In Conclusion

As the semester comes to an end I think back to the beginning when my brain was at overload from the amounts of information I was receiving. Method courses, cooperating teachers, observations, professional developments, meetings, and much more were in everyone’s conversations. It was an intense semester, I feel like I learned more in just Quest 2 than in all of Quest 1. The experience in the classroom made the biggest difference in my learning. Both of my rotations made me growth as a teacher very positively. As the semester progressed I noticed a positive change in my classroom management and instruction practice. I got ideas on what to do and how to react in certain situations as well as how to not act. My second rotation was a different world than my first one. I was in a fourth grade classroom; the students were much more independent and structured. Due to the structure I was able to gain experience with classroom management by practice and observation. My cooperating teacher was team leader and had experience with other classroom environments and techniques; she was very helpful and supportive in planning my lessons. In all honesty it was the best behaved classroom that I had ever been in, which surprised me because of the age range of the students. It was a very structured, respectful and comfortable environment, which is my goal for my classroom. I did not only learn from my cooperating teachers, but also from everyone else at the school. I learned to get myself more organized in order to not get assignments, due dates and documents mixed up. I also learned to take everything one step at a time, which supports my professional attributes. The only one that would sneak up on me ever once in a while was the punctuality one. It never was to the point that it affected my time in the classroom or my ability to teach my students. It was always that I felt that I could not control. The amount of time that I allowed myself to get to school raised as I realized the bad traffic situation, but still it was unpredictable. There would be days that I arrived so early at the school that I would sit in my car for a few minutes before going in and others in which I had to hurry in a couple of minutes after the clock. I used my flexibility and maturity attributes to not let any situation affect my performance. I now know why this program is so demanding; only such a program could make me grow and learn so much. I learned from the choices and mistakes I made as well as from everyday observations.