Want to know what it’s like student teaching with Mr. Greg? Here ya go!
Ms. Molly was our student teacher for the first semester of the year. Molly was wonderful. She jumped right in from day one and was open to learning as much as she could! More importantly, she formed amazing relationships with the students which showed in her teaching and the students’ response to me! The following post was written by Molly to share her experiences in our classroom!
MOLLY, THANK YOU FOR BEING A PART OF OUR CLASSROOM AND HELPING US ALL GROW AND LEARN! YOU ARE AWESOME AND WE WILL MISS YOU!
Student Teaching With Mr. Greg
Hi, I’m Molly Callaghan and I am a graduate student at Belmont University in Nashville. I am currently working towards a Master’s of Arts in Teaching. Over the past semester, I had the great pleasure of student teaching in Mr. Greg’s classroom. I will always be grateful for the kindness, generosity, and faith he instilled in my teaching journey. There are three things that stand out to me most about my time in Mr. Greg’s room, which I will share below.
Classrooms Are Different And That’s OK!
Looking back on my time, the first thing that stands out to me is solidifying the thought that every classroom is different. Mr. Greg’s classroom was different than anything I had ever experienced in my own formal education. I wanted to go into this experience with an open mind. His classroom is nontraditional: flexible seating, lots of electronic tools (Interactive panel, Classrooms Alive from Alive Studios, ESGI, etc) and out of the box learning tasks.
I saw how creativity fosters learning and that it is okay to be different than the teachers around you. A teacher’s biggest priority should be to meet the needs of their students and make learning fun for them in the process. Mr. Greg definitely makes learning fun in his classroom. I also think that every teacher has his or her own way of making learning fun. Mr. Greg is awesome, but not everyone can be 110% in 100% of the time like he is and I definitely learned that this semester too. I also learned that that is OKAY. Every classroom and every teacher is different; what matters is that students are learning and enjoying the learning in their environment.
High Expectations. Everyday.
The second thing I loved about Mr. Greg’s room was that from the first day of school, he set high expectations for all students. He only has one classroom rule, “Be Your Best,” which applies to all areas of the classroom, school, and learning environment. It didn’t matter if the expectations were for how to behave, how to treat classroom materials, how to clean up, or how to walk in the hallway; students knew the expectations and rose to meet them. One of my biggest fears about being in a Kindergarten classroom this semester was that students weren’t going to be able to do a lot independently, but when Mr. Greg set those high expectations the first day, I saw just how independent and capable young students are when given the opportunity to be. This was definitely one of the most “breakthrough” things for me this semester.
Kindergarten Rocks!
My final big takeaway from my time in Mr. Greg’s room was that Kindergarten teachers don’t get nearly enough appreciation as they deserve. Kindergarten is one of, if not, THE most foundational grade for all students, but especially so for students with English as a second language or those who haven’t attended preschool. Students are introduced to the English language, our numerical system, and begin learning to read at the same time they are learning how to hold a pencil, how school works and really just how to be a human. Kindergarten is a big adventure, so take a minute to thank a kindergarten teacher and let them know they are doing a good job!
For more on classroom management, relationships and having fun in the classroom, check out these blog posts:
