Goodbye, summer! Hello, new school year! I am beginning my full-time student teaching placement in the lovely coastal community of Solana Beach, CA. I am not going to lie- when I found out I was being placed at a school that is 30 miles from my house with a commute that can very easily get ugly, I was not too excited. However, I soon-after researched my teacher and school site, and even quickly my fears dissipated. From the moment I walked on campus, I found out I had hit the jackpot as far as student teachering goes.
My master teacher has only added to the fact that this situation is beyond my wildest dreams of how wonderful a student teaching placement could be. She has been teaching for 30+ years and is a complete wealth of knowledge when it comes to being an effective teacher. My teacher has told me that I have a high sense of “teacher with-it-ness”, and has already discussed that she is ready and willing to let me teach many of her planned lessons. I observe when there is something she needs to teach the kids, but in the first week I have already made plans to take over reading and science. We have an extremely amicable camaraderie and I could not imagine a more agreeable student teaching placement.
I have been placed in a 5th and 6th grade combination class. I am teaching in a program called Global Education, an alternative program offered within a public school that incorporates grades K-6. Each classroom has different age levels which help to create diverse learning environments. My class structure in addition to the rest of Global Education is student centered, highly involves inquiry based learning, and incorporates cross-curriculum from all areas based off of a three year cycle of curriculum. There is a wide range of academic levels in the class, with students performing in the third grade range all the way through an early high school range. The students mostly come from high socioeconomic backgrounds and there is a lot of parent involvement in the classroom. I have no English Language Learners in my classroom.
I am ecstatic about where I am so far, and am only more excited about where I am headed this semester!
My master teacher has only added to the fact that this situation is beyond my wildest dreams of how wonderful a student teaching placement could be. She has been teaching for 30+ years and is a complete wealth of knowledge when it comes to being an effective teacher. My teacher has told me that I have a high sense of “teacher with-it-ness”, and has already discussed that she is ready and willing to let me teach many of her planned lessons. I observe when there is something she needs to teach the kids, but in the first week I have already made plans to take over reading and science. We have an extremely amicable camaraderie and I could not imagine a more agreeable student teaching placement.
I have been placed in a 5th and 6th grade combination class. I am teaching in a program called Global Education, an alternative program offered within a public school that incorporates grades K-6. Each classroom has different age levels which help to create diverse learning environments. My class structure in addition to the rest of Global Education is student centered, highly involves inquiry based learning, and incorporates cross-curriculum from all areas based off of a three year cycle of curriculum. There is a wide range of academic levels in the class, with students performing in the third grade range all the way through an early high school range. The students mostly come from high socioeconomic backgrounds and there is a lot of parent involvement in the classroom. I have no English Language Learners in my classroom.
I am ecstatic about where I am so far, and am only more excited about where I am headed this semester!