The student teacher reflects on their experience, noting they gained confidence and strengthened their belief in nurturing the whole child. Their classroom management style evolved to match their cooperating teacher's approach. They appreciated the support of a team of teachers and mentors. The experience reinforced the importance of implementing new standards thoughtfully and providing real-world applications. While more responsibilities await as a full teacher, the student feels prepared to take on tasks like student placement. Overall, the student is grateful for the learning experience and support at their school.

1. Student Teaching Reflection
When I first thought about student teaching, I went through many emotions. It
started with excitement because that meant I was that much closer to graduating. I
had so many questions running through my mind. What will my teachers be
like? Will the faculty be supportive? With all these questions, I started to feel
intimidated by what was soon to come. I was worried that my teachers and I would
not get along. I was terrified that my students would not understand me. What was I
going to do if I was not able to be the kind of teacher I had hoped I would be? When
the time came for me to begin my student teaching, all I could do was hope and pray
that things went smoothly. I soon found out that any worries I had were no longer an
issue. I was placed at a school that was filled with caring and supportive people. If I
had a question, they had an answer. If they did not know, they found someone who
did. Even the teachers that I had no contact with were there to make me feel
comfortable and respected. My cooperating teachers sat down with me and helped me
reflect on how I was doing. I was expecting to get along with my students and my
cooperating teachers, but my experience went above and beyond any expectations I
had in the beginning. I learned more than ever imagined I would! I have come to
realize I could not have had a better student teaching experience than the one I had
at FarleyElementary School.
My first placement was in a kindergarten Autism unit. I had two students who
stayed with me all day. These two were my more severe cases. The six other students
I worked with were in regular education classrooms. These students were high
functioning and came in throughout the day. We did activities revolving around
social skills and communication. My main objective for these students was to enable
them to effectively communicate with others around them.
This class was unlike any other I had observed. These students were very
intelligent, but lacked social skills that other children their age possess. One activity I
did with my students on a daily basis was circle time. This circle time was different
then what is done in a regular classroom. In addition to the usual calendar and
singing, I would include a social story. These stories were about daily living skills,
such as brushing your teeth and taking a bath. They also discussed communication
skills, such as how close to stand to someone when having a conversation and how to
share toys.
During my first placement, I taught my students a unit on Personal Safety. For
the first activity in this unit, the students worked on learning their personal
information, such as their full name, phone number, address, and parents’ names. Part
of this unit required the students to take turns asking each other about their
information. This activity was wonderful! The students made progress in their
conversation skills as the weeks went on. They learned that when you talk to
someone, it is important to look them in the eye.

2. My second placement was in a 5th
grade regular education classroom. This
was a huge, and difficult, transition from my previous placement! I was used to the
small, loving group of five-year-olds. Now, I was in a larger class setting with a group
of students who liked to be challenged. I struggled, in the beginning, gaining their
respect. They saw me more as their pal, and certainly did not see me as their
teacher. I had to establish a classroom management plan. My cooperating teacher
was wonderful in
helping me do this! I created a marble jar for them. They had a period of twenty
school days to earn seventy-five marbles. If they successfully did this, my
cooperating teacher and I would give them a pizza party. Everyday, I would write
“PIZZA” on the board. When the class was exhibiting inappropriate behaviors, I
would erase a letter. However many letters were left at the end of the day was how
many marbles were placed in the jar. Some examples of these behaviors are being
loud in the hallway and showing disrespect for other students or teachers. We had a
class discussion on exactly how to have marbles taken away. They understood that
they were required to follow the school and classroom rules. The main objective for
this plan was for the students to learn to show respect. Not just respect for me, but
respect for the other students. This plan worked out great! By the end of the twenty
days, which ended up being my last week, the class successfully earned their pizza
party. They also showed tremendous improvement in the respect department. By the
time I completed my placement in this classroom, I had earned the respect of each of
my students. My students saw that respect was a huge part of having a successful
classroom. I led by example. I showed them respect, and they, in return, showed me
respect.
Even though I succeeded in reaching the high standards I set for myself during
my student teaching, there are areas that I need to improve upon. One of these areas
is becoming a stronger pedagogical expert. I noticed during my student teaching that
I have a habit of sticking with the same instructional strategies. I tend to teach my
lessons in the same way, every time. For example, when I was teaching reading, we
always read the story as a class and did some of the pages in the practice book. I
taught reading the same way for every story we read. In the future, I need to work on
teaching with a variety of instructional strategies. For reading, after we read the story,
I could have my students work on a more creative activity, such as creative writing or
some form of a small art project. Knowing that time is limited, I would search for an
activity that is not a huge production, but rather one that will require the students to
use the creative side of their brain more.
A second area I need to improve upon goes along with the previous area. I
need to become more of a critical thinker. There are parts of this area that I am very
strong in. I do a good job of relating what we are learning to the real world and
showing them why we need to know what we are learning. On the other hand, there
are some parts that I struggle with. I really need to work on making some of my

