Honesty

If I were being completely honest, I would have to say that at the beginning of this semester, I wasn’t entirely convinced that this was the right field for me. I did not believe that entering into the world of teaching was exactly what I needed to do with my life. If I were being completely honest, I would tell you that I’m still not sure it is. However, after this past semester, I can now confidently tell you that I can do this and that, even if I don’t do this for the rest of my life, I have a passion for teaching and a genuine concern for the students I encounter and I will do my very best to be a successful teacher.

The lessons I have learned this past semester have done a great deal to shape the beliefs I have when it comes to teaching and pedagogy. One of the most reoccurring themes in all of my bloc classes has been the need to educate and create twenty-first century learners. We, as teachers, need to put the focus of our teaching on students. We need to educate these students in a way that will make them global citizens, able to work together and be successful in the world they live in today. I plan to employ many of the skills I have learned and the concepts discussed in our classes in my own classroom.

Learning About Assessment

Like most secondary schools today, the school district I am observing in relies heavily on assessment. During my first week of visitations, the students were taking 4Sight tests. An entire half a day is taken out of learning to dedicate to these tests, not to mention the hours teachers must take out of their planning and teaching time to grade them. Since this school made AYP last year, the overall environment isn't' changed too much with regards to high stakes testing. Once a month the math classes are in the computer able working on Study Island and they school has created a second English-type classed called Academic Literacy. This class is designed to teach students how to properly read and analyze the types of non fiction writing they will encounter on the PSSAs.

My cooperating teacher does not focus too much of her teaching on assessment. As a middle school teacher, she must use it somewhat though, if only as a motivating tool. She gives regular quizzes and nightly graded homework. The school is run on an LEQ model, where teachers are given a district approved list of Essential Questions they must answer throughout the course of their unit. It is around these questions that my co-op builds her lessons. Everyday she strives to answer another question. As far as types of assessment goes, she uses a variety of methods. In the two weeks I've been there I've seen a usual sit down, multiple choice type test, a group project that will be graded as a test, multi-media presentations and spelling tests. The constant assessment my co-op uses acts as a motivator for students. They always know they are going to be graded on something so they pay more attention and try to successfully complete their work.

I could not have imagined a better placement. While I tend to be positive minded, I have to honestly say that regardless of needing something to “work out” or not, my cooperating teacher was perfect. She was a tiny woman, a little firecracker who reached even the most struggling students, academic or emotional. The same students who worked hard, reached their potential, participated, and followed classroom procedures in her class were the students who, without guidance in other classrooms, fell short of academic proficiency, and required constant disciplinary action. Mrs. Haines, my coop, was fast acting. Not a student, a word, or an issue passed her by. She truly guided her students into discovering their own potential: she crafted her questions so that they felt empowered and responded with thoughtful remarks. She was fierce and stern and demanded their respect, but in turn gave them hers. She was emotionally supportive and academically creative so that her students were always engaged, on topic, and working with her and each other in order to find success in themselves. It amazed me to see one woman reach so many students as strongly as she did, especially the students who were known to be “troublesome.” By watching her, I was able to step up my classroom management skills. Timid at first, I became more confident and saw instruction not as discipline, but as refocusing a student to better engage them. As I taught lessons each day, or worked with groups of students, I began to feel them respect and respond to me the more I not only helped and cared for them, but also managed them. My rise in confidence and realizing my own abilities was a surprise to me. For the first time, I saw myself creating a nurturing classroom environment not by being passive but by having high expectations for my students. I realized how much they need and want me to have these high expectations.

Field Placement Wrap-Up

I was lucky enough to teach several times during my time at Lancaster Catholic. Though I liked high school in general more than I suspected I would, I definitely preferred teaching the freshmen. I liked their energy and their general weirdness---there was something kind of fresh and exciting about their rowdiness and eagerness to participate. They still hadn't quite learned to "do school" yet and were quick to answer questions.

I also learned about myself that I'm at my best when I'm being myself. Though I'm certainly no expert teacher now, I know that I connect the best to my students when I'm just Maggie up in front of the classroom: talking with my hands, moving around the room as I speak, using modern-day references. I tried to teach with the more stern style of my co-op, but it wasn't for me.

Though my teacher definitely had a more traditional teaching style than I did, I also learned a lot from her in terms of classroom management. She was so learning focused, it was amazing. She didn't waste a minute of class time! She gave me great tips on how to get a classroom quiet and how to always keep your class moving.

