The entirety of this past semester has been a reflection period for me.

As all of my
work is coming to an end, I have begun viewing my future career in education in a
realistic manner. At times I have embraced the next chapter in my teaching career
but I have also shrunk from the responsibilities and realities I am discovering come
along with teaching. EDUC 450 has provided me with the awareness to evaluate
who I am becoming as an instructor and what it is that I want to pursue in the
education profession.
I had the opportunity to co-teach several lessons with Sarah Keller throughout the
semester. Jumping in on a lesson without any prior knowledge of the lesson or
content was a great learning opportunity. I was able to practice being flexible and
teach on the spot. One such time was when I was asked to run an urban
development simulation in which I had students build cities under intense time
constraints. It was a chaotic and fast paced lesson which could have been a
disaster but I was able to practice my ability to maintain my cool in high stress
situations. The co-teaching I did will be valuable as I am going into a co-teaching
model for my student teaching placement.
In addition to participating in numerous co-taught lessons I was also able to teach
two formal lessons in Sarah Kellers eleventh grade U.S. history class. I taught a
lesson on the Civil War home front and a lesson on Populism. Both lessons were
very different in regards to content, standards and learning targets. In both lessons
I had a heavy focus on student-led learning. My differentiation derived from
purposeful grouping. In the Populist lesson I differentiated the expectation of the
assessment. Both lessons went well but I did discover a couple of things I need to
continue to work on. I have taught preschool and elementary-aged children for the

past five years and my teacher voice for that age group is still prevalent when I am
instructing high school students. I will continue to shape my teacher voice to better
connect with an older audience. Another thing Sarah pointed out to me both times
was that I need to address the learning target more throughout my lessons. I think
this will be an easy fix but it is always good to be aware of what falls through the
cracks during a lesson. One thing I wasnt surprised but glad to know I do well is
building relationships with students. Building relationships is such a buzzword in
education but I do see why that is. I am young and am generally laid back. I do not
put up a front with students who are only a bit younger than I am. It has been nice
to teach students in that sort of a manner, I think it is one approach to teaching that
makes them more receptive to receiving the information I am providing. What also
helps is the fact that I know a lot of the students from outside of school because of
my involvement in the community. I see the benefit in building relationships not
only in the school but in the community as well.
As I have gained confidence in the classroom, my confidence in my choice to be a
classroom teacher has waned. I have become aware of the more political side of
teaching in the past few months while at the same time becoming aware of the
financial constraints to teaching. I am passionate about education but I question
whether or not being a classroom teacher is where I want to be in the education
realm. I think part of the indecision to teach comes from fear and the fact that the
majority of teachers, mentors and outside sources reiterate on a constant basis how
underprepared and incapable first through third year teachers are. In any other
profession you dont hear this sort of discouragement on such a regular basis.
The teaching culture is not all that makes me hesitant about going into teaching; it
is also my tendency to always think outside the box. What else can I pursue with

this degree? This is the question I will continue to contemplate. My development in

teaching has increased quite a bit during my time in EDUC 450. I have gained
confidence in the classroom but I have also begun questioning where to go next.
This semester and this course have provided me more questions than answers but
only time will tell where these ponderings lead me in my career in education.