3. lessons more engaging. I really struggled with this in my math lessons. Math is an
area that a lot of students do not enjoy. This is why the lessons need to have a
wonderful hook!
My class really struggled with fractions. Finding common denominators was a
concept that just did not make sense. I decided that I needed to plan a creative and
fun activity for my class to get them interested in fractions. I had them make pictures
out of pattern block cut-outs. I gave my students a sheet of black construction paper
and the cut-outs and told them to be creative and make a picture, or some sort of
design. After the picture was complete, they counted the number of each of the
different shapes they used. They then added up the total number of pieces. From this,
they created a number sentence out of the fractions of different types of pattern
blocks. They were responsible for reducing the fraction to lowest terms. We
discussed how all those pieces added together equal one. My students loved this
activity and also grasped the concept. I need to learn to incorporate more of these
types of activities in my teaching.
Even though there are areas that I need to improve upon, there are areas that I
excelled in during my student teaching. One of these areas is that I am an effective
communicator. I made it a point to make sure that each of my students understood my
directions or the topic we were discussing. I also kept in touch with the parents in a
number of ways. In my first placement, I sent home several notes to my parents
informing them of what had been going on in my classroom. Since this was a special
education setting, the parents were very guarded as to who worked with their
children. I wanted them to know about me and my passion for teaching. I kept them
up to date of the different topics we discussed. I had communication notebooks for
about half of my students that I wrote in and sent home everyday. For my second
placement, I sent home a letter every week that had homework listed and upcoming
events they needed to remember. I also kept in touch with my room-mother
concerning field trips and other important information. I also had a good relationship
with the faculty, staff, and principal at Farley.
In addition to being an effective communicator, I feel that I am a wonderful
leader and professional. I always portrayed a positive learning environment for my
students. I was very enthusiastic and wanted my students to feel comfortable in my
classroom. I was also very involved with the faculty and parents. I attended PTA
meetings and faculty meetings. I participated in the school talent show, along with
other members of the faculty. I attended a workshop at Farley concerning dyslexia
and one at Central Office about the changes in the IEP’s. I sat in on an IEP meeting
of one of my students in my
first placement. Overall, I stayed very involved with my students, their parents, and
other members of the faculty.
Throughout my student teaching experience, I learned things about myself that
will allow me to be a more successful teacher. The area in which I saw the greatest

