Name: Catherine Megison

Subject/Grade Level:

Semester/Year:

Spring 2016

High School Life Skills (9 th and 10th grade)

Initial Reflections
Date:
Please reflect on the following questions:
1. What do you expect/want to learn during student teaching (ST)?
While student teaching, I want to learn better behavior management techniques, how to lead ARD
meetings, how to fill out IEPs, and gain a better understanding of how a life skills classroom is run
daily. I look forward to finally getting this opportunity and growing both professionally and
personally. Lastly, I want to learn how to communicate well with the other educators in students
lives, such as therapists, paraprofessionals, nurses, and general education teachers. I expect to
learn how to lead a classroom of students everyday, how to build rapport with students and
educators, how to create lessons plans that have modifications and accommodations that fit the
students, and how to incorporate paraeducators to benefit students.

2. What obstacles do you anticipate during ST and what strategies will you employ to
overcome those obstacles?
Although I would love if there were no obstacles, this is not a realistic hope. When considering
student teaching, I could see parents, fellow educators, paraprofessionals, and students could all
be potential obstacles. To prevent obstacles from arising with parents, I will build a relationship
with them based off respect and care for their children. By beginning with positive interactions,
parents will be more receptive and understanding when problems arrive at school. I will have
positive interactions with them by meeting them, sending home a parent letter, and sending home
encouraging notes of what their student did during the day. A strategy I will use to prevent there
from being issues with other educators is to be respective, cordial, and receptive to any feedback
or information they give me. These actions with show them that I am a professional and want to
grow from their knowledge and expertise. Likewise, I will be respective, receptive, kind, and
professional in my interactions with paraprofessionals. This will help to grow a good rapport with
them and, hopefully, prevent any issues from arising. Lastly, to prevent there from being behavior
issues with students, I will set clear expectations with them. This will help them to understand
from the beginning that I am in charge and will not be pushed around. To create a lasting
relationship with them that will enable me to better teach them, I will learn their names within the
first week, get to know each of them on a personal level- including their likes and dislikes, and
spend time investing in each of them. Hopefully, these strategies will pay off and help my
semester go smoothly for all involved.
3. Why do you believe ST is important?
In my opinion, student teaching is an invaluable asset for future educators. By being student
teachers, educators in training are able to fully see what will be expected of them once they
graduate and get a job. Student teaching shows them the day in and day out of what it truly
means to be an educator. For myself, I have enjoyed my time in other classrooms; however, I
believe I will learn more in this semester than in all of the other classrooms combined. This time
gets me accustomed to the schedule of being a teacher and what it is like to spend every
weekday with students. Being a student teacher also enables future educators to directly apply
the strategies and techniques they have learned. For myself, this has given me a better

understanding of the things I have learned within my classes at A&M. The material has become
more real from the few short days I have been student teaching and I look forward to learning
more as the semester progresses. From my time student teaching, I will be better prepare to lead
a classroom and educate my future students.