Last week was my final week in the school as part of my internship. As I announced that I was leaving to my six different classes, I was met with a lot of resistance and questions. My students complained that it was not fair that I was leaving and asked me why I had to go already. Even the class that caused me the most trouble and stress had a tough time accepting that I was leaving. The experience was both sad and touching for me, because I was also feeling a little resistant about leaving these classes with whom I had spent the past semester (or for two of the classes, year). Saying goodbye to my students and my mentor teacher made me think about how much my understanding of and approach to teaching had changed through my internship experience.
When I began my internship, I knew that teaching was hard, but I don't think I realized just how hard it was. There were several days during this internship where I left school feeling run down and frustrated, wondering if I was ever going to get the hang of things. Whether it was students that refused to listen to me, a concept that they just couldn't seem to grasp, or technology issues that prevented me from presenting an important component of my lesson, some days just went completely wrong. These days made me appreciate the importance of patience, empathy, and flexibility. I learned to stay calm when students were aggravating me, I learned to look for external factors that may be impacting a kid's ability to engage with my lessons, and I learned to always have a back up plan. Basically, I began to approach bad days as a lesson on how to be a better educator in the future. If I expect my students to come up with solutions when they encounter a problem, I should be doing the same thing. This internship helped me to be a better problem solver.
Despite how it feels on the bad days, though, most days were not bad. On the good days, my passion for helping others understand science was reinforced. I got to see over and over again how great it is for a student's eyes to light up in understanding and curiosity. I watched students become filled to the brim with questions about how things worked and a desire to learn more than I had time to teach them. I laughed more times that I can count at my students' cleverness and ingenuity. I felt my heart warm as I watched students work with each other to figure out a problem, rather than ask me. I swelled with pride when a student who was previously uninterested in science raised his hand and correctly answered a question that no one else could figure out. On the good days, I learned how amazing it is to be a teacher.
Teaching can be unpredictable and exciting, draining and rewarding. Regardless of what we, as teacher, are covering in the classroom, we are also learning daily from our students. A day that I am not learning while in the classroom is a day that I am not being an effective teacher. This is the most important lesson I learned from my internship. Overall, my internship was an excellent and rewarding experience. I adored my kids and am so grateful that I was placed with such an open-minded and supportive mentor teacher. I will carry the things that I learned and the experiences that I had over the past several months with me as I continue to move through life and the world of education.
Sunday, May 14, 2017
Monday, May 8, 2017
Teacher of Promise | Internship Reflection 9
On April 7th, I was invited to be a part of the Maryland Department of Education's Teacher of Promise Institute. I received this invitation because had the honor of being nominated as a 2017 Teacher of Promise in Maryland. The Teachers of Promise program was created by the Maryland Department of Education to recognize prospective teachers who were performing well in their university programs and to provide them with resources and mentors to help them transition into their first year in the classroom. The Teacher of Promise Institute is an event that brings the Teacher of Promise nominees together with experienced mentor teachers who have been chosen as Teachers of Year in Maryland. During the event, attendees hear from various individuals in the education field, including the Maryland Board of Education Superintendent. In addition, Teachers of Promise get the opportunity to ask questions of their mentors about how to approach the first year of teaching.
While at this event, I had the opportunity to speak with several other prospective teachers and veteran teachers (including my media specialist from middle school, see left). It was a great experience to get perspectives from students in other programs as well as to speak with teachers who had been in the classroom for several years. Three of the speakers during the event were previous National Teachers of the Year. All of these teachers had a lot of great advice to share, despite having very different experiences with and approaches to teaching. This taught me that there are a lot of paths to being a successful teacher and making a difference for your students. The one thing that these teachers did have in common was their love for teaching and their students. This thread carried through the whole event. It was clear that in order to make progress in the classroom, you had to really care. In a later discussion, my mentor and I discussed how inspiring this was to hear.
I am very thankful that I was given the opportunity to be a part of this event. The Teacher of Promise institute helped me to build professional connections, ask questions that would help any first year teacher, and to get exposed to exemplary teaching practices. I hope the the Maryland Department of Education is able to continue providing this program for prospective teachers.
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