Student Teaching Reflection

Combining student teaching while also running my own 2nd grade classroom was incredible hard and exhausting. It was also insightful, empowering, and eye-opening. I learned so much from my on-site supervisors and professor. I was giving constructive feedback that I accepted and learned from. Instead of becoming defensive, I took all the feedback and used it. I had to watch myself teach and it was horrifying. I don't like to watch videos of myself, however, it was empowering to sit with that uncomfortability, push it aside, and watch. I learned that I tend to rush through directions at times and don't give my students ample time to think through a question. In a teacher's world, a second can feel like an hour. It was incredibly insightful. I learned to mimic what I expect from my students and to dig deep when I am at my wit's end and my patience is gone. If I want my stations to be more quiet, I need to speak in a soft voice EVEN when I am barely keeping it together. I learned that I need to really sit down and pay attention to all assessments. These go a long way and I need to work on time-managing that with a big classroom. It is time consuming and draining, but essential for student growth. Above all else, I learned that it truly takes a village to raise a teacher. You must work together to share ideas, vent about things not going right, and picking each other up when we need it. You can not teach alone.