- Well, my student teaching experience ended Friday, and I can honestly say I enjoyed every minute of it. I had a great group of students, and a fantastic host teacher. From start to finish, I feel as though I improved as a teacher and mentor. I not only taught the students many things; they taught me many things as well. In the classes I taught, I had students at a variety of reading levels and with a variety of reading styles. Through our Accelerated Reader program, I was able to observe what types of literature my students enjoyed reading and how well they understood the material. I taught the students about conflict, resolution, and character traits through our study of several short stories. I also introduced a unit on poetry by sharing some of the pieces I have written over the years. Through these exercises, I learned that most of my students actually enjoy reading as long as they are helped with comprehension. The discussions we held were very insightful. I hope all of the students I teach in the future have such an open mindset and vocal interaction.
2. Progress on assignments
- My assignments are coming along nicely. I have outlined my final two literacy engagements, and my research is nearly complete for my inquiry project. I have so many things due over the next few days, that these are slightly on the back burner right now. I will sit down and knock these out sometime this week.
3. Final reflection and reaction to Readicide.
- Readicide has been read and put away for quite some time now, but the ideas from the text are constantly in my mind. I have observed during student teaching that reading is not a priority with these students when they are away from school. There are so many other things the students have to do these days that it is difficult to get them focused on reading. Many of these students enjoy reading, but comprehension and understanding makes it a chore. If they do not understand what is going on in the book, they don't want to read it. When we discussed different aspects of short stories in class, and when the students had the chance to actually make sense of what they were reading, the interest level definitely rose. Through my literacy engagements, I feel as though I combated readicide admirably. I hope I can continue this in the future.
