Practicum: A Video Reflection

Hey guys! So for the last assignment I will ever do for Practicum, I was asked to make a video reflecting on what I learned over the course of the semester. Though I am no cinematographer by any means, here's my video!

Right here!

UMF Student Teacher Portfolio Presentations: What'd I learn?

Hey guys!

So today I had the opportunity to attend UMF's Student Teacher Portfolio Presentations! What this is a walk-up style presentation given by the current UMF students who are finishing their semester as a student teacher, each of whom present the work that they have done during them time in their field placement. Though I was only able to stay for about a half an hour, I feel like I took a lot away from these presentations.

The first presentation I went to was with Dominick.

Dominick is a Secondary Education Social Studies Concentration finishing up his semester in Winthrop Middle School. As he explained to me, Dominick came into his mentor teaching students about the civil war. Dominick seemed really excited to be sharing the lesson plans that he wrote and gave. Specifically, Since he felt that the Civil War is a subject that could be given months to study, he explained how he picked each topic that he chose to teach the students about. As he described, since most everyone doesn't remember what they learned during middle school, his goal was to give lessons that would stick with students; Dominick wanted to create lessons with a deep impact. He then proceeded to describe in detail the how and why he explained the realities of the slavery, the Triangle Trade and slave servitude, all of which had the underlying point to make the students realize the reality that slaves had to go through.

Though I learned a lot about what Dominick was teaching his students, I feel that the number one thing I took away was the advice he gave, which was "save everything," and "don't worry about student teaching yet." Though it's cliche, I feel that Dominick really put me at ease when it comes to students teaching: students teaching is doable, and everything that I am doing right now is preparing me and is reinforcing me love for education.

The next presenter I went to was Stephen Riitano's.

I was really excited to see Stephen's portfolio. Since I have known Stephen for a little bit, I was excited to see what he's been doing in his classroom this semester (since I know that he has been very excited to get into the classroom). Like Dominick, Stephen gave me an extensive background about what he did, and he too gave me advice. He stressed the fact that I should start saving everything I have been doing since I started Practicum. 

Since I've heard this from two sources, you think I should take the advice?

Stephen also gave me one heck of a pep talk. He reassured me that, even though Practicum has literally been the hardest thing I have ever done, that It most certainly is preparing me for student teaching, even though it might not feel like it right now.

Overall, I am really happy that I went to the Student Teacher Portfolios. I feel like I learned a lot about what to expect from student teaching, and I feel like I got solid advice about what to do and not to do as I continue towards becoming a teacher.