Overall Reflection
I did my two week IMB program at Berewick Elementary School in a third grade classroom. I am lucky to say that I had a wonderful experience and an amazing teacher to work with. She accepted me very last minute because of some placement issues and I was so grateful for that. It was hard to get in the routine of waking up and being there on time and prepared but I soon was able to fall into routine. I was very nervous to start my two week clinical observations and teaching because I was afraid of having a difficult class and scheduling conflicts but everything turned successful. I was also afraid I would not click with the students or the teacher and did not want to have any awkward experiences during my time there. For the first week of my clinical I just simply observed each day to get a feel for the students and how the classroom worked. This definitely helped when it came time for me to teach because I felt comfortable with the students and with the teacher where I wasn’t so nervous and I was not afraid to tell the students to be quiet. I knew that the students were not necessarily going to be angels for me when I taught because I was someone new to them and they thought they could get away with things a lot easier when I was teaching and that was a struggle.
One thing that was challenging for me was observing how my cooperating taught a lesson and then trying to create a lesson plan that we had learned how to do in our classes. I felt like her lessons were planned very differently than how we were taught in our classes and I was struggling when trying to plan my lessons to teach. I felt like the students were going to be confused because they were used to learning one way and I was going to teach in a whole different way. Trying to get the students attention while I was teaching was also challenging because the teacher had a certain phrase that she used to quiet the students and I was always afraid of stepping on her toes and shadowing her because I did not want her to feel like I was trying to take over. I always tried to know my boundaries with how I handled the students and how I presented myself to them.
The students did a lot of writing in this classroom and I found that very interesting. As they learned a new genre they were to write a story using that genre and many of the students seemed to struggle. A lot of students would rush through their work and be done in five minutes and would not do everything that
they were supposed to. The teacher gave them plenty of time to plan out their writing and gave them ideas to help them plan and write and would even conference with them to make sure they were on the right path. The teacher was very hands on and very available for the students when they needed help and I thought that made the classroom successful. I was unsure of how a language arts lesson would go and I am so glad I was able to observe and work with the students on their writing. I have observed that it is important for students to have a little freedom when they are writing but they also need to know the
structure of writing and all of the steps to be a successful writer. Many of the students had a hard time starting their stories and would often look at their papers and I felt comfortable being able to help them plan and gather ideas and different strategies to get their writing started.
One thing that was really helpful was the teacher feedback on each of my lessons. It gave me a boost of confidence for each lesson I taught and I also liked that I was able to discuss each of my lesson ideas with the teacher before I taught. The students were patient and helpful during the lessons and that
definately eased the nervousness as the week went on. I learned a lot about classroom management, my students learning, instructional teaching, and overall how to be patient. I am so glad to have had this experience because I feel like it really gave me an opportunity to express what I have been learning in the classroom and a way to experiment with different lessons and activities. This experience definitely taught me a lot about myself and about the students I worked with. It is important to have a good relationship with your students because it makes for a more successful classroom. I am walking away with an abundant amount of knowledge that I didn’t know before I entered the classroom.
My teacher showed me resources, ideas, and support throughout my experience and I appreciate everything she did for me. I am so glad I was given this
opportunity because I now feel more confident as a teacher than I did before I
stepped into that classroom.
I did my two week IMB program at Berewick Elementary School in a third grade classroom. I am lucky to say that I had a wonderful experience and an amazing teacher to work with. She accepted me very last minute because of some placement issues and I was so grateful for that. It was hard to get in the routine of waking up and being there on time and prepared but I soon was able to fall into routine. I was very nervous to start my two week clinical observations and teaching because I was afraid of having a difficult class and scheduling conflicts but everything turned successful. I was also afraid I would not click with the students or the teacher and did not want to have any awkward experiences during my time there. For the first week of my clinical I just simply observed each day to get a feel for the students and how the classroom worked. This definitely helped when it came time for me to teach because I felt comfortable with the students and with the teacher where I wasn’t so nervous and I was not afraid to tell the students to be quiet. I knew that the students were not necessarily going to be angels for me when I taught because I was someone new to them and they thought they could get away with things a lot easier when I was teaching and that was a struggle.
One thing that was challenging for me was observing how my cooperating taught a lesson and then trying to create a lesson plan that we had learned how to do in our classes. I felt like her lessons were planned very differently than how we were taught in our classes and I was struggling when trying to plan my lessons to teach. I felt like the students were going to be confused because they were used to learning one way and I was going to teach in a whole different way. Trying to get the students attention while I was teaching was also challenging because the teacher had a certain phrase that she used to quiet the students and I was always afraid of stepping on her toes and shadowing her because I did not want her to feel like I was trying to take over. I always tried to know my boundaries with how I handled the students and how I presented myself to them.
The students did a lot of writing in this classroom and I found that very interesting. As they learned a new genre they were to write a story using that genre and many of the students seemed to struggle. A lot of students would rush through their work and be done in five minutes and would not do everything that
they were supposed to. The teacher gave them plenty of time to plan out their writing and gave them ideas to help them plan and write and would even conference with them to make sure they were on the right path. The teacher was very hands on and very available for the students when they needed help and I thought that made the classroom successful. I was unsure of how a language arts lesson would go and I am so glad I was able to observe and work with the students on their writing. I have observed that it is important for students to have a little freedom when they are writing but they also need to know the
structure of writing and all of the steps to be a successful writer. Many of the students had a hard time starting their stories and would often look at their papers and I felt comfortable being able to help them plan and gather ideas and different strategies to get their writing started.
One thing that was really helpful was the teacher feedback on each of my lessons. It gave me a boost of confidence for each lesson I taught and I also liked that I was able to discuss each of my lesson ideas with the teacher before I taught. The students were patient and helpful during the lessons and that
definately eased the nervousness as the week went on. I learned a lot about classroom management, my students learning, instructional teaching, and overall how to be patient. I am so glad to have had this experience because I feel like it really gave me an opportunity to express what I have been learning in the classroom and a way to experiment with different lessons and activities. This experience definitely taught me a lot about myself and about the students I worked with. It is important to have a good relationship with your students because it makes for a more successful classroom. I am walking away with an abundant amount of knowledge that I didn’t know before I entered the classroom.
My teacher showed me resources, ideas, and support throughout my experience and I appreciate everything she did for me. I am so glad I was given this
opportunity because I now feel more confident as a teacher than I did before I
stepped into that classroom.