Making a Difference

I am super excited because I finally turned in my Analysis of Student Work today & after working on it for 3 months it felt amazing to get it turned in & completed. I felt very accomplished to have worked so hard. What is an Analysis of Student Work? Welllll, in short, I had to work one-on-one with a student, figure out their strengths, their weaknesses, their individual needs & do what all teachers do-help them! :) I worked with my student off & on, trying to figure out what interventions they needed & it went really well. 

Through this assignment I realized that there is so much that goes into teaching--more than anyone on the outside realizes. Educators want so much to make a difference in all their students' lives, but it just isn't as easy as pie. In the short time that I worked with the student, I know I made a difference & it felt amazing, BUT I also had 23 other students that wanted me to work one-on-one with them, too. What a catch 22, huh? Time seems to be the enemy...not enough time for science, not enough time for learning games, not enough time to work those above grade level students, and not enough time to make creative lesson

plans...WRONG! We have time for whatever we want to make time for. Of course there are extreme circumstances, but those above grade level students need just as much individualized instruction as the ones who are falling behind; science needs to be addressed in elementary school just as much as math or reading (just because it isn't in the standardized testing, doesn't mean it doesn't matter), and there is always time for creative lesson plans and learning games. What is the point of teaching students if it isn't interesting to them! Remember, if we don't like having a worksheet & boring lecture-6, 7, 8 year olds are definitely not going to be a fan of it. Make the students feel like PEOPLE.

If you think back to your favorite teacher from when you were younger, you probably don't remember what they taught you specifically, but instead you remember how they made you feel; how they made a difference in your life & left an impression on you still today. I hope to be that for someone for someday. I have been influenced by a lot of amazing adults in my life & I am determined to make a difference in a little one's life.

This entry was sort of all over the place, oopsie! 

It all comes down to making differences in children's lives & making the time to do so. I became invested in the student that I worked with this semester, I saw improvement & it was fulfilling; I was truly a teacher.

Until Later,

Amanda