Like many of the other posters, I'm sad I'm not still at my field placement. I had a great time and I can't wait to start teaching on a more regular basis!

Field Placement Wrap Up

I have been lucky enough to work with a great co-operating teacher who let me get very involved in her classroom. She operated at a million miles per hour, but somehow managed to connect with students and engage them in schoolwork. During my lessons, I realized that I did not have the SAME success as her due to my lack of rapport with the students. This clearly is not a fault of my own, I simply have not been around the students long enough to build relationships throughout the school year like my co-operating teacher. She captivated students through making her lesson plans accessible. Her audience consists of freshman and sophomore students who are still trying to figure themselves out in the crazy world of high school. She gets it. She is rigid when she needs to be, and she is flexible when a student needs it. The idea of rapport hits home. We talk about this in our classes all of the time. Getting to know our students is key! It makes sense on paper and in class discussion, but I was able to see it happening in front of me....and I loved it.

I enjoyed being in a Catholic school and I realize this is a school where we can implement a ton of our subversive ideas. The field placement has equipped me with another experience under my belt, and I am glad to have expanded my teaching horizons!

What am I doing?

This morning I awoke in a panic. It was 8:30 am. I thought, "oh. crap." Usually I'm awake at 5:30, on the road by 6 to make it to school by 7. There's NO WAY I'm going to make it into school today and not be in trouble. I've already missed like 4 periods.

Then I realize it's Dec. 6th and field placement is over. Once I have stopped myself from having a heart attack, I revert back to my before-class routine. I eat breakfast, pack my backpack. I check my facebook first, then my marauder (to find out I STILL don't have a student teaching placement) before walking out the door at 9:05 to make it to my 9:30 class in Stayer.

And as I sit in class, I think, well this is pointless. I know that my peers are going over their projects from field and I should care. And I do to a point. But then I'm thinking well if it's 9:30 I should be in third period. Those are "my" Cs. They're writing business letters today. I wonder what companies they've picked and which products they are writing about. I'm curious as to how the second period PLC went and if they've finally agreed on grammar content across grades. I doubt it. Brindle and Smith are pretty gung-ho about this grammar stuff. The others are not so much into it.

Back to my own class with my own peers, I can't turn my teacher brain off. In a short period of time, I've made a transition I didn't think I could make. When I went to Linden Hall, my student brain was on. I wanted to take notes about class and answer questions. After my time at Kennard-Dale, I have no desire to research and write a paper on the sociological effects of the Northridge Earthquake of 1994. I just want to teach. I want to be in a classroom; I want all eyes on me and I want students to be in my, what I believe to be, capable hands.

Teacher Communication

I greatly commend the communication between the teachers at Pequea Valley HS. In my first few days I was stunned to see how much teachers talk to one another. On the day I observed one student throughout his daily routine, I was amazed to return to my cooperating teacher and hear that she already knew where I went because her fellow teachers were communicating with her through e-mail all day. It was a bit weird to know how "watched" I was, but then I realized that these teachers are committed to providing the best care for their students possible.

It greatly helps that every teacher is equipped with a personal laptop, which allows them to easily access another teacher across the school. With the laptops, teachers also have the ability to meet in local areas (ie. faculty lounge) and collaborate on preparing lessons or sharing ideas. I noticed that the majority of the teachers at PVHS were pretty young, which could also aid in their helpfulness towards one another, knowing they are all in the same boat. If I were to ever teach in PVHS, I would not have any worries about having the support and open communication of my coworkers.

"It's Education by Humiliation": A Great Article on Standardized Tests

Lancaster Catholic, as a parochial school, is exempt from the standards movement. Though administrators have the students take one standardized test to gauge their progress, the curriculum is overall fairly free from the grips of the standardized test world.

It was a wonderful feeling to have, and I can't help but wonder why we still subject public school students to these awful tests. I've always believed that standardized tests (which perhaps had good intentions) are a hindrance to our education system in numerous ways. Students are deprived opportunities for creativity; we're setting our kids up for failure, etc. Now, this article adds a new wrinkle to it:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/post/when-an-adult-took-standardized-tests-forced-on-kids/2011/12/05/gIQApTDuUO_blog.html#pagebreak

In this article, a highly successful school superintendent (with multiple degrees!) earns a 62% on the reading section of the standardized test and only answers 10 out of 60 math questions correctly. He even goes on to say that were he subjected to these tests during his schooling, he would have lost confidence in himself and not gone on to become as successful as he has. He says that standardized tests are "education by humiliation."

