Last lesson & Last day with the kids :(

April 29th, 2021

Amy Mustafa

On this day April 29, 2021, was my last lesson & final day with the students. I had a feeling the students knew that it was my last day as they all came up to me and hugged me as they each gave me individual

letters. This was such a bittersweet moment because as I've only been with the students for just a few months I was happy to know that I impacted each individual student positively. Today went by way faster than I thought it would. I taught my lesson for the first time in the morning which I thought was better than later on, as the students were more energetic & less tired or drained out.

My lesson was on summarizing short stories. I did not know that the theme of today would be "book and beach day" but the book I had read to the students was on ice cream which I thought goes along with the overall theme of the day. I could tell that the students enjoyed the book as I could hear their different expressions as I was reading. Overall, I will miss these students greatly & hope they have a great rest of the school year. 

In regards to my strengths going into FE was my overall communication with my MT & the students. From my previous field experiences, I knew that it is very important to keep a good relationship going with not only our MT's but students as well. I felt that the students were always intrigued by every lesson I had taught & was glad to know my MT was pleased with them as well! Another strength going into this FE was putting my all into everything required of us this semester all while juggling so many other things as well. To know I got through the last FE is such a great feeling. 

I felt that I definitely improved within my lessons and being able to differentiate my lessons a ton more! I of course, still felt that I need to work on being able to teach both in-person students & students over zoom. Virtual teaching has not been easy on me as I struggle with multitasking at times. The most fun I had during this great experience was being with the kiddos & finally having a chance to be around students in a classroom rather than them all being over a laptop screen. I truly feel that the best lesson I taught was my last one. This lesson was on summarizing short stories. The students were to read fun short stories & distinguish the difference between the main idea & the key details. The students had fun reading a few funny short stories & I enjoyed seeing them laughing & having a good time all while learning! My worst lesson taught would probably have been my first lesson teaching the students in class & hybrid. I think this because it was my first time teaching both remote & in person, I was still trying to figure out how it's done & thankfully by the end of this experience I can say I have improved. 

I learned many things from my MT, she showed me how to juggle teaching both hybrid and in-person students, she taught me that along the way there will be some hiccups but eventually one would get through them, and lastly how to be an overall great teacher that students can relate to and have fun with. I learned a few things about myself as well which were that I still have that long and passion to be an educator of young learners,  I need to get better with multitasking and juggling more than one task at a time, I also learned that being a teacher is something I definitely want to keep striving for. 

The education field is not one like everybody says; an easy task to do. I came into the field knowing it would be a struggle and nothing like what people say. In regards to what I wish I had done differently was introducing myself to all of the other MT's as I feel that would have boosted my confidence in teaching a bit more than I had walking in. I am more than excited about student teaching. Getting to know the students, meeting my MT, & overall having a grasp of the classroom is what I'm excited for! I am most anxious about the students' overall performance. During this field experience, many of the students would not participate enough for me to complete an accurate assessment. As much as I would emphasize the importance of participating in class a few students would refuse to. I guess I could say I am most anxious about the students not listening and participating in what is asked of them. All in all, more than excited for this next step!