A Year in Review

As I reflect on my year of student teaching, I cannot imagine spending it anywhere other than in the Pekin Professional Developmental School program. Through this year-long internship, I have had so many experiences that I believe will help me develop into the effective teacher that I aspire to be. Looking back to August, I still remember the excitement and nervousness I felt as I entered my fifth grade classroom, ready to help my mentor set-up the classroom for the school year. As I said goodbye to my fifth graders at the end of my student teaching internship, I realized that together we made an incredible journey. I feel very grateful for all of the experiences I attained this year.  

I am very fortunate that I was able to learn many things from my mentor teachers, my liaison, and my peers. I believe that every day this year was a learning opportunity in which I took full advantage. Because of the unique design of the PDS program, I was able to have rich experiences in multiple classrooms that I would not have had otherwise. During first semester, I began the year in a fifth grade classroom, moved to a kindergarten classroom, and then ended the semester in a junior high science classroom. During second semester, I returned to the fifth grade classroom where I began student teaching. I feel very fortunate that I was able to spend time in very different classroom settings and learn from wonderful teachers. I am now confident that I will be prepared to begin teaching in a classroom, anywhere from kindergarten to eighth grade!