Never had I considered the emotional aspect of standardized tests. Our secondary students have their whole lives ahead of them, and a million opportunities and people to tell them they won't succeed. Why should we, as part of the school system, join those millions telling our kids they won't succeed?

I'd love to see a class of seniors walk out of their high school confident that they can do anything they set their minds to accomplish. With standardized tests, I'm not so sure.

My Last Post on Placement

My second to last day was a wonderful experience for me. I got to sit in an English classroom and another classroom and see two completely different teaching styles. It was like putting wind in my sails. My last day was an "aha" moment for me. I realized at the end of the day that even though I did not enjoy my placement, the students took something from the time I was there. I was sitting in class (at my little desk at the back of the room) and a student raised her hand. She looked directly at me to see if I was coming over. I realized just then that regardless of how things went, in her eyes, I was a teacher.
I can honestly say that I learned a tremendous amount about the dynamics of a school during these last five weeks. I got to sit in on conversation in the faculty lounge (the cafeteria was a little bit crazy- they call it the food court and there is a Rita's and a McDonald's). I got to see student's interact with teachers they didn't like and teachers cover their dislike for students. I got to see great teachers and took some things from their teaching strategies and saw some horrible scenarios that as long as I do the polar opposite I will be fine. I was very thankful to see their use of technology not only in the classroom, but, in the school. There were classes that were technology based that were awesome. There were classes that did not incorporate technology at all that were awesome.
In summation, I did not get a lot of teaching time and did not get to see more than one English class in action, but, I walk away from this placement honestly saying that I have learned a lot about the dynamics of teachers and their students. Who knows? Maybe that was the biggest lesson that I needed to learn in order to be ready for the spring. Either way, I am happy to be done and ready to move on to student teach.

Weird Feeling

Sunday night I was thinking how I was not going back to Northeastern. I was a little sad that I was going to be seeing my 8th graders again. I've learn a lot about myself and how I am as a teacher because of my co-op and the students at the school. When I taught my first lesson with them, there was not even a little bit of hesitation that I had experienced when I was in my placement for soph bloc. It was almost natural when I got up there. And, it was and awesome feeling to know how the students responded when I was teaching them about poetry. After that, I really felt part of the classroom. Students were coming up to me and asking questions; some of them even asked me to sign their agendas to go to the bathroom (I didn't do it, because I didn't think I was allowed). However, it was refreshing to be seen as a teacher.

When I first learned that I was going to be in the 8th grade, I groaned. I never thought of myself as an "8th grade teacher." I didn't think that my personality fit with the students, and thought that I would be better suited for an older grade. But, watching my co-op interact the the students, I learned that her and I had similar personalities...and maybe I could be an 8th grade teacher.

My co-op really helped me in my placement this semester--she encouraged me I had questions and took the time to explain that jargon at the school that I wasn't familiar with. Her rapport with the teachers is good. She wants the teachers to work as team and do what is best for the students. I noticed that when the other teachers start talking politics, she usually has a comment, then leaves the room--she knows it's important, but it's not what she is focused on all the time. She also wants her students to do well, she relates to them and what they are doing with their lives and plays off of that in the classroom. She helps the students when the have questions, and there is nothing like a stupid question with her. She wants to the students to know what she is talking about and wants them to have as much clarification as possible.

Missing the Field

Upon receiving my placement at Red Lion Jr. High School, I was admittedly hesitant. I've always seen myself in a high school setting; middle schoolers held little to no appeal to me, for whatever particular reason. Middle school is such a difficult time in a student's life, not to say high school doesn't have its challenges either, but I think we can all agree middle is by far the worse of two evils. Perhaps this is what led me to think avoiding this particular stage of life was the best idea.

Whatever the reason, I found myself cautious when I walked into Red Lion on my first day of field. I met my cooperating teacher, who seemed to be a lot of fun and, after 32 years, still seemed to really enjoy teaching.

Foursight testing was in action on my first morning of observation. But it amazed me how much I could learn about the students from merely watching their actions as soon as they completed the test. Some chose to read while others merely plopped their heads down on the desks.

