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 1st 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.
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