Student Teaching Experience

My student teaching experience at Barrington Elementary School was phenomenal. The students, faculty and administration embrace a sense of community that can be hard to come by in a place surrounded by busy cities and large schools. Everyone was welcoming and willing to help with any question I might have about the school itself, about a particular student, or about a school procedure. Although teaching four classes of small, energetic children a day in addition to early morning instrumental lessons seemed daunting at first, I soon began to feel quite comfortable and found my element. Through the careful instruction and constant encouragement of my cooperating teacher Roseanna Drysdale, I was able to spread my teaching wings and explore some lessons of my own as the semester progressed. I had the incredible opportunity to help plan the second annual Music and Arts Festival which featured a Saturday afternoon of performances by students in grades 1-3, as well as a myriad of activities for students to participate in around the school. I was also able to teach a 4 week enrichment class based around musical theatre for grades 2-4 that culminated in a final performance. It was amazing to be able to watch students who had little or no exposure to musical theatre become animated and excited at the thought of acting and singing for their parents.
At BES, I was able to find something I had struggled with as a student: that this is truly what I want to be doing. That moment when a student is as excited about what you're teaching them as you are to be teaching it, is one of the best things I've ever experienced. I could go on for hours about the funny, poignant, and sometimes profound musings of my students, but it all comes down to looking forward to hearing the next thing they can come up with to say. I think Roseanna said it best when she was introducing me to every one of our 23 different homeroom classes: "Miss Carter is here to learn from me, but I am also going to be learning new things from her. She is going to be teaching you, but she will be learning from you too." The most important thing to remember, is that we are always learning, no matter how old we get. The children we teach can often be our best teachers in return.

First graders reading and singing along to "In the Tall Tall Grass", 
a children's rhyme story by Denise Fleming.