I finished my student teaching experience on May 13, 2021; and what a sad day it was. I was placed in a 1st grade class at Sarah W. Starkweather Elementary School in West Chester Area School District. This was such an incredible experience and I learned so much from my amazing mentor teacher, class, and from the rest of the staff at Starkweather. I never knew how connected a school could be with its community until this experience; it was so amazing to see the support teachers got from families and vice versa.
On my final day of student teaching our class held a Poetry Cafe to show families and friends what students were learning during our poetry unit. My mentor teacher tasked me with teaching the poetry unit to our class and I thought a great way to show off students work would be to create a Poetry Cafe within out own classroom.
To create this Poetry Cafe I had my dad help me build a stage, bought a bunch of fun decorations from Party City, and had a concession stand where students could use their knowledge of money to "buy" snacks (money was also the math unit I was teaching students at the time and we had a lot of parents donate snacks for this event).
It ended up being such a successful day! We invited families and friends to attend the Poetry Cafe via zoom, students were confident and excited to recite their own original poems, and everyone had a blast! It was such an amazing way to end one of the best experiences of my life.
After I completed my student teaching experience I was focused on applying for jobs and preparing to begin my first teaching job. I was given the opportunity to teach at West Chester Area School District's Summer Academy at East Goshen Elementary School. I was placed with a class of Rising 3rd Graders. For 5 weeks I taught small group interventions in reading/writing, math, and social-emotional learning that focused on the Common Core PA Standards. I saw this job as an opportunity to take everything that I've learned and implement in all on my own. Not only did I see growth in the students but in myself as well. We learned, we created, and we had fun (especially on Pirate Day)!
It has now been 3 weeks since Summer Academy has ended and, fortunately, I had a lot of interview opportunities and a couple job offers. I recently decided to take a Building Substitute position at Sarah W. Starkweather Elementary School! So I'll be back in the old stomping grounds serving the community that taught me so much. I'm really looking forward for this upcoming school year and towards growing my skills as an educator.
Sincerely,
Ms. McDonough
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