Juergens 1

Grace Juergens

Early Childhood Education

South Dakota State University

Community Service Reflection

In the spring of 2020, I had the pleasure of student teaching at the South Dakota State

University Fishback Center Lab school. I was in the four & five-year-old preschool classroom.

This classroom came equip with a lead teacher, three fellow teachers, and seventeen

preschoolers. I had the unique experience of teaching in a classroom designed for student

teaching and observation. In the beginning, I learned about the culture of the classroom. As I

continued through our teaching experience, I gained insight that enabled me to take more

responsibility in the classroom. The experience and knowledge that I gained through working

within the lab school will help to guide my teaching career.

During my time at the Fishback Center I grew as a professional. I was assigned a group

of children in which I was responsible for that semester. I was given the opportunity to really get

to know the children and families. I did this through home visits, these visits helped to build a

relationship with the children and their parents before school started. Each day our class split up

into our small groups, where I was able to work with my students individually to learn about

them and their interests. These small groups gave me a chance to help each student grow in their

learning at their own pace. I was able to observe how learning works best and what interested

them when learning. I began to grow as a professional by building my one-on-one relationship

skills with my students. At first, it was quite nerve racking working directly with students and
 Juergens 2

knowing I was impacting their future learning. In a short time, I was able to build confidence in

my skills, comfortability, and teaching techniques to work with each student at their own level.

Throughout student teaching I used an online program to communicate with parents

outside of school. This gave me the opportunity to showcase the activities, accomplishments, and

connections their children were experiencing each day. This tool helped grow my teacher-parent

relationships and strengthen my communication skills. Today, technology can be a valuable tool

in creating a positive learning environment for students. Before student teaching, I was unaware

of the different programs that can benefit a classroom. Exploring different forms of technology

while having the experience of having my students work along with me helped enable me with

tools to use in the future. I received instructor, parent, student, and peer feedback in which I can

use to incorporate technology into my future classroom.

Halfway through my student teaching experience my in-class portion ended early due to

the nationwide pandemic. Although, this was upsetting, I was able to experience a semester of

teaching unlike any before. Teaching students online can be a challenge in itself. Preschool is an

age where teaching each day through facetime or zoom would prove to be difficult. My class was

able to use the same online program we used to communicate with parents, to communicate with

our students each day through pictures, videos, and written posts. My fellow teaching team and I

used our resources and technology to create the best opportunities during that time. I worked

from home to create activities, games, projects, video story times, and anything else to promote

learning and keep my students spirits high. It was a confusing time for everyone. I worked to

make sure my preschoolers were able to have a sense of normalcy by seeing my face and

participating in activities. This experience was like no other and it tested my abilities. I learned

techniques and skills that I will benefit from in the future. Online teaching may become more
 Juergens 3

common throughout the future generations. The experience I had with this will be beneficial as I

was able to trial what worked best for my children at the time.

My time at the SDSU Fishback Center was unlike any classroom I have every

experienced and I am very grateful. I had the opportunity to observe amazing teachers, who

provided me with feedback and knowledge that have impacted my path as a future teacher. Each

day that I was able to work with the students, I learned something new about them and myself.

Not only will I remember my experiences during my community service, but I now have an

amazing group of teachers in which I can reach out to as I begin my teaching career.