FINAL THOUGHTS!!!

Final reflection!

                  It feels like just yesterday it was the first day of the semester, and I was sitting in class thinking "Oh boy, this is going to be a tough class." I have learned so much from this class, and much more I haven't even realized that I have learned yet. The more I fill out on the edTPA, the more I understand the articles I have read. I did not fully understand everything that I was reading in the beginning of the class. I thought that I was going to be lost the entire time, but as class went on the more the readings made sense and the more things clicked. 

              I have used more technology this semester that I have my entire college career. I have reached out beyond PowerPoint Presentations and have utilized other programs in other classes. I have a better understanding of google docs and it has been very handy! I am not as scared of technology as I was the first day of class, and I plan on using more of it in my education classes and in my classroom.

           Although this class is very intimating I found it very helpful. Having the teacher evaluate you while you teach an entire lesson to an entire class is scary enough, but your peers evaluate you as well. I have never been evaluated liked that before, and I was very nervous about it, but I can guarantee that I am much more comfortable in front of the classroom now than I ever have been. I believe that this experience is one that is needed and is something to grow from. I don't believe that this experience is meant for something to dwell on, but rather reflect upon and grow from, and this is what I plan on doing. I am going to go into the next semester with a new sense of confidence no matter what I am teaching in the front of the classroom. I think the best part of my teaching experience in this class was when a student told me that I said a word wrong. This is something I have always feared, but when it happened I just said Thank you, and I repeated the word the correct way. I was no embarrassed like I thought that I would be, but rather I was impressed that the student said it correctly. I believe that these are the moments where we grow as people and teachers. 

If there is one thing I will take away from this class it is the use of the word "GUYS". I have refrained from using this word in class, and even at work. I was working on a mock lesson plan for another class and my co-teacher put the word "guys" in the lesson plan. I said "oh no, we can think of a better word than that!" 

This class was the most difficult education class that I have had to take, but not because of the content but because of the pressure of teaching an entire class for the first time. I am happy that it was a co-teaching class! This has been one of the best experiences I have ever had, and I know that it will be very helpful when student teaching!