If finally happened, they said I had to leave.

If finally happened, they said I had to leave. I am no longer Ms. Miller the student teacher at Penn Manor, I am now Ms. Miller soon to be Penn State Alumni.

As I look back on the journey that I have had over these past 15 weeks I can't imagine having a better experience. From day one I was welcomed into the Ag program as one of the teachers and began building rapport with my students. I started out timid in front of the classroom, just hoping that my students wouldn't ask questions that I could not answer. I was intimidated by the material and the challenges that would lye ahead but pushed forward knowing that I would grow with my students this semester.

So what have I learned this semester, how I have I changed, what philosophies have wavered with my experience.

Where to begin, the biggest thing I learned this semester was how to me myself in the classroom. All my life I have observed teachers in there classes, I have seen how they interacted with their students and their overall presence. With all of these in mind I painted an image of what I would be like in the classroom… an image that looks quite different at the end of this experience. I have developed routines, expectations that differ from the printed posters, and high standards for my students.

Planning for a class is much easier when you are in the classroom. This past fall I struggled to develop 85 minute lesson plans that would be fun, engaging, or take the full time. Now I blink an eye and 75 of those 85 minutes is gone and I still have an activity I wanted to get to in the day. The challenge was I didn't know my class, I didn't know their pace, interest, or skill level.

As my students said goodbye to me on Friday my last block class went around the room and each one said something about me. What they thought of me, wishing me luck in the future, that they were glad  I was there, or how I helped or impacted them in this class. It was a touching and powerful moment as I realized though small, I did have an impact on these students, but the greatest is the impact that they had on me. I will always remember my first SAE visits, my first day of class, my first unit conclusion, the challenges I faced this past Spring, all moments etched in my mind forever. I had no idea how hard it would be in the end to leave.

What is my nugget of knowledge, what do I want soon to be student teachers to know. We have the opportunity to interact with next years student teachers, what will I tell them about their 15 week experience…

You get out of it what you put in, I had a FANTASTIC experience and I went into it with the disposition that there was no other option. I never left school at the end of the day thinking it wasn't worth it today. It's an experience and its only 15 weeks so make it count!

In my 15 weeks I impacted over 45 students lives and each one of them has changed me as an educator.