There is nothing like actually getting in front of students and teaching a

lesson plan that you created. Its amazing to see the lesson plan transform from a
piece of paper to a real life activity. Creating and teaching this lesson plan was a
great learning experience that will continue to mold the way I teach for a long time.
I feel like I could be lectured and trained by the best teachers in the world,
but nothing would come close to teaching me how to be a teacher than to actually
get the opportunity to teach students. That is exactly what this experience did for
me. I had the knowledge and tools to teach this lesson plan, but I needed real life
application to truly apply everything I have learned. That being said, this lesson had
some ups and downs. The ups gave me confidence in teaching. Students were
working together, putting thought into drawing their maps, and using all the
resources I had provided them. I felt like students were engaged in the activity and
that was reassuring for myself. The downs, which were mostly post-lesson, made
me question the lesson plan. Some of the written portion that students turned in
was done to the bare minimum. Some lacked full sentences; others did not even
answer the questions I had asked. This was disappointing to see, but it taught me a
lot about myself and my instructional planning and delivery.
Teaching this lesson taught me a lot. First, I realized that I need to speak
louder. I always thought that I talked loud, but apparently my voice doesnt project
as much as I thought. I believe that speaking louder and projecting my voice is
something that comes along with gaining confidence in teaching, but it is something
that I will always keep in mind when I am talking in front of students. Another
important takeaway from this lesson is that I need to repeat directions more than

once. My cooperating teaching, Sarah Keller, informed me that you cannot assume
students are listening to every word you say, so you must constantly repeat
directions. This is helpful for the students, and saves time in the long run. When I
taught my lesson I only told the directions once, and afterwards found myself
repeating directions to other groups as the lesson went on because they were
confused. Another important thing I learned is that you must find a way to engage
all students. While group work is great for students to collaborate, it also gives
students an opportunity to sit back and watch their classmates do all the work.
That being said, there are several things I would have done differently. For
one, I would have repeated directions several times. This could have been done
through an I Do, You Do, We Do technique. After repeating directions the first time I
could have walked the students through the process by creating an example myself.
This would give students a concrete idea of what they need to be doing. I would
then repeat directions one more time, and have students go into the You Do portion
of the activity with their groups. I absolutely believe this would have cleared up the
confusion. Another thing I would change is the layout of the group work. I believe
that more students would have felt inclined to engage in the activity if they had been
assigned roles. These roles could include a scribe, a mapmaker, a presenter, and
more. Assigning roles would mean that no student could sit around and watch their
classmates do all the work and would be responsible for some portion of the
activity.
Aside from this specific lesson plan, I learned a great deal about myself over
this entire semester. By far one of the most useful ways I learned about myself and

was able to take a critical look at my teaching style was by having students critique
me. On my second to last day in class I handed out notecards and asked students to
write one thing I did well and one thing I could improve on as a teacher. A majority
of the feedback said they liked the group work and the opportunity to interact with
their classmates when I taught. As far as things I could improve on, most students
wrote I needed to repeat directions, project louder, or be stricter. I was aware of the
first two, but the latter came as a surprise to me. Students wanted other students to
be held accountable and for me to not be so nice about students that were slacking.
I absolutely plan to take this feedback and apply it in my student teaching
experience. I found that sometimes it is hard to be strict when you are in another
teachers classroom, but ultimately I am also a teacher and I am responsible for
making sure that all students are held to the same standard. This critique ties into
my evolving belief about classroom management. This semester has taught me that
classroom management is about relations and discipline. Forming and maintaining
relationships with students is a near foolproof way to have excellent classroom
management. After this semester, I have added discipline into this mix as well.
Discipline is always a teaching opportunity. If students are aware of the behavior
and expectations required of them, and know that there are consequences for not
meeting these standards, then I believe that there will be little classroom
management issues.
My teaching philosophy has also changed because of this experience. My
new teaching philosophy is the three Rs: relationships, rigor, and relevance.
Relationships are key to being a great teacher. Students must trust their teachers in

order to learn and grow. A classroom without strong relationships and a positive
culture and climate is one that is less conducive to learning. Rigor is key to having
students learn at a high level. I hope that all of my lesson plans are rigorous and
engage students in critical thinking. I want my students to think and learn at a
higher level and understand that this is essential to my classroom. Lastly, relevance
is key to giving students a purpose in learning. I will strive to make everything I
teach relevant to students lives. Relevance adds an emotional aspect to content,
and when there is emotion there is an increased likelihood to better understand and
remember. My teaching philosophy will continue to evolve over the years, but I
believe these three Rs will always be a crucial aspect of my philosophy.
This experience has also impacted my beliefs on planning. Ive learned that
planning ahead of time and getting a bulk of the work done in the beginning makes
everything else go smoother. To know where you are going and to have a detailed
plan from beginning to end takes a lot of work in the beginning but is overall
extremely helpful in the end. I have only applied this frontload work belief to single
lesson plans, but even here I saw the value of it. Lesson plans are thoughtful,
organized, and have a clear purpose. Students know busy work when they see it,
and planning ahead helps reduce the odds of assigning busy work or lesson plans
that are not well conceived. My experience at Fort Collins High School taught me
how difficult planning can be, but also how much more successful students are when
thoughtful planning is done ahead of time.
My personal and professional goals have also changed as a result of this
experience. Personally speaking, I would like to gain more real-world experiences

before I begin teaching. I want to travel, see other cultures, and experience life in
other parts of the world. To bring this type of personal experience back to the
classroom would absolutely make me a better teacher. I am not sure when or if this
will ever happen, but if the opportunity arises then I will take it and make the most
of it. Professionally speaking, I would like to eventually go back to school and get a
masters degree in education. I feel like I have so much more to learn about good
pedagogy and I want to learn as much as I can to be a great teacher. Ideally, I would
want to get my masters within the next five years, but after seeing how much time,
effort, and heart that goes into teaching, I will probably delay this until I feel I can
devote all my time to it.
My experience at Fort Collins High School has been the most valuable one so
far in the teaching licensure program. The real-life application of this course has
been instrumental in my growth as a teacher. Ive learned what I am good at, where
I can improve, what makes a great teacher, how to plan, and what I can do in the
future to continue to grow as a teacher. There were days that were overwhelming
but worth it because I was able to experience what it is like to be a teacher. After
every lesson plan I taught I was reassured that this is the right field for me. I loved
watching my students make connections, learn, and groweven if it was just one
student or just a baby step in the entire process, it was worth all the work. It is truly
hard to believe that I am almost done at CSU and at FCHS. I love both of these
communities and what they have provided me in my journey to becoming a teacher.
Im excited, nervous, stressed, and ready to take the next step and begin student
teaching!