Goodbye to Northern Burlington


This week my student teaching experience came to an end, this has been a great experience for me. I have learned much about myself during this student teaching experience. Some of what I have learned is new while others are things, I have already known but have struggled on improving. Throughout the course of this semester, I have made improvements to my teaching style and related skills. With this progress though, there is still room for further progress. I have met and interacted with many people along the way who have impacted my growth throughout this experience.




The students that I got to teach were great kids they were all ready and willing to learn even if some of them needed more of a push then others. They all had something that could get them interested in the current topic, even if it was only loosely related and hard to find. The students were a great part of each day, regardless of what happened each day they were all a great part of each school day.




My cooperating teacher Dr. McLean, has been a great help to me throughout this experience. Her experience as a teacher and patience as my mentor. I greatly appreciate everything she has done to help prepare me to become the best version of myself, both as a teacher and an individual. There are some aspects that I am still struggling with, especially my time management and interpersonal communication skills, but I have made progress in these areas.




Mr. Dannucci, who I worked with throughout my student teaching experience has also been a big help to me. He offered me assistance by giving me advice on ways to be a more confident teacher. This was helpful as I have struggled with confidence issues. By learning and implementing different strategies I was able to increase my comfort level with topics I was less familiar with. This increased comfort helped to boost my confidence as the teacher, allowing me to more effectively communicate with my students.




Mr. Hayes, who I only worked with during the first five weeks of my internship was also helpful to me. I worked with him during his Small Gas Engines class. During these five weeks I gained experience working with students in a classroom environment I knew little about. This class was an interesting one, I got the chance to talk with the students about what they were doing in class. This helped both the students, as they explained what they were doing and myself as I gained a better understanding of how to use the proper tools to reassemble small engines.




I did not work much with Ms. Hamilton or Ms. Stant, however, when I did have interactions with them, they were ready and willing to assist me. If I had questions, they were willing to answer these questions, even if I was not as proactive as I should have been with asking questions of me. Mr. Konowicz, was also very helpful to me when I needed assistance with something.  He was also willing to offer assistance to answer them. He was also willing to take me on a tour of the facilities when I came to visit in the fall. Mr. Konowicz has also introduced me to different administrators within the school.




The other faculty and staff members that I interacted with at the school were always accommodating to me when I had questions and let me know that I could come to them if I needed anything. I had access to or could get just about anything I would need for lessons so long as I gave enough notice. Allowing me into their classrooms, or aiding in-class assignments when we moved to online instruction. Looking back, I wish I had been more proactive in communicating with the faculty and staff at the school. I feel the same about getting to know the community. While I talked with some individuals from the community I was not as proactive in this as I would have liked to be. While I regret my decisions to be less proactive than I would have liked.




In addition to the people, I met here at Northern Burlington and the surrounding community I also had a great mentor tea. Each member of this team was always ready to answer my questions and provide feedback on the experiences I told them about. I appreciate the feedback that they provided me with and offered suggestions on how I can make improvements in my teaching style. While making changes is never easy I have been implementing different small changes to help me improve my strengths and work on my weaknesses.


I plan to continue taking steps to be a more proactive person in the future and to be more open when I need to ask for help. While I have accepted help when offered and have learned to ask for help, knowing when and how to ask for help still something that I struggle with. Of everything that I have learned through my student teaching experience I feel that continuing to build upon the time management and communication skills that I learned will be the most beneficial to me.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Northern Burlington Regional School Disctrict Agriculture Program

During my Student Teaching this spring I will be at the Northern Burlington Regional School District, spending half of my time at the High School and the other half at the Middle School. Over the last few months, I have been learning more about my cooperating center and the surrounding area. I have learned about what resources are available, the teachers, classes and a bit about the community. I have compiled what I have learned into a three-minute video for easy reference to some of the information that I will need during my student teaching. I hope to learn many things from not only Dr. McLean and the other Agriculture Teachers at Northern Burlington, but the administration, students and community members as well. I look forward to seeing my own growth and the students's growth while I am there.
Read more

Introduction to My Ag Journey

Hello everyone, my name is Abbie Smith and I am an Agricultural and Extension Education major at The Pennsylvania State University. I am excited yet worried about my future as an Agricultural Educator. I am hoping to one day become an excellent teacher-- someone that my students know they can come to if they are having problems in school. I know that it will take a lot of hard work to get to that point, but I am ready and willing to work towards this goal. I’ve always known that I wanted to do something that helps people in a way, but I was never quite sure what to do. At first, I wanted to be a veterinarian, but I quickly decided that wasn’t for me. I doubt I’d have the stomach for it. I kicked around some other ideas as I got a little older: an architect, an environmental engineer, and even a wildlife conservation officer for a short amount of time. Later, during my time at the DuBois branch campus of The Pennsylvania State University, I realized that what I really wanted to d...
Read more

NAAE Communities of Practice Reflection

Hello, my name is Abbie Smith, and this Spring I had the opportunity to student teach at Northern Burlington Regional Middle School and High School, with Dr. Robin Mclean, Mr. Keith Dannucci, and Mr. Brian Hayes. During this experience, I spent the majority of my time with Dr. McLean teaching Agri science 7, Agri science 8, and CASE AFNR. I also taught Advanced Animal Science with Mr. Dannucci and I spent five weeks with Mr. Hayes and his Small Gas Engines class. In addition to the teachers that I worked with directly, I got the opportunity to work with a great team of teachers, administrators, and staff at both schools. Each individual I had the opportunity to work with had something to teach me during the experience. Thanks to this varied experience I have a few different takeaways from my student teaching experience. 1. Be Proactive: By being proactive in my planning and other activities I will be better able to serve my students. I have made strides in my planning ski...
Read more