In the fall of my junior year, I chose to work in Mrs. Hathaway's fourth grade classroom.
Working with Mrs. Hathaway was the most hands-on Teacher Academy experience I received between both years. Although Mrs. Hathaway had never been a host teacher before, she picked up on the fundamentals very quickly, and within a month, I was regularly leading the morning warm ups. Even on days that the class was away on field trips, I would receive papers to grade or projects to set up, which I found very beneficial in experiencing life as a teacher. It taught me that teachers work so much further beyond the regular seven hour school day to give their students the best chance at success.
By the second semester, it was time for me to try a new classroom, so I went to Mrs. Stoudt's third grade class.
Mrs. Stoudt has been working in our school system for a long time, so having her as my host teacher was very beneficial. She had good control over the class, and the students genuinely enjoyed having her. I was able to lead several spellings tests and work with students individually on math facts and reading. Through this experience, I had more time working as a tutor, which I found necessary to teach me about the different types of ways students learn. Not all students are good at memorizing and not all students grasp a certain concept right away. By spending time with all types of different students, I was able to practice switching between teaching one way and teaching another.
For my last quarter, I decided to return to a fourth grade classroom, so I went in Mrs. Meachum's classroom.
Something new about working in Mrs. Meachum's classroom was that my brother was in her class. Although he is a very chatty kid, he proved to be well-behaved when I assisted. In Mrs. Meachum's classroom, I spent a lot of time working on projects for her class and grading tests. I would work a little with students individually, but this placement was mostly about working behind the scenes. While my room is often very messy, I am a decently organized person, so this placement taught me how I can use my organizational skills to better assist the students with their learning.