Ten Things I've Learned From Student Teaching

isufoxgirl
May 4, 2016
6 min read

Sixteen weeks ago, I had no idea what I was getting myself into. I thought I knew everything that Indiana State prepared me for, but I was wrong, especially after one student threw a desk and took two teachers down with him when being escorted from the classroom during my first week of student teaching. I remember standing frozen in shock, the students staring back at me wide-eyed, waiting to see some sort of response from me, until Mrs. H stepped in and brought the class back to their normal environment. From that day one, I kept a mental note to remember the things I learned, even after I finished my student teaching experience. Now that my time is done, it's time to reflect.

1) Today is a new day . . .

This is the beginning of Consolidated's school pledge. It reminds students that every day is a new day and that yesterday is always in the past, no matter what happened in the classroom or elsewhere in school. There was one day when I was at my breaking point and the class was testing my limits. Finally, before school let out, I talked with the class and asked them, "What does the first part of our school pledge say?" After guessing incorrectly a number of times, I recited the first part for them, reminding them that yes, we did have a bad day, but I'm not going to let that affect me or them, and they shouldn't be affected by it either. The next morning, the class heeded my advice and we started our day as if nothing happened.

2) Stay positive

There's a reason why teachers can tell incoming educators to stay out of the teacher's lounge; it can typically be known as a breeding ground for drama or gossip. During the first couple weeks of my experience, I sat and watched some teachers bad mouth parents and other staff, and then I watched Mrs. H. Sometimes she would purse her lips while eating or make a joke out of something just to let it brush off her shoulders. When I talked to her about it, Mrs. H. told me that sometimes she needs to leave the room or sing "Shake it Off," to keep her sanity. By the end of student teaching, I kept this mantra in my head from watching RuPaul's Drag Race: "Water off a duck's back." Whatever is said about me can be rolled off my shoulders, just like water rolls off a duck's feathers.

3) Leave your drama at home

Each morning, I greet my students at the door as they're coming in, so that their day can start off nicely. The students never see that I'm tired or that I'm sad because I'm homesick, they always see a smile on my face and the light in my eyes brighten up when I see them. No matter what happened in my life, those kids would never be negatively affected by it.

4) Make every day "Your Day"

I was scrolling through Facebook one day when I saw something a friend posted. It was a picture of a quote stating to make Monday "my day" because mon means my in French. We were just coming back from spring break and everyone was sluggish. During all of my lessons, hardly anyone was participating, so finally I had everyone stand up and stretch. I asked the class to raise their hand if they liked Mondays. No one raised their hands, so I said, "You know, I don't either. I always hated Mondays in school because they are usually slow. But I saw a picture that told me to make Monday "my day" because mon is my in French. But let's not have one day that's ours. Let's make every day "our day." My pep talk encouraged the class and we ended the day on a strong note. It even stuck with some of my kids after that day. On my last day, one of my students left me some advice to remember to make every day my day, no matter what happens.

5) Coffee is the new BFF

When I was in TOTAL, I would only drink two cups of coffee and still be able to go to bed by 9:30. Throughout student teaching, I was lucky if I could fall asleep by then. During the week, I would be asleep by around midnight and on the weekends I would sleep nearly twelve hours. Sometimes, I would fall asleep on the couch while watching a Friday night movie. So, if you ever want to pursue education, either start drinking coffee or drink those gross energy drinks. (I'd prefer the latter.)

6) Collaborate

There was another girl that student taught in the other fourth grade classroom next door and there was another student teaching fifth graders down the hall. Almost every day, we talked and collaborated about student teaching assignments and questions we may have. When they left to student teach at another school, I was completely alone, the only student teacher left at the school. Mrs. H. helped me out by observing other teachers' classrooms and get to know them and to even partake in other activities around school. Come to find out, collaboration is important, especially when teachers of the same grade are trying to plan lessons for the next week.

7) Volunteer

I learned to always be there for the kids. Yes, teaching is more than a 8:00-3:15 job and some teachers show up early like me and leave much later, but when it comes to school events and activities, the kids can see in an instant you support them. I helped with the Superbowl Fun Night, Cupcakes and Canvas, Battle of the Books, and worked a craft station for the opening night of the school's first school play. I even supervised a school dance and made a fool of myself dancing the Whip and Nae Nae. There are countless possibilities to be involved with the school, it's just up to whether you want to be a part of students' lives outside of the classroom.

8) It's OK to stress out

TOTAL was sometimes a nightmare. At least once a week I would cry because I was so stressed out from taking 18 credit hour classes and working for my parents. Now that I was thrown into student teaching, the stress levels climbed. I didn't cry once a week, but I had to learn to roll with the punches when having to balance school, licensing exams, family, work, and my social life. Finally, by March, I learned to not take exams all at once to help ease my workload, I even had to tell my friends I would be free a month in advance because some struggled to understand that I was busy beyond compare. And when it comes to crying, CRY. Sometimes it feels oh so good to get it all out.

9) Students are understanding

I hate math. If you know me well, I hate it so much that I didn't care for it much in high school, which in turn bit me in the butt when it took me eight times to pass CASA and three to pass the math licensing exam. So, I was a little frazzled when I started teaching math to my fourth graders. I got the low-level group, which meant I had a mixture of students from both classrooms. In this case, I had to dumb down some of the material Everyday Math offered in the textbook. The first week teaching math, there were times when I had to stop teaching for a couple minutes so that I could analyze different ways to present the material in a way the students understood. When it took me longer than usual to figure it out, I looked up and apologized. One student said, "That's okay, Miss Fox. We know you're trying to make it easy for us." That motivated me to do everything I could to make sure I can get students to learn the hard stuff, especially when it comes to math.

10) Your heart will grow bigger

When I die, I hope it's because of an overgrown heart full of love. In just sixteen weeks, I interacted with a total of fifty-three students from both fourth grade classrooms, given some event or circumstance. In those weeks, I learned every student's background, their lives outside of school, and how much they value learning and I modified my interactions in a way to positively affect them. When I left the school for the last time, I hoped that I fulfilled that goal of positively affecting them, just like they affected me. These are the fifty-three kids that made my heart grow bigger with each and every passing day.