As I reflect on the past 10 weeks that I have observed the 7th & 8th grade science classes at SMS, I have to begin by saying what an incredible asset the service learning portion of this course is at RVCC. To be able to connect the content of what is being taught with a real-life, hands-on experience is invaluable. This has been an experience that has reinforced my goal and my passion to be an educator.
In my opinion, teaching is THE best career anyone could ever choose. This 10 weeks of observation has been like a tease...I can't wait to have my own classroom someday! Personally, this experience has motivated me to get more involved, both on campus and in community affairs. I realize how rewarding it can be to volunteer to be on a committee or a be scout troop leader, or spend a few Saturdays at a food bank. At the school where I did my observation, it is required that all students complete a certain amount of community service and I have noticed that most of the teachers get involved in the community service as well. I have volunteered my time to work on one of their projects over the summer as well. My cooperating teacher also involves herself in many committees and extra "tasks" at the school such as; organizing the 8th grade class trip and being in charge of ticket sales for the annual production. As a teacher, there is no extra pay that is attached to these tasks, only extra responsibility...but someone has to do it! All of these extra tasks benefit the children and since children are the reason one becomes a teacher to begin with, why not volunteer for the tasks that benefit them.
Professionally, this experience has maximized my organization and time management skills. I juggle many hats on a daily basis. I go from mom to working professional to student and I thought that was a lot, until I saw how many things my cooperating teacher juggles! She inspired me to work harder on my time management skills and it's working! I have also learned how very important it is to be extremely organized. I thought I was pretty organized already, but after this semester I am super organized! You can't expect to be a good teacher without good organization and time management skills. Just thinking about how the students might act and behave in a classroom with an unorganized teacher or one who has poor time management skills, makes me cringe!
I have always said that I wanted to teach Biology at the high school level, but after this experience, I would be open to teaching younger grades as well. This experience with 7th and 8th grade made me realize that the life science material which is being taught in the younger grades is laying the foundation for the courses the students will take in high school and therefore it's not that much different. Although I say that I would also consider teaching younger grades, I'm still pretty much still set on science as my subject area. I think that teaching something that you have a true passion for can be seen by your students. They WILL know if what your teaching interests you or not. I would also consider teaching at a catholic school, something I wasn't sure if I would be comfortable with in the past. Since I never attended catholic school, I had no idea what to expect and after experiencing this truly comfortable and inviting environment, I am completely open to it.
If I had to pick my most memorable moment of this experience, it would have to be seeing their annual production. These students are SO well behaved and SO incredibly studious during school hours that it was just remarkable to see them in a different element. They were in costumes, but they were out of their uniforms. They were on stage, in the spotlight, showing off the other talents they possess and they were so proud of themselves. It was one of those moments when you realize that learning takes place in every setting and not just in the classroom.
Always expect the unexpected and ALWAYS have a (flexible) back-up plan! That is the one understanding about the teaching profession that I didn't exactly have before the start of this semester. Blame it on the snow, snow, snow! With all of the school days that were missed this semester due to weather, so many changes had to happen to adapt lesson plans that it almost became near impossible. My cooperating teacher had to resort to using her website to assign work for her students while they were out of school for snow days because if she didn't, she would have fallen so far behind that it would have been impossible to catch up and finish all of the required material by the end of the school year. Not surprisingly, it was the same situation with my classes at RVCC and some of my professors are still struggling to cover all of the material by the end of the semester! It is so helpful that in today's world that we have this technology that allows us to be in touch when we otherwise would not be able to. So rather than just having a back-up plan, a teacher must also have some flexibility and be able to think fast in unusual situations. Who would have thought they would move Jersey to Siberia this semester? Oh, and one other thing I learned...whoever the teacher is that came up with the idea of putting tennis balls on the bottom of the legs of desk chairs is pure genius! The sound of chairs sliding all over the room is SO loud and distracting!
If I could change one aspect of this experience, I guess I would have liked to witness two or three different teachers, just to get a feel for different teaching styles. Although I like the idea of building a rapport with the classroom teacher and students, I think it also would have been beneficial to see how a few different teachers handle a classroom.
