Wow! It is hard to believe this semester had come to an end already and we officially finished up our labs this morning. For me personally lab was up and down with skills and emotions.
This lab experience was positive and negative. On the positive side it helped with nerves and getting in front of people and being the main focal point. On the negative side it was "awkward" teaching in front of your peers was weird and sometimes what you had planned went fast due to them knowing the content already. A positive aspect to the teaching was the actual classroom with real students. That is when it felt right.
Personally and professionally I grew a lot. I grew in ways such as creativeness, enthusiasm, and better clarity. Not saying I am perfect because I am far from it. I feel as a professional I have learned and worked on classroom management skills that I did not know I needed or had.
I feel that I have become a more reflective teacher even though expressing my thoughts has not been the easiest. I feel I actually take the time to step back and think about what has happened and gone on compared to just chugging ahead and not looking back. Incorporating reflection into my preparation, teaching, and learning will make me a better educator because I will be able to look back and use my weaknesses or strength to help me better myself and know what to work on rather than have no idea.
Overall the expectations were pretty clear. There was just a lot to keep track of and when having to post or comment on so many blogs it was hard keeping track of who you did and did not do because a lot were not uploaded to COP. Another thing that could have helped was a class by itself dedicated to lesson planning, unit plans, and related item. Starting the year I felt so behind on them and it was hard to learn the way as we needed them due.
It was a good experience though and I am glad I had the opportunity for these real life interactions instead of just being thrown into the classroom.
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