I will always remember my experience as a student teacher.  It was many things including; challenging, frustrating and lastly rewarding.  I am attached to those students.  They are MY students and I will always remember them.  Throughout this experience I have had the opportunity to learn and grow into a teacher and I am proud and excited to say that.

My semester spent as a student teacher allowed me to accomplish milestones important to learning as an adult and learning alongside children.  While emerging into a teacher, I feel my most important accomplishment has been the positive relationships I have made with the students and the Blanco community.  Parents expressed their appreciation of my ability to get to know the students individually and use their strengths and interests in lesson planning.  Another accomplishment transitioned when the students started becoming more independent about their learning.  Students started to express curiosity about more literature and science content.  I was very pleased when they began to read independently about content we had briefly covered during my short time.

Through reflection, I was able to begin to realize what worked best in our particular classroom.  Grouping was a very important key to the success of my students.  I experimented with different types of grouping and found that during specific activities, I would have students meet away from their desks in groups I arrange prior to the activity according to their strengths and the objective of the lesson.  I realize this might not work in another classroom, but it worked well for activities that required students to work together and collaborate ideas and present a product or solve a problem.  Some students thrived with independent work and I would always allow that choice when possible.

Also through reflection I became aware of my needs, professionally, that affected the success of my students and would perform differently in the next opportunity.  Such differences would be to always set very clear expectations in both oral language and written for both audio and visual learners.  I would also provide more opportunity for the students to practice using centers.  My biggest challenge was giving the students the objective and instructions clearly and will experiment with new ideas for structuring activities while promoting independence.

My experience would not have been a growing experience if it was not for reflection.  Both written and mental reflection really helped me to learn about the kid’s individual strengths, my need to revitalize lessons, positive relationships with the students, assessment techniques, lesson ideas, and positive relationships with colleques.  This was a very important tool for me and I will continue to reflect throughout my teaching and learning life.

Learning is lifelong and connections are unique to individuals as well as the magic that allow us to use our knowledge as we continue to grow.  This is the most important thing to remember when you think about how children learn.  Every child develops differently, like different food, have different prior experiences, and plays differently.  All children learn differently.  As a teacher that is the learning golden rule and the kids are the most important aspect.  Children grasp at the opportunities to be enriched and remember through humor, love, and structure.

My hope is to create a safe environment that promotes individualism and encourages learning in and out of the classroom.  I plan to take the appropriate steps to achieving my masters and constantly researching new ideas and strategies that benefit the learning of children.