5 Things I Learned This Semester...

5 Things I Learned This Semester That Will Prepare Me To Be an Exceptional Educator

Kaylee Fry

1. Roll with the Flow!: Throughout this semester, I have learned that an exceptional educator is always flexible. This means to be flexible in planning, in instruction, and in reflection of your methods. Everything will not always go as planned, and as an educator you must persevere and do what is best for your classroom. 

2.  Technology, Technology, Technology!: I have loved learning how to be a 21st Century Teacher this semester. A major part of being a teacher in today's world includes using technology. A teacher must incorporate outlets for introducing students to their digital citizenship and technological creativity. Technology must give students an outlet to create their own ideas and express their thoughts.

3. Reflection-> Growth!: In order to be a better version of yourself, you must reflect on the decisions you make. This applies wholeheartedly in becoming an effective teacher. I have learned how to think about my decisions and how I carry myself inside and outside the classroom in order to foster the positives and change the negatives I perceive. I want to continually grow, and to do so I must reflect.

4. Quality Questioning is Quality Answers!: This semester I have so enjoyed deep diving into the Quality Questioning book. This text has helped me evaluate the way I ask questions and provide feedback in so many ways. I now purposefully try to formulate meaningful questions that encourage learning through discovery, and not learning through right or wrong answers. Every student is capable of learning, it's the teachers job to reach the students on their own level. 

5. Relationships will get you through!: Despite all of the meaningful information that I have learned this semester, the most significant is the relationships you hold inside and outside the classroom. Teachers must foster meaningful relationships with their students before any learning can begin, A student can not learn if they do not feel safe and loved. This also applies to the relationships a teacher makes with other teachers. Collaboration is key to becoming a school teacher and not a classroom teacher. In all, the most important job a teacher holds is forming relationships that will foster learning with their students. 

The Ups and Downs of Practicum

Practicum Day One!

Kaylee Fry

My first day of practicum experience was definitely one that I will never forget. To begin with, my teacher had no idea that she even had a practicum student this semester. This set the day off to a whole lot of playing catch up to accommodate me and welcome me into her classroom. That being said, my CT made me feel so welcomed and accepted. By the end of the day, I felt like I had been in their classroom all year and like I was slowly becoming a part of their school as a whole. I knew I was right where I was supposed to be. She immediately encouraged me to take part in the lesson and help answer the students questions during their morning work. 

During their morning work time, the teacher gave the students handouts for them to complete. These handouts assessed what they knew from the previous day/weeks lessons. They were appropriate to the level of knowledge the students should have on the topic, while being challenging in introducing a new element in to the tasks they had to complete. I liked how she allowed collaboration between the students by inviting them to help each other if their neighbor was stuck on a part of their work. I will definitely take into consideration how well the students enjoyed working together. Just by being in their classroom, I could feel a strong sense of community, which I hope to foster as well.

During their whole group reading instruction, she introduced the students to a few movement educational videos that they were allowed to dance and sing to, all while learning their letters, the days of the week, and reviewing their months of the year. I will definitely incorporate a song into my future classroom. I feel like this allows the students to get their sillies out and wiggle around before preparing for their lessons, all while introducing the schema they will need to participate.My classes here at JSU have really shown me the light of how important it is for children to be able to move in the classroom. I want to allow these experiences in my lessons as well. 

Throughout the entire day, my teacher worked hand-in-hand with the other kindergarten teacher in the school to plan lessons and facilitate small group centers. The teachers had a joint lesson plan template that they both had access to to plan their lessons for the week and collaborate on what they were doing. They would divide their classes up into a low ability group and a high ability group. Then, one teacher would deliver a lesson to each group while the other students in their classes worked at stations until it was their time for the lesson. I thoroughly enjoyed seeing this much collaboration between the two teachers. I feel like it made the students more connected to their teachers and to the other students they were grouped with as well. Additionally, the teachers met before the students arrived to discuss what they were doing in each session and how that tied to their weekly themes and overall goals. 

Overall, my day at practicum was all the I hoped it would be and more, thanks to my accepting teacher. I am so excited to learn from her and get to have even more ideas to use for my future!

Why I chose to be an educator!

"A good education can change anyone, a good teacher can change everything."

Kaylee Fry

When I think about why I chose to be an educator, my head immediately starts spinning because of the multitude of different reasons that come to mind. These reasons ultimately boil down to the overall lasting impact that an educator can have on a student's life. I want to be able to be a light in someone's day. I want to be able to see the spark that goes off in a child's face when they finally learn to read a word, or when they finally solve a hard math problem they have struggled with all week long. Because I have had times in my own educational past when I struggled to learn something new and I had an educator who spent the time one-on-one to make sure I knew it and didn't fall behind, I know how important it is to care for your students and make sure you are there for ALL of their needs. Additionally, I have seen the other side of education through my own mom. I have seen the joy on her face as she sees former students all grown up with their own family, the pain on her face when something bad happens to one of her own, and the love she holds for every single student who crosses her path. I can not wait to be able to impact the lives of others as a teacher and hold these same empathetic feelings for my own students one day. My future students: this is why I chose to be an educator.