Molly Ruden

Community Service
From January 2020 to March 2020 I had the opportunity to be a student teacher for
kindergarten. This student teaching experience took place in The Fishback Center for
Early Childhood Education, in Brookings, South Dakota. I was with my students Monday
through Thursday from 8am until noon. My mentor teacher, Bethann Murphy, and I
followed the gradual release of responsibility model (I do, we do, you do). I first
observed my mentor teacher leading the students. Then, my mentor teacher and I
worked together to guide the class. Finally, I oversaw teaching the kindergartners. While
being a student teacher, some of my responsibilities included: working with the whole
class, working with a small group of students, or giving instruction one-on-one with the
kindergartners. This experience gave me insight on what it will be like to be a teacher,
classroom management strategies, and how to apply my developing knowledge to
classroom.
Before my student teaching experience, I did not have much experience in the
classroom. I knew I wanted to be a teacher, yet I did not know how classrooms have
changed since I was in school. Working with the kindergartners, I gained an
understanding on what it will be like to be a teacher. While learning to be a teacher, I
found out that every day will be something new. Whether it be the day of the week, if
students had breakfast, or the weather, everything impacts how the students are
feeling. How the students are feeling impacts how the students will learn. I learned that
teachers need to be flexible. I experienced having to change my lesson plan in the
middle of teaching it. I noticed the students were not engaged and did not understand
how I was explaining a concept. I had to be flexible with my lesson plan and actively
adjust it to fit the needs of my students.
In my student teaching experience, I was grateful to have my mentor teacher guiding
me on classroom management strategies. My mentor demonstrated multiple strategies
that worked well with her current students. I learned that teachers cannot become
discouraged if one strategy or lesson did not work well with the students. In my student
teaching experience, I was able to test out multiple classroom management strategies. I
learned that one day I could sing “Head, Shoulder, Knees, and Toes” to reengage my
students, yet the following day that strategy may not work. I learned I needed to have a
variety of management strategies on hand to encourage engagement of my students. I
will be able to use the strategies I have gained, in my own future classroom.
While completing my student teaching, I was also taking multiple classes towards
becoming a teacher. I was excited about this teaching experience because I was able to
apply the knowledge from my current classes to the kindergarten classroom. While
taking physical education methods, I learned the importance of including movement in
the classroom. I used this knowledge in my lesson plans for kindergarten student
teaching. One book I read to the class was about how every animal has a unique
sound. I used this book as an opportunity to include movement in my lesson. I had the
students move around the room to identify animal sounds. When using movement in the
lesson, I noticed students were actively engaged for longer periods of time and seemed
to enjoy the lesson more. I plan to continue to apply the knowledge that I am developing
to future experiences in the classroom.
Overall, my kindergarten student teaching experience has better prepared me to be
a teacher. I know teachers need to be flexible because every day is different. I now
have a variety of classroom management strategies to use with my future students. I
know how to apply the knowledge from my current classes to my future teaching
experiences. I believe that teachers are lifelong learns. Because of this, I will continue
improve my practice and learn from my past experiences.