Week Seven: Last Week At Hamlin Upper Grades

I cannot believe that I finished my student teaching at Hamlin Upper Grades. In the seven weeks that I spent there, I was able to learn more about myself in that short amount of time of my own teaching than any other time in my education career. I learned about classroom management, differentiation, IEP’s, and so much more in action over these past several weeks.

 I could not have asked for a better cooperating teacher. She was patient and let me be a big part of her classroom from the beginning. My teacher was never possessive about her class but never saw me as a way to get out of the classroom. She was my support and rock through all of this and I could not be more grateful for her. Not only did I gain valuable experience but a friend. She allowed me to teach when I was comfortable and was also there for advice when I needed it. My cooperating teacher has help me grow so much and it was great to see a teacher who truly loves what she does and sets standards that I want for myself.

This last week at Hamlin was incredible. It was my last week of full time teaching and I was glad that I saved my observations for the week before so that I could spend the last five days with my class and cooperating teacher. They had a little party for me on Thursday and I never could have thought that I would grow so attached to my class in that short amount of time. Friday was a blast for me, classes were cut short so that during 7^th period we could have a staff vs. students volleyball game. My teacher wasn’t interested so I was able to take her place. It was so freeing to have fun with all the students and spend my last day laughing with the school.

I will also look back at Hamlin and be grateful for the experiences that it has provided me. It took what I have been learning and studying at Trinity and put it all in front of me in real life terms. I was able to take what I have learned over the past four years and do the best as I could in this placement. I am proud of what I have accomplished in these short weeks and I will never forget how I started in my middle school classroom. I am so happy with my first placement and it has made me feel secure as I move on to my next placement at Carl Sandburg High School.