During my experience at Dakota Valley Middle School, I gained valuable insights. I discovered that each day is a new surprise and challenge, particularly when engaging with middle school students. These surprises and challenges aren’t always scary, either. I became more aware of classroom management. I transitioned from the role of a student to that of an educator, thanks to this immersive experience.
It quickly became apparent that passive observation would result in long and boring days. This is why I seized the opportunity to co-teach every day while being there. With this, I learned more from doing than just observing. Especially because of the repetition of the same subject and lesson all day long. Even so, I felt I learned something…show more content… While she bore the weight of her stress, her students remained unaware of her tribulations. Her attempts at concealing her personal turmoil from her students struck me with admiration. As hard as it sounds, I think it is very important to keep personal life out of the classroom. Both emotionally and work-wise. Caitlyn taught me that this is possible. This is what I would consider my AHA moment.
Caitlyn manages her personal and school life very well. This tends to be an issue among teachers. She explained to me that she refrains from bringing work home unless absolutely necessary. This is advocating for an approach to managing her workload. She says, “When you know, you know,” when referring to what to accomplish outside of contract hours. She emphasizes that not everything needs to be graded, and she can make it work with a minimal goal of two items graded per week. This piece of advice serves as a prevention tool for teacher burnout. This is a concept that weighs heavily on my…show more content… Any opportunity to gossip and talk negatively was taken by the teachers I was surrounded by. Before school, planning periods, lunch, and after school were spent complaining about one thing after another. However, I was aware that we interns were entering the hardest time of the school year. I tried to give some grace. I understand most jobs will have difficulties and the possibility of negativity, but it's just not something that I want to be a part of. Unfortunately, I have learned that this is common in schools. I can assume that this atmosphere is caused by teacher burnout, as I mentioned
