As my student-teaching year evolved, so too did the responsibilities I undertook in the classroom.  At the beginning of the year, during my first days in the position, my main tasks included the creation of our daily mid-day meeting, which had been changed from morning meetings due to the weekly schedule of specials and support staff availability.  I would assist Ann as she led the class through all of the content areas by stopping to call on students, asking further questions, and maintaining order throughout the day.  I worked one-on-one with students who were struggling with their mandated ELA and mathematics online programs, Lexia Core 5 and ST Math.  As I started to plan my first lessons, I gradually took on more responsibility.

One of the first ways in which my responsibilities increased was when I started to take my math group.  My math group consisted of 12 of the highest performing students across all fourth grade classes in the school.  I worked with them at an advanced pace every day of the week; I was in charge of assigning and checking homework, developing the lesson plan each day, and executing the lesson in a separate Google Meet for the students in my group.  This small group time was so important not only because it allowed students to learn and study math with a smaller teacher-to-student ratio, but because it allowed me to develop closer relationships with these students, several of whom were in my class for the remainder of the day.  Some of my fondest memories of this school year are of time spent with my math group and the successes we had together at learning new concepts.  By the time a few months passed, not only were my students excited to join the group and start their math class each morning, but their little siblings often sat next to them to get in on the fun!  I take real pride in making mathematics an enjoyable subject for my students through the use of learning games and collaborative activities.

In addition to my math group, I also developed units in math, ELA, science, and social studies which were taught to my entire class of 26 students.  My math unit took place at the beginning of the year, and focused on reviewing addition and subtraction skills.  My ELA unit revolved around several Jane Yolen picture books, which were used to facilitate discussions about several types of figurative language, including assonance, consonance, personification, and metaphor.  In science, I led a unit of discovery about energy and energy transfer that included at-home science experiments and an extensive investigation of how we get the energy we use in our homes and to power our devices, with a focus on renewable and nonrenewable resources.  I also planned a social studies unit on the regions of the United States that included a research component; students worked in groups to discover information about their assigned region and then presented what they learned to the class.

This gradual increase of responsibility culminated in a two week take-over of my classroom.  During these two weeks, I was responsible for all lesson planning, assessment, grading, communication, and other tasks inherent in the teaching profession.  This was a valuable experience as it truly allowed me to understand the rhythms of the teaching day, and how to manage my time when I am responsible for every lesson, every day of the week.  I also felt ownership of my classroom in a way I hadn’t before, and even noticed a shift in the way the kids interacted with me; though I have never felt a lack of respect from my students, it was meaningful to me to see how willingly they accepted me as the foremost leader of the class.  Through this experience, it was evident to my students and to myself that I am a fully capable teacher.

Shortly after my take-over, for the final weeks of my practicum, Jacob Hiatt and the rest of the Worcester Public Schools transitioned from fully remote to a hybrid model of education.  This meant that us teachers were back in the classroom!  Though a return to the school was a significant event, and the experience of finally meeting some of my students in person was very exciting for me, overall, many aspects of the school day stayed the same.  Since more than half the class was still learning from home, we still used the same schedule, learning platforms, and strategies as we had when we were fully remote.  Overall, the largest impact that the transition to hybrid had on me was the opportunity to get to know my students better, play with them at recess, and have more casual interactions that increased our rapport.