This past semester, I embarked on my student teaching experience. I was placed in a 7th-grade language arts classroom in a small rural town and I have loved every single second of it. No matter how challenging it could get, no matter how much I doubted myself sometimes and no matter how stressed I was, I learned so much through this experience and I wouldn’t trade it for the world. I’m going to share with you some of the lessons I learned throughout this experience.
- You have to be flexible
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Times have been very tough recently, especially for kids. They really haven’t experienced a “normal” school year since 2019, and they are just as tired of this as we are. Throughout student teaching, I’ve learned that I need to be flexible and understanding with my students. It’s all about meeting them in the middle so we can both get as much out of this as possible.
- love all of your students
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Some days are going to be harder than others (trust me), but you have to love all of your students and make sure they feel that. They are not going to be interested in learning from someone they don’t feel cares for them. Plus, we all need to feel loved, especially when we’re young.
- don’t panic about observations
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Let me tell ya, I was the first one to panic about observations from my university supervisor. I mean, someone coming in to watch you teach that you have literally never met before? Terrifying. I had no idea what to expect. When it came time for my first observation, my CT could tell I was nervous. She definitely helped calm my nerves and give me hope that my lesson was good and that I was on the right track. From that point forward, I knew both my CT and my university supervisor were in my corner and wanted nothing but to see me succeed.
- Lean on your ct
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I seriously don’t know where I would be without my CT. She has been my confidante, my mentor, and the person I seek guidance from every single day. Every time I had a question, she welcomed me with open arms and set me up for success. I think a lot of student teachers feel as if they have to take on all of the responsibilities of another person’s classroom by themselves, but you don’t. You are not alone. Your CT is there to help you! Lean on them!
- continuously reflect
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Throughout my student teaching experience, I have learned just how important reflection is in this process. It’s important to reflect on any lessons, lesson plans, observations, etc., that happen so you are able to make changes for the better. My CT and I had conferences every week where we would reflect on how the week went, see what improvements could be made, and talked about what was going great. I learned just how important reflection is for teaching.
Student teaching can be a hard and stressful experience for a lot of future educators. However, it is so rewarding. This experience has reaffirmed just how much I want to be a teacher and how excited I’m to be on this path. I’m excited to see what the future holds!
HCXO,
Alyssa