Internship Week 13 Reflection

Practice makes perfect.  That's what they always say! This is something that I have learned throughout the internship, but this is something I would like to reflect on in particular this week.  I admire my mentor teacher for the routine she has created within her classroom.  I can't help but wonder how long it will take me to establish my own classroom routine.

Each day at my internship, the students work on individual work stations for reading.  I really love this idea, but I find myself struggling to balance my time in between all of my students.  All students are on a different level and I feel that individual work is extremely important, so I have tried to accommodate all learner needs.  I feel that the further along I have taught, the better I have become at balancing my time.  However, I think that when I get my own classroom, I will have to start out by doing a lot of the group work with accommodations and modifications initially because I will not have anyone there to help me ease into it. Once my students and I have adapted to the classroom atmosphere and schedule, then I can go to individual station work.

Creating a routine is something that must be practiced constantly.  As I observed my classroom teachers in the early weeks of the semester, I saw how well the students responded to her and everything was so organized.  I want that to be reflected in my student teaching, as well.  The only way that will happen is for me to continue practicing dividing my time where needed and enforcing a set schedule and routine for the students to abide by.  This will be something I will strive for in order to make my classroom an effective learning environment.