For years, during our college careers we have been preparing for the

inevitable. From the fundamentals to the concentration courses, we have been

filling ourselves up with knowledge that we might and probably will need and it all
gets summed up into one course, your pre-practicum. Probably the most
complicated course, our Pre-Practicum was nothing less that riveting and
uncontrollable. My experience during this journey was filled with doubt, confusion,
sudden realizations of life and how much it will suck, and uncertainty. Even
though I waited until the last minute to be able to complete my work, the journey as
a whole has been a gratifying, interesting and exciting venture that I will never
forget (mostly because of all the lesson plans). Once I entered my first classroom
and got put in the ring of fire, I immediately forgot about all my doubts and
worries and felt right where I was supposed to be.
During my stay at the UHS, I realized that I wanted to work with the 12 th
grade class, since thats where I picture myself in the future. The teacher was
cooperative at first, but further on in the semester, he decided to drop me from
his class and instant panic flowed through me. Not only was I halfway through the
semester with Holy Week peeking out at me, I was at a loss for words. I felt as
though I was rejected and wasnt seen as a future prospect for teaching. After Holy
Week, and when the semester kept rolling on, I decided to go to the one teacher I
had already worked with in other assignments, the beautiful Rosemary Morales. Her
traditional approach is simple and to the point, but her relationship with her
students is what gives the classroom life. To my advantage, I got to work with a
practicum student, Kennet Otero, who was a delight to work with. They were both
very cooperative, gave excellent support and were always there when needed.

During my team teaching, I was excited, not even nervous, when it came
time to finally stand in front of the classroom, even if it was for 10 minutes. I got to
teach them and discuss with them the Cause and Effect handout, which was an
easy beginning to what would be a nerve-wracking next 3 classes. The students
were receptive and engaging and were a thrill to work with, until my first teaching
with the mentors plan. Once it was my turn to give classes by myself, I was
confident and ready, but the students were beginning to be problematic. When it
came time to discuss some questions about the novel, I forgot the answer to two
questions and, as a result, the students realized I was unaware of the answer and
quickly started questioning me. Once one of the students gave the answer to the
questions I had forgotten, the instruction flowed normally and I got back to the
swing of things. Of course, I felt defeated, because the students saw a weakness
in me that I didnt want to show, and this transferred to my second teaching. For my
third teaching, I had to do my independent plan since the date I was supposed to do
my teaching with the mentors plan, a field trip was due. I was prepared and excited
to teach the last review of the novel, and it was a lot of responsibility, since the
novel was going to be their final exam. Throughout the teaching, the students were
not cooperative whatsoever, with the exception of a few who were always attentive.
When it came to the point where students were being disrespectful and inattentive,
I had to put my mom voice into action, and when it came the time to discipline
them, the students instantly realized that I wasnt as nice as they thought me to be.
Something that Rosemary always said that I dominated was classroom control, and I
took that reassurement from my mentor and felt confident and comfortable to
address their discipline in a respectful way. At the end, the students were able to

finish their review of the novel and I felt confident that they were ready for their
final exam.
Whilst my experience in the test proctoring, I had to deal with the situation
that I had special needs students in my classroom that required more assistance
than most. It was an enriching experience, since its a reality that teachers will face
in inclusive classrooms like Rosemarys. The special needs students were always
appreciative of the extra help and always managed to finish their work with my help
and the help of a cooperative teacher who was always present. Throughout classes,
they were in constant participation, and always eager to help out and learn in the
lessons.
For my last teaching, which was with another pre-practicum and, with the use
of another practicums lesson plan (which was poorly made if I might add), another
group of students, I found that experience to be a lot more fun. The students were
not completely prepared for their test. They did not receive any prior knowledge
during the Pre-reading fase of the plan, because when asked about the historical
background behind the novel, they did not have any type of knowledge whatsoever.
As a future teacher in the making, I took the opportunity to briefly teach them about
the historical background of the novel Animal Farm, and pretty soon they were
comprehending the story from a different angle. I worked hand in hand with my
fellow pre-practicum and we achieved the comprehension we expected and more.
At the end we did an amazing activity which really interested the students and it
was a fun thrill ride to share with them.
All in all, my experience during the teachings was different from what I
expected. I always thought that it would come easy since I have spent 4 years

learning the ways that make a teacher, but when you step into a classroom, its a
whole different story. They dont teach you how to deal with challenging students,
they definitely didnt teach me how to act when a students know more about the
subject than me and, the fact that I am supposed to facilitate, not only teach and
that meant that I had to leave everything up to the students, and whilst the
discussion process was going on, instruct them when needed. I always pictured
myself being more active in class than my students since I expect that they need to
learn the skill first and then put them into action. What I mostly learned from this
experience is that my main objective should always be to facilitate the learning
process and not try to control every aspect of the lesson. This enriching experience
will definitely help me in my practicum and I regret nothing about it, not even the
moment where I forgot the answer to the questions, which paved the way for a
challenging teaching, but I am confident that in that situation, I grew a little more
and learned from it so as to not repeat it in future situations.