University of Puerto Rico – Humacao English Department
Luis R. Torres Cotto Prof. Nilsa Lugo EDPE 4018 – 001 Weekly Reflection #16 1-5 of December, 2014 The last week of the practice teaching has finally come and gone so many feelings rushing in while I remember. On Monday, after that long recess from the Thanksgiving week, the students were a bit out of it but little by little were integrating. The school started to have more absences now that classes are finishing too. The most important fact about this day was my final evaluation. This day got all on my nerves I wanted to do good and show how much I progressed and in the end I felt that I gave one of the best classes ever. We sang the Five senses song and practice them all and then we learned more about wild animals. The class then quickly moved to an activity in which students counted in English and colored wild animals. The students shared in front and the class was a blast. When I reunited with the practice director I see that I still have a long way to but I have progressed significantly. Tuesday the class ended up coloring some wild animals mask after reviewing and practicing. This type of hands on classes are fun for the students and they take time with their work to the point I need to go and pick up the hand sheets. On Wednesday, I went to an excellent orientation about the department of education in the University. I met with friends and learned about the system and how it runs. Thursday was a day I took to play around with the students and sang song to memorize some concepts. This classes are done once in a while to break the routine and have fun in the classroom while learning. Friday at last the final day when we said our goodbyes. The students were working on their kinder class but I went around and gave them bags of candies and pictures for them to color some
University of Puerto Rico – Humacao English Department were sad I left and asked where I was going. At the end, we sang the goodbye song for the very last time. I was smiling but I was very sad inside as I left my students for ever. This week was a bit stressing toward covering material but had both emotions of happiness and sadness. I felt accomplished as teacher but as I figured it would hurt saying goodbye. If there is something about the teacher vocation that I hate the most is saying goodbye to the students. There are a lot of feelings going on, happy to see them progress but sad you might not be their teacher or that they forget you. We reflect if we did good, in what we failed and it hits hard. I feel bittersweet, there is much that I could've done better but now is too late. As a teacher all we can do is learn and improve for the next time hoping that we make good people out of our students. This practice teaching experience has been enriching of vast experiences, experiences that have prepared me to become a better teacher in the near future.