Janelle's+6th+Journal

Personally, my experience with Mr. Groebner and Mr. Perron was amazing. I learned so much about teaching strategies and how to teach certain subjects within poetry by watching them, and even their feedback on Mr. Emerson and myself teaching the classes was helpful. I had the pleasure to work with the English classes within the ninth grade Academy, which deals with at-risk kids and students that are academically struggling. While I hope to work with middle school students, working with ninth graders helped me learn where they came from and what their middle school was like, especially with their old English teachers.

Sitting with the Academy during their meeting was great. I certainly got to learn how teachers handle with IEP students, how they discipline their students, what they teach within the Academy at certain times so the lessons coincide with each other, etc. It's great to see things behind the scenes instead of what you see in the classroom. It's certainly a great thing to have under your belt, to see teachers working together to know what lessons they're teaching, and what they're doing for the kids.

Mr. Groebner and Mr. Perron were great colleagues to work with, as well as great mentors. They certainly care about the students and how they perform, and seeing that connection only makes me want that same bond with my kids. Not only that, but when we asked questions or asked about certain things we could do with the students during our lessons, they gave us tips and pointers on what we should do in the classroom, helping us understand what works with their kids. Certainly teaching to the kids twice a day helped us know what worked and didn't work, and I will take that knowledge I have learned from my experiences to my future classroom.

Overall, it was a very positive experience. I learned a lot about the strategies used in the classroom, having fun with the kids instead of being all about business, and got to enjoy the time at Mankato West. While some people might think 30 hours is a lot, I think it's too little! I'd love to do it all over again, just to learn more about teaching and how I can better myself at the trade. Even better, it's quite the experience with a classroom full of kids, and I just want to have fun with it, to let loose. Until that happens, I'll only be able to reflect on the experience at Mankato West and enjoy that before I'm a teacher.