Time To Park!

This semester has truly been a roller coaster for me. Things did not go as planned in regards to partner work or lesson planning. This semester has taught me that, this is completely ok. In the classroom, lessons are not going to go as planned. People are not going to show up or do what you'd like for them to do when you'd like for them to do it. Students may not learn the lesson you intended for them to learn as quickly as you want them to, or they may learn it to quick and you have no back up plan. Your principal may not like or agree with the lesson you present when they observe you or your students may absolutely hate the lesson you thought was going to be such fun. Being an educator you have to be prepared for any and everything. In this class I learned different types of assessments, I relearned economics which is a topic I have forget completely about! I learned how to work on the required tasks in for edTPA. I learned how to design AND implement a unit plan. I learned things about the Hudson Valley that I never knew before even though I lived her 24 years. I learned that participating in inquiry lessons such as the artifact bag project can still be tons of fun even when your a graduate student. I learned that watching your classmates use an interactive website in their lesson is just as much fun to you as it is to the students it is intended for. I can say the 3 lesson plans front words and backwards. I was able to revisit the 5E's which I was sure I saw the last of in Math methods. I was able to discover new websites to use with my students in the future. I even tried Russian cuisine, and get this CAVIAR. From the moment I stepped in the class, I knew I was in for surprises, stress, and challenge. I learned that pacing is everything and deadlines mean something. I learned that you may get the terrible end of the stick but there are ways to get to the other end of it. Through out this semester I did not realize how much I was learning. And that is where my blog title comes from. I am a teacher that is still learning. You are never to old or to smart to learn....the smartest person in the world is the person who realizes they may know just about everything but there is still so much to learn and experience. I want to thank all of my classmates and Dr. Smirnova for this very educational journey I have taken with you all! It is one I will never forget!