I have just completed my seventh week out of the ten required weeks of student teaching. I have finally been able to take all of the knowledge I obtained during my courses at Quinnipiac and apply it to real life situations in my own classroom. I must admit that at first student teaching was very overwhelming. I was struggling with solidifying my objectives and making sure that every lesson had a purpose. The daily tasks during student teaching include: planning lessons, teaching lessons, handling classroom management and routines, holding extra help, and grading papers. I took over my classes at full force. I have a great cooperating teacher who helps me to plan lessons that will be most effective for each student population. My cooperating teacher and I have very similar personalities, which enables us to work well together. I teach a total of four classes (one freshmen general, two freshmen academic, and one sophomore honors). I am very lucky and have not had any behavioral issues with any of my students. I feel that I have established a respectable rapport with my students and they feel comfortable coming to me for help if they do not understand something. Most of my time is spent planning for my lessons because I want to ensure that all student needs are met and that my lessons are both engaging and effective. My second most amount of time is spent grading papers. Throughout the past seven weeks I have graded over one hundred papers.

This experience has made me realize how much work really goes on behind the scenes of teaching. It has also made me further realize that this is exactly the profession I want to go into. I enjoy every moment that I spend in the classroom and truly look forward to going to school everyday. There are definitely days when there is a struggle to think of creative lesson ideas or when I may carry out a lesson and it does not go as planned. I look at all of these struggles as learning experiences. My cooperating teacher and Quinnipiac University supervisor have both observed my teaching and their constructive criticism helps me to adapt my teaching strategies to enable students to reach a higher level of thinking. I enjoy really connecting with my students and I like to try to get them to be passionate about a particular topic. I have greatly developed my questioning skills through this experience by always trying to create ways to connect topics to student life. I have found that this further engages students because the topics seem relevant and more important.

I have also engaged myself fully at the high school. I am currently an Assistant Cheerleading Coach and spend at least two nights a week working with the cheerleaders. I also have made myself very visible and have chaperoned various school events such as Homecoming and the Winter Carnival. I am immersed in the climate of my school and have established professional relationships with many of my coworkers. These relationships are very helpful, especially to me as a new teacher, because I do not feel afraid when I need help because I do not know how to do something. Although the workload is intense and there are many Friday nights where I would rather just stay in and sleep, my student teaching experience has been educational and enjoyable. I am going to miss it once it is over!

-Arielle Fischer MAT 2012

M.A.T Internship: Before Student Teaching

In the past two months interning at the high school I have already learned more than I had ever imagined. I am interacting with students and enhancing my classroom management skills, as well as refreshing my memory with subject matter I may not have looked at since I was in high school. I must admit that at times it is frustrating being a permanent substitute in the building because students will take advantage of the fact that their teacher is absent (which I am sure many of us can relate to from our own high school experiences). I have tried not to let the little things bother me and instead try my best to keep students focused while still allowing them to chat with a neighbor at a controlled volume. I find that students are beginning to recognize me more and more around the building, and I must say I am flattered when a student walks into a classroom and shouts, “Yes! We have Ms. Fischer today!”

I will be interning until the end of January and then I will start my student teaching. I am really looking forward to student teaching because I will have my own classroom and will be carrying out my own lesson plans. During my coursework within the MAT program I have had extensive training working with lesson plan development and I am very confident in my ability to construct lesson plans that will offer a range of activities for students and set clear goals and objectives for students. Being an intern and substitute in the building prior to student teaching has provided me with hands on experience dealing with classroom management. I also love that both teachers and students know me around the building.

The way my schedule currently works is that I intern at the high school seven until two, Monday through Friday. I also take graduate classes at Quinnipiac’s North Haven campus from four to six thirty on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday. I must admit that these days are long, but I have adjusted to the busy routine and no longer see the hours as too strenuous. It is almost comforting and exciting to get to class in the late afternoons because I get to catch up with friends/classmates about “what happened at school today.” We always compare stories and I think that this alone is a huge part of the learning process. We will share what happened in the classes we were covering and also how we handled particular situations. We often ask each other “what would you have done” so that we can improve our actions if ever faced with the situation. Also, the professors are great and very understanding to the fact that we have had a long day before getting to class. Many professors will go out of their way to bring some type of snack to get our energy up. I am really enjoying the MAT program and I am so glad that I decided to make this commitment! Stay tuned for a future update!

-Arielle Fischer, MAT 2012

After graduating with my English degree I was quick to continue with my Masters program at Quinnipiac, and by quick I mean the day immediately following undergraduate graduation. At first I was a little bit overwhelmed that lots of my friends were moving home and applying for jobs while I was stuck with another year of school. I was overwhelmed that I already had homework due for the following week when I was still celebrating my graduation. My mind was screaming “take me back to senior week!” Not sure how I was going to pull off an entire summer full of classes I began my fifth year as an MAT student. It was my motivation of wanting to become the best teacher I could be and that having a Master’s degree would look extraordinary on a resume that kept me focused and eager to learn.

The stresses of classwork seemed to diminish as I began to understand that professors and classmates were all very supportive. I truly feel that the bonds and relationships made through classes that summer were essential to the experience. All professors were ready and willing to help with any and all questions or problems. The primary classes in the MAT program really helped to set strong foundations for what was to come the upcoming fall semester. Through lots of hard work, dedication, and also some fun the summer came to a close and fall began.

I must admit that once the fall came my entire schedule changed. I no longer had the convenience of sleeping until noon and attending classes from three to nine. I now had to be at a high school every morning by seven. This meant that I was now going to bed at about nine every night. At first my roommates (I live in a three bedroom apartment with two other girls in the MBA program) would make fun of me but as the semester went on it seemed that they were in bed as well. We joke that we live in a “Retirement home” because we all seem to fall asleep extremely early. We have become “almost real people” in the fact that we no longer go out with friends during the week, but we definitely take advantage of Friday nights and spend Saturday mornings sleeping in.

The way the MAT program works for fifth year secondary education students is that students start their internships at a designated middle or high school in the fall. I started my internship at a high school in Wallingford. The entire night before my first day I was so nervous I could barely sleep. What should I wear? What if I mess up? What if I don’t know what I’m doing? All of these fears were completely cleared up when I entered the building and was greeted by the Principal and numerous faculty members. Everyone was very supportive and more then ready to help me out or give me advice. I have now been subbing around the school for about a month and really feel that I belong here. I do get the occasional jokes from the students that I look like a student or the occasional teacher who asks for my hall pass and I can’t help but laugh. I may look young but thanks to my classroom management courses I know how to make my presence known in the classroom. I love the interactions that I get to have with the students on a day-to-day basis and really feel that my experiences at my internship are imperative to my learning experience as a teacher. My experiences within the school are only going to enhance once I begin student teaching my own classroom in the winter. I am looking forward to it a lot! I recommend this program to anyone who is interested. Please stay posted for my next update!

-Arielle Fischer, M.A.T. 2012