Up next: I am participating in a summer internship program with Choose2Matter and I couldn't be more excited! Next semester, I'm off to Rider to finish what I've started at RVCC. I am so grateful for all of the experiences I have had during my time at RVCC and extremely thankful to the amazing professors that have been a part of making my dreams a realization!
In my opinion, teaching is THE best career anyone could ever choose. This 10 weeks of observation has been like a tease...I can't wait to have my own classroom someday! Personally, this experience has motivated me to get more involved, both on campus and in community affairs. I realize how rewarding it can be to volunteer to be on a committee or a be scout troop leader, or spend a few Saturdays at a food bank. At the school where I did my observation, it is required that all students complete a certain amount of community service and I have noticed that most of the teachers get involved in the community service as well. I have volunteered my time to work on one of their projects over the summer as well. My cooperating teacher also involves herself in many committees and extra "tasks" at the school such as; organizing the 8th grade class trip and being in charge of ticket sales for the annual production. As a teacher, there is no extra pay that is attached to these tasks, only extra responsibility...but someone has to do it! All of these extra tasks benefit the children and since children are the reason one becomes a teacher to begin with, why not volunteer for the tasks that benefit them.
Professionally, this experience has maximized my organization and time management skills. I juggle many hats on a daily basis. I go from mom to working professional to student and I thought that was a lot, until I saw how many things my cooperating teacher juggles! She inspired me to work harder on my time management skills and it's working! I have also learned how very important it is to be extremely organized. I thought I was pretty organized already, but after this semester I am super organized! You can't expect to be a good teacher without good organization and time management skills. Just thinking about how the students might act and behave in a classroom with an unorganized teacher or one who has poor time management skills, makes me cringe!
I have always said that I wanted to teach Biology at the high school level, but after this experience, I would be open to teaching younger grades as well. This experience with 7th and 8th grade made me realize that the life science material which is being taught in the younger grades is laying the foundation for the courses the students will take in high school and therefore it's not that much different. Although I say that I would also consider teaching younger grades, I'm still pretty much still set on science as my subject area. I think that teaching something that you have a true passion for can be seen by your students. They WILL know if what your teaching interests you or not. I would also consider teaching at a catholic school, something I wasn't sure if I would be comfortable with in the past. Since I never attended catholic school, I had no idea what to expect and after experiencing this truly comfortable and inviting environment, I am completely open to it.
If I had to pick my most memorable moment of this experience, it would have to be seeing their annual production. These students are SO well behaved and SO incredibly studious during school hours that it was just remarkable to see them in a different element. They were in costumes, but they were out of their uniforms. They were on stage, in the spotlight, showing off the other talents they possess and they were so proud of themselves. It was one of those moments when you realize that learning takes place in every setting and not just in the classroom.
Always expect the unexpected and ALWAYS have a (flexible) back-up plan! That is the one understanding about the teaching profession that I didn't exactly have before the start of this semester. Blame it on the snow, snow, snow! With all of the school days that were missed this semester due to weather, so many changes had to happen to adapt lesson plans that it almost became near impossible. My cooperating teacher had to resort to using her website to assign work for her students while they were out of school for snow days because if she didn't, she would have fallen so far behind that it would have been impossible to catch up and finish all of the required material by the end of the school year. Not surprisingly, it was the same situation with my classes at RVCC and some of my professors are still struggling to cover all of the material by the end of the semester! It is so helpful that in today's world that we have this technology that allows us to be in touch when we otherwise would not be able to. So rather than just having a back-up plan, a teacher must also have some flexibility and be able to think fast in unusual situations. Who would have thought they would move Jersey to Siberia this semester? Oh, and one other thing I learned...whoever the teacher is that came up with the idea of putting tennis balls on the bottom of the legs of desk chairs is pure genius! The sound of chairs sliding all over the room is SO loud and distracting!
If I could change one aspect of this experience, I guess I would have liked to witness two or three different teachers, just to get a feel for different teaching styles. Although I like the idea of building a rapport with the classroom teacher and students, I think it also would have been beneficial to see how a few different teachers handle a classroom.
Up next: I am participating in a summer internship program with Choose2Matter and I couldn't be more excited! Next semester, I'm off to Rider to finish what I've started at RVCC. I am so grateful for all of the experiences I have had during my time at RVCC and extremely thankful to the amazing professors that have been a part of making my dreams a realization!