Learning Letter

Sean-

This quarter has been tough for me to get through everything. Taking this course at the same time as the 90 hour observation quarter was… busy. Between the mini-lesson, article responses, unit plan, book talk prep, lesson prep, and other requirements, I stretched myself pretty thin at times. Overall, though, it was definitely worth it.

I feel like everything we did in class prepared us for the busy atmosphere we’re going to have to get used to for the first years of teaching. My favorite part of the course was the book talks because it provided so many different resources for my future students who want to expand their reading habits. I have already had a few of my students ask me for books that they might be able to read, and having the stack of book talk handouts has proven to be so handy. Another portion of the work load that I enjoyed was the mini-lesson since I was able to get different kinds of feedback for my teaching style. I stayed as true to my usual style as possible during the teaching of my lesson as I am in the classroom, so hearing what my colleagues had to say on improvements and small ways that I could tweak things was awesome. I’m always worried that I could do better, and hearing the positive aspects was also really reassuring.

Some of the theories we covered were recap for me, but others were new to me. I had previously learned what differentiated instruction was in other classes, but it was good to hear about different articles that my peers had found that clear up different ways to incorporate differentiated instruction into lesson planning.

Finally, I think this course helped me overall realize a few things about my teaching tactics. I know that I tend to put stud off until the last minute, but this class thoroughly reinforced my thoughts on my ability to get things done. I did most of my work in a timely manner for the course and it helped solidify my beliefs that I can do what it takes to get things done in time. Granted, there will be MUCH more work in my first years teaching, but getting everything done on time with my schedule this quarter was great.

-DaVena Clark