Bringing It All Together!

I feel throughout this semester in my clinical, I have progressed on my course goals I made, but still have areas of improvement. I was able to communicate well with my CT, although there were some misunderstandings of what was expected of her and me that went unnoticed until we were both able to speak about it and fix it. I was able to get involved in several activities and discussion with my CT throughout the day and learn more about some assessments, lesson content, behavior plans, etc. This helped me learn more about how to accommodate and assess the children. I got more insight of a student in my clinical who has Autism, is developmentally delayed, and has sensory issues. I learned how he was able to be integrated into the class, and work on the same things others in the class were doing but with help from his aide and also being able to something different that fit his interests (he loved birds!). He would be out of the room most of the day, and would also get breaks and play a train game when he was feeling dizzy or needed a break. Other students in the class knew he would need his neck lightly scratched to keep him calm. I also learned more about how to address behavior issues, but still need to improve on addressing them and building more classroom management and teacher voice! I feel throughout these last weeks, I have been improving more. I also have learned more about lesson content in social studies and science. Even though there was not much of it in my clinical, I was able to see some content being taught. Also, what I have learned in my classes at ISU has been very helpful. I feel more comfortable in teaching in these areas than I did before.

This helps to inform what I will be practicing in student teaching, in that I can better understand myself as a teacher and how to teach. It helps to know what I do, so that I can keep improving. It also helps to have learned more about accommodations, assessments, behavior management, and more content in

social studies and science and even literacy and math. I can better understand 3^rd grade content, and also how it is accommodated or differentiated for other students at lower or higher levels. I especially think gaining more knowledge and insight of a student with Autism was helpful. I still have goals moving forward to continue improving on my behavior/classroom management skills and teacher voice. I also still have goals to communicate with my CT effectively and to make sure all guidelines are clearly established. Lastly, I have goals to continue learning about lesson contents/activities and assessments and to be the best teacher I can be for my future students. Overall, I had a great experience at Fairview with my CT and the 3^rd graders! My CT was helpful and provided me with different ideas and strategies to use in the classroom, and I feel stronger in moving forward!