Throughout the summer I was constantly thinking
about the upcoming school year and the new experiences that I would be taking
on as well as the challenges those experiences would bring. I felt that one of
my biggest weaknesses thus far in my previous field placements was connecting
with the students in the classroom. In my core two placement, I felt I did a
better job than in core one, but it was also much tougher because I was at a
school that did not have block scheduling. Therefore they had classes that met
every single day, and on the day I went, I would see four different classes.
Being that I was only there once a week, it was very challenging getting to
know the students and really connecting with them. My goal this year is to
really connect with my students and I feel that I have a great chance at doing
this since we are meeting them from day one and not coming in when class has
already been in session for three weeks.
My other goal for this year is to really practice on becoming
comfortable in the classroom that I am teaching in. In the past, I have felt
that I wasn't able to step up and really be a co-teacher. I did not feel that I
had the authority of a regular classroom teacher and some of that stemmed from
the introductions that I had with the students and also with the fact that I
was only there once a week. This year I should have a much better time becoming
comfortable in the classroom, as I will be there with the same class each time
it meets. My only worry is that next semester, I will have to meet several
other classes that do not know me and I hope that they will see me as a
classroom teacher rather than just someone coming in and taking over.
