About myself:
1. Kindergarten is HARD, but it is so rewarding. These beautiful children were so eager to please and so helpful and kind. They made me laugh and the touched my heart.
2. Learning how to teach Kindergarten has made me a better HS teacher. I think it really breaks you down to the basics of being a good teacher: classroom management, individualization of lesson plans, and holding student attention. I find that I'm much more patient with my HS students and much more critical of my addition to the chaos within my classroom
3. I did it. I felt so proud of myself when my GVSU professor complimented me on my last evaluation. She was floored at my newly found skills and amazed at the progress I had made from the first evaluation. She asked for my portfolio as an example to show and eluded to the fact that she didn't think very many HS teachers could cut it in Kindergarten, but I could.
About Spanish:
1. Hearing the language spoken daily by younger children tuned my ear to detailed specifics and extended my vocabulary.
2. I was able to experience living, breathing Mexican-American culture minutes from my front door. I learned so much about the family unit and how to help parents become more involved in their children's education.
About teaching:
1. Spending a summer teaching is exhausting, but teaching students who really needed and deserved my time was so refreshing. I felt physically tired and emotionally spent, but felt my love of teaching be reborn and deepen.
