Alright, it has been way too long! My excuse is that I have been in a 4th grade class all month and I really haven't had any time to post anything because I have been swamped with lesson plans and complete exhaustion! But, I'm back in classes now so I have a bit more time! Let me tell you a little bit about my experiences this practicum:
I was in a 4th grade class at Bonneville Elementary with a cooperating teacher named Aaron Stevenson. He was a really awesome mentor teacher and I learned a lot from him and his teaching style. But, I must say that I learned much more from my own experiences teaching as well as from the students in my class! It was such a fun experience. I think the best part of the experience was some of the connections that I got to make with some of the students. I will remember two in specific.
There was a boy named Bridjer who was very energetic to say the least. He always seemed to get in trouble because he really couldn't sit still and he was always turning around and distracting other students. One of the first days of my practicum, I brought him over to me and just talked to him. I asked him how he was doing in school and how he was doing that day. He kind of opened up to me and told me that he was having a hard day. I told him that if he has hard days that he should come and see me and we could talk. From then on, I had a really good relationship with him. He confided in me that he often got bored in class so that is why he turned around to talk to the other kids. I told him that I would be okay if he held something in his hand, a toy or something, as long as it didn't distract him or anyone else. He pretty much loved me after that! He thought I was the coolest teacher because I would let him "play" during school! He wasn't the perfect child after that, but I didn't really care: I liked that I had made a connection with him!
Another girl, Eliza, was the type of girl that thought she was too cool for school. She often rolled her eyes at me because she thought she was much cooler than me! I thought it was the perfect opportunity to be silly with her and make her be a ten-year-old! As often as I could, I teased her and joked with her and by the end of the practicum, she was coming up to me and talking to me like I was one of the girls! It was really fun and again, I'm glad for the connection!
After teaching for a month, I realized again how much I really love teaching. I realized again that I feel confident when I am in front of students and I feel like I can actually do it well! I love teaching!
Other big news: I interviewed for an internship and I got a position to teach 4th grade next year! I am so excited. I feel like all of my boring, seemingly pointless schooling is paying off and I will finally get to do what I want to do and that is teach full time in my own classroom. I'm obviously a little nervous because I have never had my own classroom before but I feel somewhat confident that even though I don't know what I'm doing, that I'll learn and I'll learn to do it well!
So, the next couple of months are going to be a bit crazy! Because I got an internship and because I am a elementary education major as well as a early childhood education major, I have to do a student teaching experience in May. So, I'll be in a Kindergarten for the month of May where I will be the teacher in a nother teacher's classroom. I'm excited for it, but since early childhood isn't what I really want to do, I'm more excited to get it over with and teach 4th grade!
Well, that's all for now. Hopefully, I will keep up on this thing instead of having to write a novel everytime!
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