Wednesday, April 21, 2010

More Comparisons

The last of Dr. Catapano's prompts has to do with comparing my student teaching in Wilmington and my student teaching experience in San Pedro. This is going to be very interesting, at least to me, because I haven't had much time to really reflect on any student teaching experience yet. That's going to come later, when I spend the next week frantically completing my portfolio, attending certification meetings, and doing all those other fun graduation activities.

Student teaching in Wilmington was a pretty intense experience. I absolutely loved the the community of teachers at Hoggard High, but I also have to admit that the standards were very high. And hey, that's absolutely fine with me. It's what I would have expected and how could I ask for anything less? I was pushed to perfect my lesson plans, my methods of giving instruction, my classroom management skills, and pretty much everything else that was related to my teaching.

I learned a lot, but a lot of my success was due to the fact that I was constantly being watched. Whether it was by my partnership teacher or a supervisor from college, I performed well because, at my core, I desperately wanted to graduate, and student teaching was one final hurdle to cross before I got that cap and gown. It's not that I didn't care about my students or my performance. I certainly did. But knowing that I was being watched added an extra layer.

In San Pedro High, things are different. I'm still being watched, of course, but my partnership teacher isn't in charge of my future as an educator in the United States. The pressure has been on me to continue to motivate myself to be a good teacher, for the sake of being a good teacher. As I've said before, it's difficult to be what is commonly thought of as a "good teacher" while using such a limited amount of resources.

The fact of the matter is, I've already done what I needed to do to be a teacher and get my certification. Sure, I have a few meetings to attend and a portfolio to finish, but the hard work is done. In San Pedro, my student teaching experience is really defined by me. I can suck if I wanted to, but instead, I have to choose to represent my profession and my integrity by going the extra mile. And thankfully, I've had great opportunities to do that.

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