Classroom Field Experience

These past 16 weeks of classroom field experience have provided a lot of guidance and insight on what it takes to be an effective educator. The first thing I learned with the help of my mentor was building rapport with my students. The positive relationships I have built with my students have made the transition of me teaching full-time easy. While I am not an expert in classroom management, I credit my rapport to being able to manage the class successfully. Being able to manage a classroom which includes disciplining behavior and facilitating learning was a classroom goal of mine and I believe I have met it. I’m sure I’ll tweak things for next school year when I have my own classroom, but I am confident in my skills thus far.

Since my school placement is a college preparatory school, I had the misconception that every student would be at a higher level and that I would not be able to use strategies to scaffold and model, but that wasn’t the case. I was able to use the strategies I’ve learned in my graduate classes so far and I even have a few success stories of students almost failing in the first semester to now getting As or Bs. I was also able to attend a meeting that was similar to an IEP meeting which was a career goal of mine and I thoroughly enjoyed it because we were able to collaborate ideas for how to best help our mutual student. The student is actually one of my success stories! I have also learned the importance of continuing professional development to stay current and it was during this year that I joined the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA).

I really do believe that classroom field experience is essential in a teacher prep program as it helps new teachers like me get their feet wet so that come Fall, new teachers won’t be completely lost. Because of my field experience, I have gained valuable information that a book couldn’t have taught me. Additionally, this experience has boosted my confidence in the classroom and boosted my confidence in my teaching style. I wrote my teaching philosophy early on in my MAT program without any teaching experience and since my school placement, I have been able to personalize it more by talking about the teaching strategies I've used on my students. I think it’ll be important to continue doing what I’m doing like maintaining a teaching journal where I can reflect and make improvements, along with setting goals. I know that with new teachers, schools often place us with a mentor so I hope that my mentor next year is similar to my mentor now!