My first semester of student teaching
I don't have the right words to express how amazing the experience was that I had as pre-service practicum student. I was placed in a Kindergarten classroom in an urban school. This school is an International Baccalaureate school. They are working to do some amazing things and my mentor teacher was probably the best match that I could have ever been given. God definitely blessed me when I was given this mentor teacher.
My mentor teacher is probably the most positive person I have ever met. Which was really nice because I try to stay positive and happy but I know that there are times when I'm not. From the first moment when I met her I knew that she was going to be very encouraging towards me. This was so true same for my supervisor. My first lessons with the students focused on teaching them social emotional skills and I taught them about being a "bucket filler" and "speaking giraffe." I learned a lot about speaking giraffe myself. This is a form of nonviolent communication.
My mentor teacher also believed in diffusing essential oils in the classroom to help set the tone for the day and being fully prepared. We both would arrive for the day an hour before the students did.
My mentor teacher is a trainer for Love and Logic and we used this in the classroom. Have you heard of this? It is amazing and I can't imaging running classroom management any other way. My mentor teacher never yelled and rather the students would have logical consequences for their actions. There also are no visual tools that correspond with this type of management. At least, my mentor did not use any. The students really responded well to this type of classroom management.
For our reading program, we used Lucy Calkins reader's workshop and writer's workshop. This was an amazing experience working with this program and I can not speak highly enough of what I have seen of it.
I worked with a group of 21 kindergarteners and I feel like they have a piece of my heart. I am going to miss them so much.
My mentor teacher has impacted my life so much, I felt like we created such a great partnership and I cannot believe that our time together is over. I know that I told her this, but I don't know how I will ever live up to the teacher that she is. I'm glad that I had the experience with her and know that I will be able contact her anytime I need anything.
Next semester is my second preservice student teaching experience. I haven't gotten the official notice yet, but unofficially, I have heard that I will be staying in the same school and I will be placed in a first grade classroom. This classroom is a co-teaching classroom where both teachers have special education backgrounds. Needless to say, it will be a very different experience. I'm both nervous and excited to start this new adventure. I will hold my past experience near and dear to my heart and look forward to seeing my old class and mentor teacher daily and I will only be two classrooms away. :)
My mentor teacher is probably the most positive person I have ever met. Which was really nice because I try to stay positive and happy but I know that there are times when I'm not. From the first moment when I met her I knew that she was going to be very encouraging towards me. This was so true same for my supervisor. My first lessons with the students focused on teaching them social emotional skills and I taught them about being a "bucket filler" and "speaking giraffe." I learned a lot about speaking giraffe myself. This is a form of nonviolent communication.
My mentor teacher also believed in diffusing essential oils in the classroom to help set the tone for the day and being fully prepared. We both would arrive for the day an hour before the students did.
My mentor teacher is a trainer for Love and Logic and we used this in the classroom. Have you heard of this? It is amazing and I can't imaging running classroom management any other way. My mentor teacher never yelled and rather the students would have logical consequences for their actions. There also are no visual tools that correspond with this type of management. At least, my mentor did not use any. The students really responded well to this type of classroom management.
For our reading program, we used Lucy Calkins reader's workshop and writer's workshop. This was an amazing experience working with this program and I can not speak highly enough of what I have seen of it.
I worked with a group of 21 kindergarteners and I feel like they have a piece of my heart. I am going to miss them so much.
My mentor teacher has impacted my life so much, I felt like we created such a great partnership and I cannot believe that our time together is over. I know that I told her this, but I don't know how I will ever live up to the teacher that she is. I'm glad that I had the experience with her and know that I will be able contact her anytime I need anything.
Next semester is my second preservice student teaching experience. I haven't gotten the official notice yet, but unofficially, I have heard that I will be staying in the same school and I will be placed in a first grade classroom. This classroom is a co-teaching classroom where both teachers have special education backgrounds. Needless to say, it will be a very different experience. I'm both nervous and excited to start this new adventure. I will hold my past experience near and dear to my heart and look forward to seeing my old class and mentor teacher daily and I will only be two classrooms away. :)
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