Reflection on Student Teaching
It’s hard to believe that my student teaching experience is coming to an end. The past 14 weeks have been such a learning experience. I feel like a whole different person from when I started. The more introverted person I was before has changed. I used to get nervous to make phone calls or to speak in front of a group of people (crazy to think someone with these fears would become a teacher!) but that has completely changed. I am ready and able to speak in front of crowds and command a room; I have no problem with eyes being on me. I’ve also found that I have acquired a “Can-Do” attitude as one of my mentors described it. I used to panic when things would go wrong and I used to not know what to do. Now, in the event that something does go wrong, I am calm and ready to think of a quick solution to get things back on track, thinking, “we can do this!”. Teaching has made me a calmer person and has given me the ability to think on my feet.
Aside from my growth as a person, I have also grown tremendously as a teacher. I’m finding that strategies that I used to have to think about doing have become muscle memory. I used to have a problem of being “married to the board” and never leaving its side. I would have to remind myself to teach from different parts of the room and circulate. However, I now do this naturally. I also have come to use it as a form of informal assessment; based on who turns their gaze to follow my movement, I am able to tell who is paying attention.
During the course of my student teaching I took a running record of different strategies that I want to remember and use in the future. In this record, I detailed the procedures of each activity, or classroom management strategy, and why or how they worked. I plan on using this as one of my references as I learn to become a stronger teacher in my first years of teaching. Some of the strategies that I recorded are the AREI Method, Socratic Discussions, Turn and Talks, and modeling metacognition. These are just a few but they are some of my favorites. The AREI method is a method that helps student make claims with evidence, making debates more fruitful. The AREI stands for Assertion, Reasoning, Evidence, and Impact. Students are to make an assertion, describe the reasoning behind that assertion, provide evidence for that reasoning, and then describe how this assertion may impact the future. By making claims in this format, it gives students a great formula to create strong claims and arguments in debates and discussions in and outside of school. Socratic Discussions are also really helpful when they are done correctly. For a socratic discussion there should be a circle of students in the middle, and then a half circle of students on the outside. The students in the middle have a discussion outloud, typically a discussion of their opinions about the essential question of the lesson. The half circle on the outside is engaged in a backchannel chat that the inner circle can see on their chromebooks. It’s like a chatroom. They can help facilitate the discussion, ask questions, and add their own ideas into the discussion. After this discussion, the inner circle and outer half circle switch and we start a new discussion on the same topic. Turn and Talks are really helpful because they are a great way to promote student interaction, especially considering the best way to learn something is by teaching someone else. It’s a helpful tool because it gives students a chance to share what they think is the right answer with a smaller group, and if it turns out they were wrong, it’s far less embarrassing than if they said it in front of the whole class. Finally, one of my other favorite strategies is the modeling of metacognition. This strategy makes kids aware that you can grapple with things too and that things may be hard, but they must persevere and try their hardest instead of giving up. Metacognitive modeling lessons also give students a good idea of how to go about answering the questions that you are asking them. It also helps answer students’ questions about how they should answer the questions, before those questions even arise. In the end, I learned far more than just these few examples, but these are a few of the many strategies that I try to incorporate in class often.
Thinking back on my 14 week experience, there are a few things that I would have done differently. First, I would read the text more than once before teaching my lessons. Teachers often say that the content is the hardest thing about being a new teacher, and they are right! Sometimes I felt like the kids knew more than me, and that was uncomfortable. I want to be an expert in the content so I feel confident in what I am teaching and can also answer my students with confidence when they ask me questions.
If I could go back and tell myself anything at the beginning of the semester, I would tell myself to just be myself. I was so nervous in the beginning and I think it hindered my ability to create a relationship with the kids earlier on. Once I became more comfortable with myself in front of the room, I was able to “let my hair down” so to speak and throw some jokes into my teaching. The kids greatly appreciated it, and it truly improved the rapport that the students and I had. I just wish I could have done it sooner.
Overall, I view my experience as a student teacher a huge success. I am so proud of how far I have come from the beginning of the year. I have learned so much about myself and so much about what it means to be a teacher. Now, I just cannot wait to be hired and start my career! It has been an amazing journey that I truly believe has set me up for a successful and fulfilling teaching career
Aside from my growth as a person, I have also grown tremendously as a teacher. I’m finding that strategies that I used to have to think about doing have become muscle memory. I used to have a problem of being “married to the board” and never leaving its side. I would have to remind myself to teach from different parts of the room and circulate. However, I now do this naturally. I also have come to use it as a form of informal assessment; based on who turns their gaze to follow my movement, I am able to tell who is paying attention.
During the course of my student teaching I took a running record of different strategies that I want to remember and use in the future. In this record, I detailed the procedures of each activity, or classroom management strategy, and why or how they worked. I plan on using this as one of my references as I learn to become a stronger teacher in my first years of teaching. Some of the strategies that I recorded are the AREI Method, Socratic Discussions, Turn and Talks, and modeling metacognition. These are just a few but they are some of my favorites. The AREI method is a method that helps student make claims with evidence, making debates more fruitful. The AREI stands for Assertion, Reasoning, Evidence, and Impact. Students are to make an assertion, describe the reasoning behind that assertion, provide evidence for that reasoning, and then describe how this assertion may impact the future. By making claims in this format, it gives students a great formula to create strong claims and arguments in debates and discussions in and outside of school. Socratic Discussions are also really helpful when they are done correctly. For a socratic discussion there should be a circle of students in the middle, and then a half circle of students on the outside. The students in the middle have a discussion outloud, typically a discussion of their opinions about the essential question of the lesson. The half circle on the outside is engaged in a backchannel chat that the inner circle can see on their chromebooks. It’s like a chatroom. They can help facilitate the discussion, ask questions, and add their own ideas into the discussion. After this discussion, the inner circle and outer half circle switch and we start a new discussion on the same topic. Turn and Talks are really helpful because they are a great way to promote student interaction, especially considering the best way to learn something is by teaching someone else. It’s a helpful tool because it gives students a chance to share what they think is the right answer with a smaller group, and if it turns out they were wrong, it’s far less embarrassing than if they said it in front of the whole class. Finally, one of my other favorite strategies is the modeling of metacognition. This strategy makes kids aware that you can grapple with things too and that things may be hard, but they must persevere and try their hardest instead of giving up. Metacognitive modeling lessons also give students a good idea of how to go about answering the questions that you are asking them. It also helps answer students’ questions about how they should answer the questions, before those questions even arise. In the end, I learned far more than just these few examples, but these are a few of the many strategies that I try to incorporate in class often.
Thinking back on my 14 week experience, there are a few things that I would have done differently. First, I would read the text more than once before teaching my lessons. Teachers often say that the content is the hardest thing about being a new teacher, and they are right! Sometimes I felt like the kids knew more than me, and that was uncomfortable. I want to be an expert in the content so I feel confident in what I am teaching and can also answer my students with confidence when they ask me questions.
If I could go back and tell myself anything at the beginning of the semester, I would tell myself to just be myself. I was so nervous in the beginning and I think it hindered my ability to create a relationship with the kids earlier on. Once I became more comfortable with myself in front of the room, I was able to “let my hair down” so to speak and throw some jokes into my teaching. The kids greatly appreciated it, and it truly improved the rapport that the students and I had. I just wish I could have done it sooner.
Overall, I view my experience as a student teacher a huge success. I am so proud of how far I have come from the beginning of the year. I have learned so much about myself and so much about what it means to be a teacher. Now, I just cannot wait to be hired and start my career! It has been an amazing journey that I truly believe has set me up for a successful and fulfilling teaching career