reflection
A Growth Statement
When
you are taking education classes you have such perfect plans for your
classroom. You believe that you lesson will work, with no problems, that you
will have a classroom with no distractions and that the day will go on
smoothly. These expectations carry with you until your first day of student
teaching. On that first day of student teaching you realize that things change
very quickly. The best planned lessons will sometimes fall apart and those
distractions you thought you would never have are all around you. At first this
seems frustrating but you soon realize that this is how the classroom will run
and that you are better prepared than you realized.
My first teaching experience was in a sixth grade classroom. This classroom was composed of so many different and unique students that made the day worthwhile. They are the distractions, the reason your lesson plan fell apart and the bumps in the day. They are also the reason you laugh, learn and grow as a teacher. I learned so much when I was in that classroom but that it is really just the first things on many I need to learn. Things like consistency, even between multiple classes. Students will hold you to your word and they talk to their friends in the next class that will do the same. Clarity is key, even if you have to go really slow. You want to keep the students attention but sometimes the fast moving pace they like cannot always happen. Most of the class, even if they don’t say it, would prefer if I go slow and review things one hundred time than to move onto the next and more exciting thing. These things held true for my second placement in a Junior/Senior Precalculus class. No matter the age students want to understand and they want you to do consistent from day to day. All students want to learn and they want to understand and it is my job to give them that.
These two things are two that stuck out during this experience. I still have not been the only teacher in the room meaning that when I do have my own class the student will not have the same respect that they did. As a student teacher the student knew that I was still in school, I was still as student like them. The students also knew that I was only going to be there for a short time so they took me being there as something new and exciting. When I have my own classroom I have to build the respect in a different way but I also have to show my students that school is not a joke. I have to learn how to build a community where the students take part in constructing the rules and consequence. A community where they can learn and I can learn from them.
Between the two experiences I have learned a lot. I have stumbled and I have triumphed, when it comes to lesson plans. There are so many little things that go into a day of school that you do not notice until you are a teacher. Things like how long it takes to take attendance and how long it takes a student to find their seat. Things that you don’t notice as student but become very important when you stand in front of a class. I would have to say that the most important thing I learned was that I choose the right profession. I really do enjoy teaching.
My first teaching experience was in a sixth grade classroom. This classroom was composed of so many different and unique students that made the day worthwhile. They are the distractions, the reason your lesson plan fell apart and the bumps in the day. They are also the reason you laugh, learn and grow as a teacher. I learned so much when I was in that classroom but that it is really just the first things on many I need to learn. Things like consistency, even between multiple classes. Students will hold you to your word and they talk to their friends in the next class that will do the same. Clarity is key, even if you have to go really slow. You want to keep the students attention but sometimes the fast moving pace they like cannot always happen. Most of the class, even if they don’t say it, would prefer if I go slow and review things one hundred time than to move onto the next and more exciting thing. These things held true for my second placement in a Junior/Senior Precalculus class. No matter the age students want to understand and they want you to do consistent from day to day. All students want to learn and they want to understand and it is my job to give them that.
These two things are two that stuck out during this experience. I still have not been the only teacher in the room meaning that when I do have my own class the student will not have the same respect that they did. As a student teacher the student knew that I was still in school, I was still as student like them. The students also knew that I was only going to be there for a short time so they took me being there as something new and exciting. When I have my own classroom I have to build the respect in a different way but I also have to show my students that school is not a joke. I have to learn how to build a community where the students take part in constructing the rules and consequence. A community where they can learn and I can learn from them.
Between the two experiences I have learned a lot. I have stumbled and I have triumphed, when it comes to lesson plans. There are so many little things that go into a day of school that you do not notice until you are a teacher. Things like how long it takes to take attendance and how long it takes a student to find their seat. Things that you don’t notice as student but become very important when you stand in front of a class. I would have to say that the most important thing I learned was that I choose the right profession. I really do enjoy teaching.