Student Teaching Shenanigans: Saying Goodbye Part 1

Before I begin my story, let me explain why this is "Part 1".  As I am getting my degree in Elementary and Special education, I have to do two placement for my student teaching; one in regular education and one in special education.  While this is good because I get two wonderful experiences with different types of students, it also means that I have to say goodbye two different times. Saying goodbye is hard enough once, but having to do it twice is even more painful!  One of my two sets of goodbye's happened this past Friday as I finished up my regular education placement with the little first graders.

The kids knew that I was leaving, they had been told at different points during the week, though every time they were told, they acted like they didn't know. Even on Friday, some of them didn't understand that this was my last day.  I was not teaching too much in the class anymore, I even left the class a couple times to observe other classrooms.

As the end of the day on Friday drew near, my big goal was to not cry in front of the kids when I said goodbye.  I was hoping that this would be easy because I was not really leaving, I am staying in the same building, just going to a different classroom.  I should have known that my co-op wouldn't let it be that easy! I knew that the class had done something for me, they were teasing it and trying to tell me all week, but I just pretended that I was oblivious and didn't know what they were talking about.  When the end of the day on Friday came, there was a big pink bag that I was supposed to open.  All the kids gathered around as I pulled out this picture frame.  The frame held a paper that said "Thumbody Loves Ms. Clawson" and all over the paper were they kids' thumbprints, decorated to look like them! It was the most beautiful thing that I have ever seen and I was just so happy! As if that was not enough though, there was even more in the bag! My co-op gave me fancy paper to print notes on, a few books for my classroom, a notepad that she had that I had been admiring, a Reader's Theater book and a book with some teaching ideas in it! I could not believe she had gotten me all of this and it was at this point that I had started to tear up! All of the kindness that she had shown me in the last 7 weeks and then doing all of this for me....I was completely speechless! I was good though, I composed myself, said goodbye to the children as they left to go to the buses and did not cry in front of them.  When my co-op came back, I thanked her from the bottom of my heart and gave her a little surprise of my own.

This first experience was by far one of the best I have ever had and I will never forget a single one of the students that I had! With the ending of this first experience, it means that I am half way finished my student teaching, which is beyond unbelievable!! I barely remember it beginning! Tomorrow morning I walk into my new placement, my special education room, with new adventures to begin! My first adventure: a field trip on Tuesday! Can't wait!

Student Teaching Shenanigans: Third Observation and Mid Term Meeting

Last Wednesday was my third observation and my final one in my first placement. It was for a reading lesson, I was being observed for my questioning techniques.  I had the entire lesson typed up and it was ready to go! And then...naturally...the snow came, canceling school on Tuesday.  This snowday moved my entire lesson back a day, so instead of the students reading the story for the second time and answering the questions, they were reading it for the first time! As the lesson went on, I was just making up the lessons on the fly, coming up with prediction and open ended questions to ask the students.  It turned out that my supervisor liked what I did on the fly even better than what I had planned! She understood that the lesson was different because of the snow and said I did fine adapting.  In this visit, we also had a small meeting with my second co-op, the teacher that I will be going with next week.  You will be hearing more about that very soon.

My Mid-Term Meeting...something that I was honestly not sure what to think about.  I did not know if I should be nervous or worried, so I just went in confidently and hoped that was the way to go!  It was just a small meeting with my supervisor where she went over my binder and over the evaluation forms that she filled out, that my co-op filled out and that I did.  She said my binder was very well organized and was looking good (Yay!) and as far as grades, looks like I am off to a very good start! My co-op and myself both gave me in the B+ range for a grade (I always grade myself on the low end, I hate grading myself!) and my supervisor almost gave me a perfect score! I was beyond shocked, but very happy!

As for today, I finished my final day of solo teaching in my first placement, which is beyond crazy! Where has these last 7 weeks gone?! Now all that is left is the report card day tomorrow, Thursday I start transitioning the class back to my co-op and Friday, I say good-bye to the class. :(

And so it Begins...