4. gain was self-confidence. Deep down I knew that I was capable of becoming a
wonderful teacher, but part of me was not sure other people would see me in the same
light. Because of the wonderful teachers that worked with me, I now know for a fact I
will be a wonderful teacher.
As I stated previously, I had the best student teaching experience imaginable. I
had a wonderful support system of the faculty and principal at Farley, along with
superb cooperating teachers and an amazing university supervisor. I learned how to
better run my classroom, and make my students comfortable. Teaching is unlike any
other profession. Teachers are constantly learning how to improve on their skills. For
every student you encounter, you will learn something from them. Whether it be a
new teaching strategy or a life lesson, you never stop learning. I am more excited
about teaching after my fabulous experience at Farley Elementary.
Student Teaching Experience Reflection
Over the past four months, my educational philosophy has evolved and strengthened. My
belief that schools should nurture the whole child was reinforced just as my belief that teachers
have an unimaginable influence over their students was. I have witnessed the care that teachers
and administrators show towards each and every student at Campus Middle School. The
importance placed on each individual student was refreshing and sometimes overwhelming.
This is something that I respect and admire about the staff at Campus. They work tirelessly to
reach all learners, even if this means spending extra time brainstorming ways to do so,
differentiating for students, or spending extra time, outside of class, with students.
My classroom management style has most definitely evolved throughout this time. I
adapted my style to fit that of my cooperating teacher’s. It took me a bit to feel comfortable
doing so, but as a result, I feel much more aware of what is going on in the classroom than I did
at the beginning of the year. In the beginning of the year I was largely focused on building
connections with my students. Once I started teaching, my focus transitioned to that of making
sure my instruction and expectations were clear and direct. Once I became comfortable with my
instruction, I began to focus more on individual students that I knew were struggling, and my
classroom management as a whole. A personal goal I have for the near future is to really focus
on my classroom management for the remainder of my time as a student teacher. This is often
something that sets veteran teachers apart from first year teachers. While four months of
teaching and practicing classroom management is much different than the years of practice a
veteran teacher has, I want to continue to build confidence regarding my classroom management
style. I have learned that more often than not, an individual private conversation with a student
is all it takes to get a student back on the right track.
Something I did not expect from my student teaching experience is the benefit of the
team structure of a middle school. Knowing what teachers to check-in with about a student was
very helpful. Some days we would give each other a heads up about the behavior of a specific

5. student or discuss what strategies do and do not work with a specific student. This internal
support system is just one reason that I love the middle school environment. I immediately felt
welcomed onto Team 7-4 and continuously learned things from these co-workers. As a result, I
often felt as if I did not just have a cooperating teacher as a mentor, but rather a team of
mentors. Their willingness to provide advice and support me in any way possible was
comforting and helped me to get the most out of my student teaching experience as possible.
I was fortunate enough to be able to attend and contribute on numerous committee
meetings regarding the transition to Common Core Standards. The implementation of these new
standards must be intentional and I plan to be very mindful when doing so. No matter what
grade level or class I am teaching, I want to be able to confidently say that my educational
instruction not only follows the new Common Core Standards, but also exceeds them. I have
always been passionate about providing students with real world applications to demonstrate the
relevance of what they are currently learning. For this reason, I am very excited that a large
focus of the Common Core Standards is on the application of mathematics.
Throughout my student teaching experience, I have learned of some responsibilities that I
did not necessarily think of before this experience. That being said, I know that when I have a
classroom of my own, I will have an additional set of responsibilities that student teaching may
not have fully prepared me for. The changing environment of this job is something that excites
me and I know that I will always be learning and growing as a professional, instructor, mentor,
facilitator and more. One particular thing that I did not have full responsibility of as a student
teacher is the placement of my students into their math class for next year. This is a task that can
be tricky, and until I am fully responsible for doing so, I will not know exactly what is like. This
being said, I feel that I was prepared as best as I could be in order to complete this task in the
future.
I feel very blessed to have received a placement at Campus Middle School for my student
teaching experience. More specifically, I am fortunate to have been paired with my cooperating
teacher, worked with the other teachers on Team 7-4, and therefore had the privilege to teach a
wonderful group of 7th graders over the past four months. As I wrap-up my student teaching, I
am shocked at how fast this time went, thrilled to be this much closer to being a “real” teacher,
and grateful for every experience that prepared me for a classroom of my own.