The Beginning | Week 1 Reflection

Starting with this blog, I will be cataloging my reflections of the experiences that I am having as I continue through my MAT program and spend more time in the classroom. While there are many things that watching videos and reading articles can do to put future teachers in the right mindset, so much of the process of being a teacher must be learned in the classroom, working with students. Up until the time of this blog post, I have had, at most, four hours of classroom time in a week. This time was spent mostly observing another teacher and occasionally answering students' questions as they worked. I have taught a single lesson as a requirement for a previous course. What this means is that I still have so much to learn. Over the next several months I will gain practical experience in a classroom that will be an invaluable contribution to my success as a teacher. I am greatly looking forward to beginning this journey of learning.

Unfortunately, there is little to reflect upon at the moment because I have not yet been in the classroom during this school year. However, through the process of trying to figure out my school placement, I have learned more about two important qualities of being a teacher: flexibility and patience. At the beginning of the summer I was given a placement for the 2016-2017 school year. However, halfway through the summer, I was told that placement would no longer work out and was given a new placement. As the school year was rapidly approaching, I had not heard back about this new placement and was not sure if it was still happening. Then, during the first week of school I heard that I was to be moved once more to a different mentor teacher.  This was a stressful and frustrating process, but it allowed me to practice these skills I knew I was going to need in the classroom.

Yesterday, I was finally able to meet with the teacher with whom I will be working over the next year. It was an excellent meeting and it seems like we have compatible approaches to the classroom. I am looking forward to spending time in her classroom and learning the day-to-day lessons that you can't get from a book. I am nervous because I don't have a lot of experience teaching yet, but I am sure that this year will help me to feel more comfortable planning lessons, providing instruction, and interacting with students, parents, and the various other adults in the school.