Leading up to my final quarter at university gave me so many nerves for the future. I am in the education department here at CWU and have spent so much of my time thinking and preparing for student teaching. From creating resumes, applying to local schools, and having meetings with districts, I had a lot of time to think about how I wanted my experience to go. Now that I’m finally here, I am so excited to start this series that I am calling my student teaching diaries!
If you are student teaching soon, or if you are just interested in following along with the process, I hope you keep up with the series!
Something that I really appreciated about CWU’s program is the way it is laid out to progressively give you control during your student teaching experience. Instead of throwing you in and expecting you to do it all at once, you are progressively introduced and will take over piece by piece.
My first few days, I started off with just observations of my mentor teachers’ classroom management styles, getting to know the kids, and becoming familiar with the students.
This group is quite interesting to work with because they are the group of kids who got pulled out of kindergarten because of COVID. They are still adjusting to being in the classroom since they missed out on so much of the traditional school experience.
It really makes me think back to my childhood and how things were when I was a kid, and how different these kids’ childhoods will be. These second graders definitely have a unique experience, and I am sure there will be a lot to learn from this group as they age through the school system. Things like their academics, social skills, and personal lives and experiences have been greatly impacted so far.
I have just started working with these kids and already I am so excited to see them every day and get to know them more. Despite everything that they have been through, they are so resilient and have a love for each other, and learning is very admirable. Through what feels like an eternity of our lives being thrown upside down, these students really show that the only way we can push through this is to keep moving forward and not dwell on the things we missed.
I am so excited to be having this student teaching experience, and as the quarter progresses, I will be documenting more of my experience to write about on HerCampus!