Final+Reflection

Over the course of this quarter I have learned a lot about different ways to teach, and how to engage students so that they are in the “flow.” The material we learned in class was useful, but as in many other education classes at EWU, it would have been nice to have a broader spectrum of examples. Being that I am a Spanish education major, I often feel as if the classes really aren’t tailored to meet the needs of subjects outside of the core subjects. I am not saying I didn’t learn anything that couldn’t be applied to my classroom; in fact, I was able to apply most of the examples and ideas to my classroom experiences. As far as EDUC. 341 goes, it was nice having a class that didn’t rely heavily on theory and instead dealt with more real-life situations. It was also nice to learn a variety of ways in which to carry out lessons. I actually incorporated parts of inquiry-based learning into a couple of my lessons; these lessons were fun and successful, and the students enjoyed them. Overall, I feel that I have improved greatly as a new teacher, and I have become more confident in creating and teaching lessons, and no longer feel nervous to do so. I put a lot of thought and creativity into each of my lessons, and I know that most of my students enjoyed the lessons and the variety of assessment strategies I used. Although I learned a lot through EDUC. 341, nothing has taught me more than shadowing my mentor teacher and working with the students at Cheney High School. The area that I feel I improved the most in, is being able to read students and see what isn’t working or what they aren’t interested in, and adapting quickly to regain their attention. This is something that comes with experience, and this quarter’s experience has prepared me very well for being flexible and open to new ideas. Due to the combination of materials in EDUC. 341 and the classroom experience, I feel much more prepared to teach on my own than I did before this quarter, and can’t wait until I’m in my own Spanish classroom.