As the days passed, I grew to learn their names, thanks to my cooperating teacher insisting upon their use of name tags on their desks. And, after following one student and, therefore, one solid class along for an entire day due to an assignment for Dr. McDowell, I found myself growing attached to the students. I knew not only their names, but their personalities, the questions they were likely to ask. I began to actively participate in class: teaching lessons, helping them with projects and questions they have, and chastising them when they chose to chase each other around the room over a crown of all things.

And, now that it's over, I miss them. I miss their craziness. I miss their energy. I miss the way they choose to randomly dance during the 70s elevator music that accompanies the video in science class. I actually miss that they were willing to chase each other over a paper crown, despite the far easier solution of simply making a second crown.

In short, this field experience has helped me see the benefits of middle school. My previous insistency that middle school was not for me is now being brought into question. I find myself thinking that their may be far worse places to be than middle school.

I woke up this morning missing the 11th grade students at Kennard-Dale. I'm not entirely sure if that's normal; but, that's what happened. I feel really good about my experience there, and obviously I'm sad to see it end. Today I'm trying to re-cap on the best things I've learned from my field placement, and I've come up with a few noteworthy things ...

For starters, my co-op was excellent with classroom management; his students knew exactly what he was expecting from them and they never really acted out. Even when it was just me in the room or it was a substitute teacher, the students were on their best behavior. The interesting thing was, my co-op never yelled, and in the few weeks I was in his classroom I've only ever seen him give one detention -- it was his first all year. I asked him how he managed to do this, because, to be honest, I was astonished. He said it's all about respect ( which we've all been taught throughout our bloc classes). The students know what he expects from them, and in return they expect a lot of him. He takes the time to tell the students personal things about his life (like the fact that he's a vegetarian or what he did over the weekend). They get to know him in a way that makes him less of a "scary teacher". Still, he does not put up with their BS -- he challenges them to think every day, and if they are, say, a little sluggish on a Monday morning, he'll have them doing activities that get them out of their slump. It was incredibly helpful to watch this kind of management in action, especially because this was area that troubled me a bit.

When it came to technology in the classroom, my co-op admitted that he was not really a "21st century teacher". This would be something I would have to change in my own classroom. With all the projects and classes we've taken involving classroom tech, I think it would be next to impossible NOT to include it. My classroom had a smart board as well as a laptop cart, and the students loved it when they were able to use them. So I'd have to say, if there was something I'd change about the classroom I was in, it would be to include more technology to fit student interest.

I also learned a little bit about co-teaching while at Kennard-Dale. During first period there was a learning support teacher that came in to help the students with their work. She didn't always teach exactly, but she would circulate around the room to make sure the students were paying attention or would offer assistance to anyone who needed it. This teacher also worked with the students one-on-one during different periods of the day, so she knows what kind of students they are. It was really good for me to get experience working with more than one teacher.

Going in with a new perspective

In my last blog I was talking about a post from a fellow student that put me back on track. I won't lie, this placement was really hard. I was very discouraged with where I was. I felt like I was being asked to prepare to walk into an English classroom this spring without the tools to do so. I have really struggled and have been pretty frustrated. I was blogging about it and I read the blog from a classmate. It was an "aha" moment for me. I went back to school with a different view on the experience. I just went in and said to myself (yes, I had to talk to myself on this one) that I needed to learn everything I could, from anyone I could learn from, before my time was up. The Lord must have known what I needed because that was the day I did my shadowing of a struggling student. What an amazing day. I got an opportunity to be in three different classes, three totally different teaching styles. I walked out on a cloud (I got to sit in on an English class, by the way). I went back to my cooperating teacher at the end of the day to help with the last section of her class and felt refreshed and ready to roll. I learned so much in one days worth of classes; it completely saved this placement for me. I am so thankful for the opportunity to see friends in the hall at school, talk with Dr. Shea, and read blogs from friends who also struggled but made it through. Thanks to everyone. Can't wait to see everyone this week.

Field Experience

I finished my field placement on Friday. After a few weeks in the field, I’m surprised by how eager I am to begin planning and conducting my own lessons. Overall, it was a great experience. After finding out that my spring placement would be at the same school, I was approached by three other teachers from the English department. They offered me the opportunity to teach lessons in their classrooms. The creative writing teacher asked me to create a songwriting unit for her students; I can’t wait to work on it.

