Reflection of Student Teaching
I completed my student teaching at McKinley Elementary in a fifth grade class located in Farmington, New Mexico. The
class consists of fifteen boys and nine girls. There are six gifted students and two special education students with sixteen
general education students. Differentiation in this classroom is a must and catering to the various learning styles has proven
essential. Through the semester the students and I created a positive environment where everyone is allowed to share their
ideas and opinions. We have worked together to create a classroom which provides lots of fun, explorative, and cooperative
learning in a student based curriculum.
In creating my PDP this semester, I decided to focus on improving handling transitions between subjects and classroom
management. I found these areas needed to be explored and experimented with as it was not effective for the students or me.
To address these issues, my first step was to discuss expectations with the students and what their ideal classroom would
be like. I then held the students to the expectations we discussed and often asked the students how they would assess their
own behavior. To my surprise all the students were very conscious of their behavior and honest about their performance. This
has helped the students self monitor their behavior which has allowed them to be responsible and consistently meet the classroom
expectations.
Enlisting the students in creating a classroom that functions as efficiently as possible has proven to be the best
strategy I have used. The students have taken pride in the ownership of their classroom which is reflected daily in their
behavior and attitude. I have also tried many different ways to grab the student’s attention. I have realized through
this experience that a strategy may work one day and the next day fall flat. Providing a high structure environment while
keeping the students on their toes and engaged works the best for these students. Working with such an active group of students
whose skills are varied has been very helpful for me. I am always thinking ahead. How I can spice up each lesson and get these
students moving, doing, creating, collaborating, problem-solving and becoming critical thinkers.
I have had the pleasure of also working
with another fifth grade class for 45 minutes a day teaching science. Having these students has been a very beneficial experience
as the class is extremely different from mine. The personalities of these students are vastly different which create a completely
different dynamic in the classroom. Having these two classrooms has helped me differentiate my lessons for the students. I
must tweak my lesson plan for the two classes to meet their needs for the same lesson. This has made me realize that every
year I will have a new class with new personalities, new dynamics, and new issues that will need to be assessed and addressed.
My strengths as a teacher are building
relationships with the students, sharing my enthusiasm of learning and knowing that I am learning beside the students. I have
slowly but surely built a relationship with all of my students in both of the classes I teach. Having confidence in the relationship
I have with the students has been very helpful on the days that were going south. I was able to stop everything I was doing
and chat with the students about what was working and what wasn’t then brainstorm as a group how we could fix the situation.
Trusting the students has paid off. They know what works for them and how to fix a problematic situation. Every day I walk
into the classroom I am ready to teach the content and get the students excited to learn about it. This encourages the whole
class that we are on a learning adventure together and although I may not always have all the answers we can figure it out.
In my own classroom I would like to continue
to work on my classroom management skills. I understand that to be an effective teacher I need to have a full toolbox ready
to address any issue that arises. I know that in order to find these tools I will need to collaborate with my colleges and
continue my education. I would also like to explore a more creative curriculum to supplement the one prescribed. I have found
that I am hands on teacher who like to use as many manipulatives as possible to help the students understand the material.
I am excited to discover the endless possibilities of getting my own classroom engrossed in their learning.
