Yesterday was the last day of my Practicum II in Mr. Scott's room. I know in my last blog post I expressed that I was so relieved that I would be returning, but that feeling is present now more than ever. I honestly don't know that I would have been happy leaving my cooperating teacher and the classroom at this point in the year. I can only imagine how tough it will be when I leave in May!
My semester in the classroom has taught me so much. I learned new technology and new ways of teaching that will change the way I look at education forever. I honestly can say that I never once saw a lesson in the classroom that I questioned if it was really getting through to students or if there was thought put into keeping students engaged. I can clearly see that students are learning in the classroom. I hear it in their discussions, I see it in the classwork that I collected after teaching my final lesson on Monday, and I can read it in their responses on Schoology.
On Monday when I taught, I saw how much I have changed already as a result of my experiences. My lesson was on the Declaration of Independence. I had students translating the Declaration into sentences that middle school students could understand without background knowledge. I saw how my experiences have been changed because I was using graphic organizers - something I have never been comfortable finding and implementing before. I used a PowerPoint to guide the introduction of the class - something I did because it's sort of a norm in their classroom and I wanted to try it out. While I didn't really use the PowerPoint for an extended period of time, it was still a good challenge for me to begin to think about how to use visual aids with my lesson so I can get through to more students. I also recognized how much more comfortable I was teaching these students at this point than I was the first time I taught them two months ago.
I am so thankful for my experiences in Mr. Scott's classroom. I can't wait to add to these lessons, and I'm already anxious for their winter break to start and come to an end so I can get back into the classroom at least once a week until student teaching begins.
Furthermore, I am particularly happy that we were required to blog about our classroom experiences. Spending the time twice a week to reflect upon my experiences has given me a different perspective. It's kind of funny how much I realize and recognize the next day as I am writing my reflection when I hadn't noticed it as I was actually experiencing it. It is my goal to continue this practice at least twice a week during my student teaching (regardless of if it is a requirement or not) so that I can continue this practice of reflection.
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