Finally, after years of preparation, things are beginning to take shape; looking back, I am grateful to Millersville for their education classes. This semester has been hectic, but it has forced me to look at lesson planning and student needs in new ways; I’ve been forced to stretch into uncomfortable territory. I’m feeling better about that every day. For example, some of the technology material has been challenging; however, I now have lots of different ways to try to reach the students. I will remember the “Contact Zone” materials for crafting relevant lessons.

I hope everyone found their field experiences rewarding. A month ago, I was nervous and apprehensive about student teaching. Now, I am nervous and anxious to get started. Hopefully, many of us found encouragement and support from our cooperating teachers. I am grateful for the experience.

Field Placement

I can't believe I'm already done with my field placement! I was a great month and it absolutely flew by. I was at Red Lion Area Junior High, a small suburban middle school in York County. Before placement began, I was absolutely thrilled to be in a middle school. That is where I would like to teach someday. Spending this past month there has definitely confirmed that. Middle schoolers are so much fun! They have the most unique views of the world and are fully willing to share their ideas with anyone that will listen. It's truly a remarkable age, when children are slowly gaining their independence but still a child at heart and in need of constant guidance.

I'm really going to miss RLJH come Monday morning.

Building Rapport

If there is anything I have learned from my cooperating teacher over the past four weeks, it is that building rapport with students is unmistakeably important. It is imperative that we make connections with students so that they trust us with their work. One thing that worked for my cooperating teacher was telling students about her life. Obviously, she didn't give them very personal information but she talked about her kids and her husband and the things they do as a family. For example, everyday we did a warm-up activity using vocabulary. Either her or I would stand up and give them an example sentence with the vocabulary word absent from the sentence. Most of the sentences we gave them would be about things we did over the weekend or things in our life. For instance, I may say something like "At Thanksgiving dinner, my twin cousins made "blank" remarks at the dinner table, which landed them in a time out." The hands would shoot in the air so that they could say that the vocabulary word was flippant. My cooperating teacher would tell funny stories about her kids using the vocabulary words and it created a really open and comfortable environment in the classroom.

The best would be that after we offered some sentences, we would ask students if they had any sentences they wanted to share. Most students would tell about their own life and I learned so much about students during this exercise. The other thing my cooperating teacher allowed, which I loved, was she gave students the opportunity to talk about life in her classroom. We read a short story called "Zebra" which was about a Vietnam War Veteran. Before we read the story we took a long time to talk about our own family members and friends who are war vets. Students were so willing to share things about their family and life. I loved that students felt like they could share the things that were important to them. The classroom was truly a community- everyone shared and volunteered. The teacher was not the only person doing work in that classroom everyday. I think that the classroom environment worked so well because of the time she spent learning and knowing her students. I saw firsthand just how important these connections are.

Building Rapport with the Students

My cooperating teacher at Red Lion Jr. High School appears to have a strong passion for building a rapport with her students. She's willing to be as creative--and, sometimes, as goofy-- as necessary to build a positive relationship with her students. She's willing to work with them on a one-on-one basis and seeks to entertain while still insuring they learn the material necessary.

And now it's over...but only beginning

These four weeks have been a whirlwind. Today as I drove home from my placement for the final time, I thought about my experience over these four weeks (and it's a pretty long drive so there's a lot to think about).

First, I can't believe how much I learned about "my" kids in such a short amount of time and how much I called them mine when I talked about placement to my roommates, friends, and family. For as much as I learned from them, I hope I left them with a little something. I taught for 1 full day, which was exhausting. For the other 6 days I was in their class, I observed them, co-taught with my c0-op, and worked through worksheets and problems with them. It's amazing how in just 7 visits over four weeks students impacted my knowledge and ideals of teaching.

The major things I learned was to have legit expectations. Sometimes, students have bad days. They are sick or just coming back from being sick. Sometimes there are things happening that I won't know about. But for the most part, they want to work hard and they want to graduate. Give them the benefit of the doubt. Especially if they are seniors ( which I worked with). Not so long ago, we were all in their shoes, looking towards bigger and brighter things and even now most of us are completing our senior year of college. We're getting that itch of being over school; being done with this part of our lives and ready to move onto the next chapter. Be empathetic but don't be a push over. My co-op did a great job of this and she showed a really good balance.

