Regent University has an extensive Student Teaching Program that has a number of

objectives Teacher Candidates must meet. They include:

Identifying and effectively implement research based best teaching practices.

During my own time during student teaching, my job included teaching the students the

SOL content needed to be successful, but also finding different ways to make learning engaging

in the classroom. An engaging lesson is a lesson the students will remember.

Exhibit moral and ethical behavior in student, parent, and stakeholder instruction.

Teachers are called to show and model different character traits for students in the

classroom. From patience to respect, students are constantly learning not just from their

instruction, but also from their surroundings. During student teaching, whether I was meeting

with parents in parent-teacher conferences or helping students during small group, I constantly

made sure that the respect I showed the students in the classroom was the same level of respect I

expected to get in return.

Be knowledgeable of and appropriately apply adolescent growth and development theory

and concepts.

Today’s students are tomorrows future. What they see, hear, feel, and learn in the

classroom they will continue to take with them throughout their journey of life. Throughout my

student teacher journey, not only was I teaching students the content that they needed to be

successful, I also engaging with them with conversations that we would have in the morning or

creating review games for students. Students want to know that the classroom can be a safe space

for them while they are at school.

Demonstrate effective use of oral and written communication.

 During Student Teaching, I was asked to develop a set number of lesson plans and then

reflect on them. Another component that I did during student teaching was communicate with

parents through parent-teacher meetings, after which I would send emails to them explaining

everything that was spoken about during the meeting.

Demonstrate effective use of classroom management techniques to foster effective learning

environments.

During student teaching I struggled to find what method of classroom management

worked best for me as a teacher. One method that I found worked was using a countdown to

transition the students from one activity to another. I called it a “silent five.” I would call out a

silent five, in which the students would then countdown to one. By the time they go to one, the

students understood that I was talking, and they were silently listening.

Integrate student-centered technology into their teachings.

Technology has become a huge part in today’s society. During the pandemic, there was a

huge uptake in teaching with technology and it continues into teaching today. When creating

lessons, I would create lessons that students could explore independently on their own using their

Chromebooks. One example of technology being used in the classroom involved students

listening to a book being read aloud and then, using their Chromebooks, writing what theme was

of the story on a Google slide that was created.

Identify learning areas of need for students and adjust instruction to meet the needs of

students.

During student teaching, there was a variety of different students that I taught. One

student I taught was a specific ELL learner, who had to have information read aloud to them.

During a small group lesson, I would have the student read to me, to listen to their reading
fluency, and when we would work on the worksheet, I would read the question aloud to them

along with the answers and they would circle the answer they felt best fit the question.

Apply knowledge of scientific and mathematical concepts taught in the elementary grades

to positively impact student academic growth.

A teacher understands the concepts that students need to succeed and, using data

collected from the students, formulates lessons to show students growth from the beginning of a

lesson or unit to an end of a lesson or unit.

During student teaching, one task that was assigned involved using data to showcase

students’ academic growth from the start of a unit, in this case it was an introduction unit to

geometry, to the end of the unit. Data was collected from giving a pre- and post-assessment and

the, using the data, lessons were differentiated based off of the students’ learning needs. By

differentiating instruction and using mathematical concepts in the lessons taught, it allowed for

students’ to positively grow from where the students’ started at the beginning of the unit to the

end if the unit.

Be familiar with and utilize Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) instructional

resources. Demonstrate competency on national assessments (PRAXIS I/II) and Virginia

teacher licensure assessments (RVE/VCLA).

Before starting student teaching, one requirement is to have all of the Elementary

Educational national assessments completed, but to also know where the SOL learning standards

are, and the different resources provided.

As seen with the lesson plans from previous assignments, I had used the SOL standards

for third grade to structure my lessons and then from there I would create a tiered assignment

based on the learning needs of the student.

 Student teaching has been a huge example of what growth and confidence can do to a

incoming novice teacher. When I started student teaching, I was completely unsure of myself and

doubted my own abilities with teaching. I would compare myself to others and then those

comparisons would plant seeds of doubt in my mind when I would start to teach.

When I started student teaching, I would cave in on myself. My confidence was not as

high as it was, and currently is, at the end of my student teaching journey. I did not have a strong

teacher voice. I was not as authoritative in the classroom with the students, and I looked to others

for guidance. With my confidence being low at the start of student teaching, I would doubt

whether the students would listen to me even if I was teaching a lesson.

However, as I got more comfortable in the classroom and with teaching in general, my

confidence has grown. I went from caving in on myself and shrinking when I was speaking in

front of others and students to completely taking charge when teaching a lesson.

Towards the end of my student teaching journey, I had gained a lot of confidence inside

the classroom teaching students and even in my own communication with parents. I had set up

parent-teacher conferences with parents which also helped with my own confidence with

speaking.

Student teaching has been an amazing experience. I have learned a lot from my

cooperating teachers in the classroom and how to not only be an authoritative teacher, but I have

learned, as a professional, when expectations are set in the classroom students will rise and meet

those expectations.

In conclusion, student teaching has grown me as a person and as a professional in the

way that I act, speak, and communicate with those inside the classroom and outside the

classroom.