ACB Reflection

The night before our first ACB class I got no sleep, I was nervous, anxious, and totally scared. That morning I looked and felt like a train wreck, my stomach hurt so badly, that my professor actually asked me if I was going to be alright, needless to say I do not handle stress well. I found out that my placement was going to be in a sixth grade social studies classroom in Lawrence. I was so excited when I was told my placement and who my partner was. I love history, and I plan on taking the Praxis test for grade 6-8 certifications for middle school Social Studies and Language Arts endorsement.

This semester had its highs and lows. There were days when my cooperating teacher frustrated me (and I’m sure I did the same to him), times were my students were not prepared with this homework, but defiantly remembered to bring their attitudes, and days when I just felt that I did not have what it took to be a teacher. Despite the lows, there were definite highs that outweigh any negative experience I may have had. My students surprised me more than once with this eagerness to learn new units, and their questions/connections lead to so many insightful class discussions. My cooperating teacher was extremely patient with both my partner and I, and he would “debrief” after each lesson we taught while giving us lists of things to work on. He answered every question we asked him not only about teaching in the classroom but also things like “how do you deal with the administration, what type of organization do you use, and how do you handle a problem student?”

When it all comes down to it, ACB was an amazing preparation for student teaching. I struggled a lot this semester, and doubted myself more than necessary. I would not have been as successful as I was if it were not for my professor’s constant support, my AMAZING partner Val, my insightful coop, and of course my wonderful students. Never in my life has a semester made such an impact on me before as this one has.