Sravani

First, I have learned the importance of messing up. I know, this sounds crazy, but I have found myself so nervous about screwing something up. I always expected to plan the perfect lesson, explain everything correctly, and have everything go smoothly and as designed. And let me be the first to say, this is rarely the case. I have learned how important it is to accept that we are not perfect teachers, and neither are our cooperating teachers! We all have things to learn, and my student teaching experience has taught me how to learn from my mistakes rather than letting them eat away at me. I learned something from my cooperating teacher and the students almost every day, and being open to this and vulnerable allowed me to grow, adapt, and think on my feet! Having these experiences is the real life of a teacher.
With being honest about my mistakes and imperfections, I was able also to form stronger connections with the students. This is another takeaway from the semester. I have always valued building strong relationships with my students to create the best learning environment for them, but I was able to see the value of this throughout the semester honestly. Being the first place where I was able to be with the students every day of the week, I was able to see the growth of my relationships with them from day to day throughout the semester. I was honestly intimidated working with older, gifted students coming in, but I worked hard to break down their walls and get to know them as individuals. I have loved getting to know each of my student's likes, dislike, strengths, and weaknesses. I believe that this has helped me better teach them and has made my classroom a happier place to learn!
Finally, I have learned the importance of having an open mind. You can walk into any classroom and see completely different environments, teaching styles, student personalities, curriculum, resources, etc. It is so easy to have your ways and your approaches to teaching, disregarding anything else that you encounter. I have learned that opening up to approaches and styles that I am not mainly used to is beneficial to help me learn more ways that I can improve my students and to also learn more about what I like and dislike as a teacher. Rarely does anyone have a perfect student teaching placement? I am fortunate to have enjoyed mine, but I have also learned that there is value in learning about what you do not want to do as a teacher just as much as learn what you do want to do. It is so important to continue being open-minded so that you can leave room to grow into a more effective teacher!
I have enjoyed my student teaching experience despite all of its hardships and challenges.