A Reflection on Student Teaching

By Nathan Nugent
3 May 2016

Of the highest arts, there are few comparable to personal growth. For all art is practice
and perfection remains an ideal to strive for, not to attain. We can only speak in confidence
concerning the integrity of our art when we speak of how we have improved our practice of it.
It is a different and lesser person, who is willing to speak of their accolades as if they have been
set in stone.
In reflecting on my student teaching experience for the 2015-2016 school year, the
sheer amount of growth I have experienced makes me woozy, as I steady myself from such
great heights. And yet, these heights are mere foothills to what lay before me. The grandeur of
what teachers are capable of improving upon are so rife with the possibilities and potentialities
of personal growth, that an equally nauseating and anxiety ridden sense of overwhelming
responsibility remains ever ready to consume us.
I begin this reflection with the idea of teacher as an artist of growth because I have
found the profession to be incredibly satisfying, in regards to fulfilling my needs for both
creative expression and a safe place to continually improve. Nowhere is personal growth more
salient and provocative than in instances and situations where one is welcome and expected to
fail, in order to improve. I have progressed through a successive series of recognitions and
adjustments that have guided me along a process of learning wherein error has revealed itself
to me as a trusted ally. How few other professions in existence require and encourage such
dedicated crafting of the heroic journey as part of the job. What an honor to be among these
legions.
My student teaching experience began with a fortuitous series of events established
during the previous school year (2014-2015), when I began volunteering my time as an AVID
mentor at Elsie Allen High School, and substitute teaching at a variety of schools in Sonoma
County. I knew that in order to quell my insecurities about coming into this profession, I needed
to work my way up. I did so strategically and its paying off. I established a relationship with
Annie Scully, an exemplary teacher; and in addition, with a number of students in her three
sections of AVID, and a block section of ELD for Newcomers. Working with these individuals
along with opportunities to sub for her on a number of occasions left little doubt regarding how
well-suited I was to working with adolescents. I do not hesitate to say that Ive found my calling.
Once accepted into Sonoma State Universitys Single Subject Credential Program,
fortune turned in my favor as Elsie Allen High School agreed to take me on as a student teacher.
My special relationship with an exceptional teacher soon became a model for a professional coteaching partnership between veteran and novice. I was also taken on by the head of the
1

schools English Department, Erika Raffo, to experience teaching the academic grade level work
that drew me to this age group. Every day I got to work collaboratively with two different
English classes operating under different demands and a wide variety of needs. The blend of
classrooms offered a unique and perhaps once in a lifetime amalgam of subject matter when
the time came to find a third class to assist in. After much observation around the school, I
seized an opportunity to work with Paul Fleischer, a master physical science teacher who
helped to broaden my educational focus through a truly interdisciplinary lens. Ending each and
every school day with a group of freshman and their eccentric science teacher brought me out
of my comfort zone and challenged my intellect in a way I havent felt since my days as an
undergrad over a decade ago. This confluence of placement, aptitude, support, exploration,
and dedication left me with an experience that far exceeded much of my expectations and
thoroughly eradicated any remaining doubts. This exceptionally rich student teaching
experience was presented to me in such a serendipitous manner, that I cant help but feel
chosen by some special design.
My role as an instructor grows steadily with the amount of time I stand and deliver to
my students. The more I speak and guide discussion in front of different groups of students, the
more comfortable I become; I admittedly have a long way to go, but now as the semester
comes to a close, Im beginning to have some fun.
The more I connect and engage with students on a personal level, the greater the
feeling of success grows within me. This was the greatest lesson of them all throughout this
past school year. The handful of students that wish me farewell at the end of every class and
share a smile and greeting with me between classes and after school are so incredibly valuable
to my daily life. I underestimated the power of trust and openness between student and
teacher and I know now what it looks like when its achieved. Now, the task is to turn that
handful into a following; Im up for the challenge and have a clear objective in mind. To
accomplish my goals of successfully connecting with students and keeping them invested in
what I am teaching them, I know that I am going to have to become a much stronger classroom
manager. My policies concerning expectations of academic performance, peer-to-peer
etiquette and responsible use of technology are in progress and I plan to implement a contract
at the beginning of the year based on what didnt work for me during my student teaching.
Planning and assessment fit well together under the framework of the Common Core
State Standards and I feel confident in guiding students toward proficiency effectively. My
training and practice with standards-based grading and the Marzano scale has proven to be a
sound and justifiable form of grading practice that incorporates all types of content in a
meaningful way; my early doubts regarding the validity of the practice have been replaced with
enthusiastic anticipation for implementation.
Working in collaborative professional learning communities has put me on the vanguard
of educational practice and never before in my life have I felt so prepared to do anything.
2