Reflection #3, Teaching Challenges

So, the last three observations have been interesting, to say the least. My cooperating teacher was unfortunate enough to get summoned and picked for jury duty. Fortunately for me, she was able to be in the classroom on Friday when I do my observations. Friday, though, was usually her first day back in the classroom for the week. Mostly, I observed a lot of damage control. I think this was especially hard at the beginning of the school year when the students were just getting used to her teaching style.

It was valuable to me to see this particular problem. My teacher had to be extremely flexible with class time in order to give the students exactly what they needed. It was amazing watching her review to figure out what they did and did not do, and then give the students exactly what they needed in order to succeed on tests, projects, and papers. In the midst of all this chaos, my teacher still took the time to try and give me different classroom experiences including reading through papers, starting the class period, and grading papers. She found other teachers for me to visit and made sure I was still getting what I needed for my program. My teacher is amazing. I think, though, she is relieved that the trial is finally over and she can just be a teacher again!