Week 14 - Its a wrap! 😊

By Brenda Johnson

Thursday, April 29, 2021

Today was the  last day of field experience! Last day at CSK as a student teacher!  I cannot believe that we are at the end of this very tough and unique semester, thank God! This my final blog of the semester! I have so much to talk about! My day began with a very pleasant surprise. I walked into the room to find a huge and beautiful poster made by the students and my MT for me. Seeing the students’ handprints and messages to me melted my heart. It took plenty for me not to get too emotional. During Morning meeting, we had a dance party for me. It was so much fun! Both remote and in person kids participated in this activity. I was dancing and almost crying! I went everywhere with the kids. I joined them in PE, I worked out like I was being supervised lol.  One of the students made me a picture. When it was time for the students to go, I felt a very tiny tear trying to escape my eye. I caught it!  I promised students that I will come find them sometime, and I will!

One major strength I had going into FE is connection with students. I have always found it easy to make connections with students and this really helped me throughout this semester. Another strength is flexibility. I think that I have been and still is very flexible. There were times when I had to make quick and sudden changes, I had no trouble doing those.

I believe that in course of this semester’s FE I have improved in the knowledge of the use of technology in the teaching. This semester, I got introduced to and used technology apps and resources I never even knew existed. I have also improved in questioning. Before FE 3&4, I did not really ask students questions that encouraged critical thinking. In fact, I kept get a poor score in this area and it always came up at my post lesson conference with Dr. Kelly. As we got closer to the end, I started asking those higher order questions.

Two areas I still need to work on are timing and classroom management. I am still learning to pace myself when I teach. I find myself spending too much time in some areas and parts of my lesson. I believe that with more practice, I will et better at classroom management.

One of most fun experience I had in this FE was celebrating student’s birthday in class. It was always a special time filled with singing and dancing. The celebrant shared things about them with the class. I learned a lot about the students during this time. I also enjoyed teaching students about Nigeria, my country of origin. My math and Social Studies lessons all had to do with Nigeria.

The most challenging experience I had in this FE was navigating new technology. I am  not tech savvy at all, so in the beginning it was a struggle to keep up with all the technologies. I think that  virtual learning made it even more challenging since we had to do everything digitally. Now my story is different! While I am not a tech guru yet, I know my way around tech tools especially those used in teaching.

The best lesson I thought was my Science lesson. There are so many reasons this was my best. Student engagement and participation was excellent. I had fun teaching students about states of matter. It was the first time I used authentic materials in my teaching this semester, so everyone was interested. I was asking those higher other questions, I felt like I knew what I was doing and was in control. I was so happy during and after that lesson. I think that the worst lesson I thought was my social studies lesson. While the lesson went well, there were hitches here and there. I was teaching a lesson on Nigeria and China and was going to share some real Nigerian food with the class. My document camera refused to work. I was supposed to read a book in during direct instruction but did not because everything just got mixed up, so I was all over the place.

Things you learned specifically from your MT

1.     Love students first, teach them second

2.     I cannot always get it all right, its ok to miss it sometimes.

3.     Do not be too hard on yourself, you are doing great!

Things you learned about yourself

1.     I can do anything; I just need to believe in me.

2.     I thrive under pressure

3.     I was born to do this!

Things you learned about students

1.     Students are always ready to learn

2.     They want to know that they can count on you

3.     Just as they are easily distracted, it takes very little to get them interested.

Things you learned about the education field

1.     It is hard, harder than I thought

2.     It is also rewarding. The smile on those innocent faces makes it all worth it.

3.     As a teacher, you will be spending a lot out of your pocket

Thinking back, I wish I quit one of my jobs and gave more time to schoolwork. Having to work two jobs, take care of my family (four children), and do school was very difficult. This semester was extremely stressing, I barely slept and had no time at all to take care of myself. This affected my performance generally.

I am excited to meet my CT and a new set of students. I will be student teaching in a 1^st grade classroom so, that is definitely going to be interesting.  I am anxious to actually begin student teaching. I worry about what kind of relationship I will have might have with my CT: will she be available and supporting like my MT this semester. I hope that she is ‘nice’ and open.