Brooke Smith

Student Teaching

4/28/2020

Student Teaching Experience Reflection

My student teaching experience was spent in a 5th grade classroom at Arlington

Elementary School. I worked very closely with my two cooperating teachers, Tara King and

Lauren Antonen. I spent the most time working with Tara as she was the 5th grade teacher, but I

did spend a fair amount of time working with Lauren as well as she was the students’ math

teacher. Arlington School uses very traditional practices. It is a very close-knit community in

Arlington.

During my student teaching experience, I gained many new insights. I had never had

experience in a small school. Also, the highest grade I had experience with was third. This

seemed a bit out of my territory, and I was unsure as to what I would think coming into this

classroom. However, I am so thankful for everything I learned in this school. I did not know how

I would feel being in such a small school, but it was a really awesome experience. Everyone

really does know everyone. This made asking and looking for resources super easy. It also

opened doors for me to gain experience in other classrooms than just my 5th grade classroom. I

also was able to gain a lot of connections through this experience. I did not think I would ever

want to teach in this small of a school, but I really loved the community created in a small school.

This is something I would definitely be more open to. The same goes for teaching 5th grade. I

did not think I would ever want to teach about 3rd grade, but my student teaching experience

made me realize that I can do it. Teaching my 5th graders was just as fun as teaching 1st graders.
 The majority of what I learned this semester was through trial and error and constructive

criticism my cooperating teachers provided me with. You really don’t know how well something

is going to work until you actually do it. I learned that I often will have to roll with the punches

because nothing will go exactly how you expect it. Good thing I am very adaptable! I also

became a lot more comfortable with making mistakes. I do not like making mistakes, but it is

going to happen in this practice. I am much better at seeing those moment in my teaching as

lesson for myself to do better next time. My cooperating teacher were really helpful with the

constructive criticism they gave. They really helped me see how I could’ve done something

differently or add something to a lesson to make it just that next level up. I have learned that I

am very appreciative for people willing to watch me and give me helpful advice.

I was fortunate to also be able to gain experience with a variety of curriculums. The math

class in Arlington uses a curriculum call Eureka Math. I had never heard of it before this

experience. This program offered many activities and instructional strategies to teach math. I

was really nervous about teaching 5th grade math at first, but it was really easy when having a

good curriculum with some fun supplemental activities. I also learned about the online site IXL.

We used this as practice for the students. We would assign about 3 skills a week. Each skill was

a review. This really helped to make sure the students were still using that information, so they

didn’t lose it. I also was able to lead a book study with the 5th graders. It was really fun planning

a unit around a book that we all read and discussed together. I worked with using McGraw-Hill

reading curriculums as well. We also have a grading system in place for work habits. I really like

that the teachers use this instead of taking points away from content areas. Students who got

less than 3 check in their work habits got to participate in reward time each week. I loved how
this system worked to encourage positive work habits in the students and prepare them for the

world beyond school. This is definitely something I would like to include in my future classroom.

I was able to learn more than just curriculum at this school as well. I was able to sit in an

IEP meeting for one of my students during this experience. I learned how essential it is to be in

those meeting and informed about your students’ IEPs. I also participated in a few professional

development experiences provided by the school during our teaching in-services. I learned

much more about how to dig deeper into behaviors and how to help increase desired behavior

and decrease unwanted behavior by looking at the actual child. I also was able to talk with a

group of math educators about programs and curriculums they use to teach math. We spent a

few hours bouncing ideas off of each other. I gained a lot of great ideas for teaching math

through this experience.

Overall, I gained so much confidence through my student teaching experience. I feel very

confident and sure of who I am as an educator. I am not afraid of teaching older grades

anymore. I definitely would be able to step out of my comfort zone and look for positions

outside of primary. I feel more prepared to step into a classroom of my own. I am very sad by

how my experience has ended, and for missing out on all of the learning for me and the

students. However, I am very thankful for the 3 months I spent in my 5th grade classroom. I no

longer am against working in older grades or in a smaller school district!