The other thing I learned as recently as today is sometimes teaching is like being a student. The hierarchy of school politics is much like that of the college. Presidents (Superintendents) make rules. Those rules are passed to deans (principals) who pass and enforce those rules onto professors (assistant principals) who then enforce rules on students (teachers). It all works in a chain and if one link gets broken, messages get misconstrued. Currently, there is no acting principal at Kennard-Dale. So for teachers, the rules are enforced by the assistant principals and even the superintendent. I can't imagine how frustrating it must be to get mixed messages from different powers-that-be like I witnessed my teacher getting. It is difficult. But I think it's possible to get through if you love teaching and if you love your kids.

So next Tuesday, when I wake up at 8 instead of 5, I will think about what my co-op and her kids are doing in class. I know they will be reading Macbeth or doing research for their banned books project. I will miss them as I head off to my own classes and back to the life of a college student for the final week of my career here at Millersville. Soon, I will have another class to call "mine" for a short time. And hopefully after that I will have a class that will wholefully and fully be my own.

Deep Thinkers

I don't think anything excited me more in this classroom than the fact that my co-op did frequent journal entries; more than that, the students LOVE them... I'm serious, they comletely eat them up! Sometimes the prompt will be related to something the students were learning in class that day, other times it's just something random. What amazes me most is the amount of in-depth thinking these students put into their responses! One of the prompts I gave was to have the students describe their biggest fear either by writing about it, drawing it, or writing a poem. You would not believe the responses I got! My co-op has really encouraged these students to go the extra level with their thinking and writing responses, and in a way that makes it appealing. I'm learning how to develop those open-ended quesitons, and have been sharing these ideas with the class. Hopefully I continue to be able to do this, and will hopefully also have this oppurtunity in my student teaching placement!

Four Weeks Already?

For my professional bloc placement, I have ventured into the lives of 11^th graders at a suburban High School. There are two blocs of these young saplings, each an hour and twenty minutes apiece and consisting of fifty students. Yes, there are 50 children per class period, which can be quite the handful for one teacher. Here is where there is good news: there are two. My cooperating teacher, Mrs. D, is a co-teacher with Mrs. K. It is a strange set up and it is easy for individuals to become lost, but they know their kids and attempt to handle them in full.

It’s really neat to see this interaction with co-teaching because until this point in time I thought it to be nearly impossible. I work well with people, but picturing how we would have to stay on the same page with lesson planning and assessment makes me want to rip my hair out. However, it’s curious to see how well these two work together and how it is not apparent that any work was split in half. It makes me stop and cock my head at the meaning of teaching even though I’m not sure if it is ever in my future to do the same.

Mrs. D and Mrs. K assess their students creatively. This is a very scary word to some people; half bounce with jitters in their seat while others throw their readied pencils. However, they believe that projects assess better. In this case, I would have to agree. They have a wide variety of assessment. One lesson was a crash course on structured essay writing like the five paragraph essay (which I am a fan of with a pinch of pizzazz). Here they were taught interactively using food to demonstrate importance as well as examples. The students were then asked to rewrite their papers properly following the given structures and highlight them. There was individual work including literary circles where they were to choose a book and read it on their own time. There was partner work utilized through a project of mine with Macbeth as well as collaborating in the literary circles post individual work. They include research, MLA formatting, a lot of in class time to work together, ask us questions, question themselves, and question others. We also read Macbeth aloud which included everyone as a whole and kept them adept visually. All of these points are varied teaching styles, but they are also assessments. Each one brings in a different of assessment; individual, partner, group, and in a variety of different styles: creative, formal, suggestive.

Despite all of the great ideas I am contriving from this experience, no classroom is perfect. More kids are failing than should be, and it’s hard to keep them up to pace when others are doing so well. Fifty kids is a huge class and it’s hard to atone to all of them. Classroom management is also difficult, and yelling and aggression is often used. It’s usually done in a humorous way, however, which lightens the mood, but sometimes so much so that the kids do not take the poke seriously. Overall, the good greatly outweighs the poor. Mrs. D communicates well and it is apparent through the lunchroom. I’ve heard horror stories of what happens there, but I must say I look forward to it here. They are a bit more gossipy than need be, but nothing is out of the question. Everything is light-hearted, but in a good way. It’s entertaining because there are cliques with the teachers, just as there are with the highschoolers, but it’s always a fun time where they can sit back and let their guard down, but never cruel or overbearing.

I cannot believe my last day is so near; four weeks flew by so fast. I have grown attached to the students, melded in with the staff, and been actively involved with the concepts of teaching. I must say every inch of me wants to stay here.