I am going to be student teaching tomorrow.

As I type that sentence, my brain is looking at it saying "What? No you are not! You still have years til that, what are you talking about?" But no, its not years or months from now. It's here, now! I have been preparing for what seems like forever for this, but at the same time I feel that I am not yet ready.  Where have these last 3 1/2 years of college gone? Wasn't I getting ready for prom just last week? It just doesn't seem like a reality to me.

But it is a reality. Tomorrow morning, I will be walking into a first grade classroom as their student teacher for the next 7 weeks. And boy what a crazy 7 weeks it will be: Learning all of their names and traits, slowly teaching all of the lessons, making plans, putting up bulletin boards, grading homeworks and tests.

It's not fear that I am feeling; I feel prepared from my classes and I will know how to teach these kids.  I have worked in a classroom before, many times, but I guess it just wasn't under as much pressure as this is. Maybe it is just a mix of nervous and excitedness, finally being where I have been working towards for years now.  I am really not sure how I am going to feel walking in there, but I will walk in with confidence and ready to begin this semester!

Let me end this post with the beginnings of what will be my Student Teaching Shenanigans postings.  These will be the little stories I have from my time student teaching.  This first story is from the first grade room that I am beginning in tomorrow.


My first day in the classroom, I was standing in the classroom with the Paraprofessional waiting for the children to come in.  The teacher, Maria Natalie, was running late, so we were going to greet the children and have them unpack as we waited for her to arrive.

The students started coming in, including this adorable little curley-haired girl.  She stopped at the door and looked at me with a very puzzled face.  She then immediately walked to the para, Ms. Fio's desk and began to cry.

"I do not like substitute teachers" she said through tears.  My heart broke for the girl and Fio and I could only look at each other and laugh. She gave the girl a hug and assured her that I was not a substitute and that Ms. Natalie would be arriving soon. I walked over to her and bent down to say Hi and told her I was just visiting and that after Christmas, I would be helping Ms. Natalie teach so that I could learn to be a teacher like her. Once she heard this, she immediately calmed down and proceeded to be my shadow all day, wanting to hold my hand in the hallway and help me with anything that I needed. She even gave me a hug as I left the classroom that day.

Wasn't even in the classroom for five minutes, didn't even say a word and I made someone cry, that must be a Student Teaching record of some kind!  Well my little shadow will definitely be welcoming when I walk in tomorrow morning!

As often as I can, I will be posting stories about my experiences in the classroom, as well as keeping up on my Disney news.  With some good planning, I am hoping to keep on top of my updates and not fall in to the unorganized trap I have seen other student teachers fall into!


Send your Pixie Dust, this is the beginning of my entrance into the real world!!

The Student Teaching Journey Begins...

Going to step away from the Disney part of the blog for a moment and talk about a journey I am beginning in my educational/professional life. Yesterday, I got my official letter from my Senior Seminar class saying who my cooperating teachers would be for student teaching! I have received my first choice, which is Claymont Elementary School, a school that is about 5 minutes from my house and where I went from 4th through 6th grade.

My Official Letter!!

The principal there, Jim Grant, is the principal my mother worked under at Darley Road Elementary before the school closed down and my two cooperating teachers are women that I know and have worked with before from Darley as well! My regular education placement is with Maria Natalie in her first grade classroom where I will be from Jan 10th to the end of February.  My special education placement is with Rachel Goldwasser, a teacher in the Delaware Autistic Program and she teaches Kindergarten through 2nd grade.

I am really honored and excited that these teachers are going to let me become a part of their classroom family and I cannot wait to meet the students! Now that I know my placements, my next step is to go to the classrooms and spend at least 5 hours in each and write a paper on my experiences.  I am planning to go to Mrs. Natalie's classroom next Friday to visit and will see Ms. Goldwasser's room after Thanksgiving.

I am still deciding how I want to blog about my experiences. I know I will be updating with big events, but for smaller updates, I am possibly thinking of doing a video blog update.  Not sure yet though, I will have to see as they year continues.