I feel extremely fortunate to have had the opportunity to have an amazing student teaching experience with Pekin PDS.  After four years of schooling through Illinois State University, I was finally able to test my knowledge my fifth year in two different classroom environments.  I quickly found that there was still much more I needed to learn.  Throughout the year I have seen a tremendous growth in my confidence and capabilities. 

     Not only did I learn through my PDS liaisons and my mentor teachers, but the students taught me a lot about becoming a teacher as well. I have learned to be patient, caring, nurturing, and understanding while being an educator at the same time.  I was able to see first hand that no two children learn in exactly the same way.  In the future, I hope to be able to reach out to my students and continue to learn from them as they have learned from me.