Week 14 - All Good Things Come to an End

May 2nd, 2021

By: Kate Drish

What a whirlwind of a semester! As I look back now, I remember feeling very unsure and nervous in the beginning. I was wondering how in the world I was going to get through this semester navigating an online/hybrid learning environment. As I'm writing this I remember how timid I was as a teacher candidate, not feeling confident enough to be able to overcome the obstacles and teach meaningful lessons to the students. This was one of the hardest semesters but I'm happy to say now that I am a better teacher because of the scholars, my MT, these courses, and our professors. I am prepared for anything that's thrown my way! Student teaching- bring it on!!

Going into FE and still presently, I feel as though I did well on my lesson plans and making them engaging for students. I also feel that a strength of mine is being flexible, as this is an important characteristic to have as a teacher. (Note: I can credit the fire drills, tornado drills, change of lessons, and my MT leaving to lead the class by myself, in helping me become more flexible).

One area that I think I improved on is researching and incorporating effective teaching strategies both in my written lessons and when teaching. Another area I feel I improved on is asking higher ordered questions to promote students' thinking. This helped me a lot during those important whole group discussions.

Two areas that I still need to work on are accommodations and differentiation. These areas have always been a struggle for me, and I'm glad to have shown some progress towards this semester at getting better. I hope with student teaching, I'm given more opportunities to learn and practice this skill so I can become the best teacher I can be.

My most fun experience in FE is when I taught my math lesson. Coincidentally, this was the lesson I was most worried about because I, myself, am not good at math and have often hated learning and teaching the subject. However, because I was able to get the students engaged by putting stickers on my face, I received the best feedback on that lesson. The most challenging experience during FE was during my first literacy lesson, where I found out my students had already read the text I was going to go over. This is also when my MT left school and I was asked to lead the students. This was challenging because I felt unprepared and nervous.

My best lesson I taught was probably my second literacy lesson regarding informational texts. This was the best because the students showed a lot of interest in the book I chose, and did very well on their independent practice. My worst lesson I taught was probably my first literacy lesson because of the circumstances that were at hand.

What I learned from my MT:

1. Never doubt yourself, either way the students will learn something. Be confident. 👍
2. Avoid feeling teacher's guilt. You won't always engage each and every student and that's OK.
3. Set boundaries! Teachers are only capable of so much.

What I learned about my myself:

1. I can overcome anything, as long as I work hard.
2. I need to stop doubting myself sometimes.
3. I am meant to be a teacher! 💗

What I learned about the students:

1. They crave to be taught new and exciting information.
2. Education for them is hard right now, so be patient.
3. They still love stickers. 😀

What I learned about the education field:

1. Teachers will never get the appreciation they deserve, its important to know why you started.
2. Students rely on you for a lot of things, even beyond academics. 
3. Its HARD, but so rewarding.

I'm anxious to start student teaching and hope that my MT is cooperative and supporting like mine was for this semester. I've been placed with Kindergarten so I know that will be an adjustment from my now second graders. I'm excited to be one step closer to my degree and teaching license!