Over the course of one practicum year, I witnessed immense growth in my students, both as a collective and as individuals.  As a class, we reinvented the classroom community together, asked questions, observed, researched, wrote, and shared our thoughts.  We supported each other and encouraged each other to do our best.  We developed understandings of division, fractions, and other math concepts, played with figurative language, and made discoveries about the world around us in both science and social studies.  As individuals, I watched my students grow in self-confidence, perseverance, and content understanding.  As an educator, three goals I had for my students coming into this year were to encourage critical thinking in classroom discussions and in written work, to develop creative skills unique to each student, their tastes, and their senses of humor, and to help students learn to use their voices to share their thoughts and help make lasting change.  Success with these goals was indicated through classwork, discussions, and assessments, and I am proud of the progress that my students have made towards these goals in the span of a few short months.