Reflections from Rebekah: A CS Student Teacher

Ready for Change?

You would think that I would be full of energy post-Thanksgiving break. You would also think that I would be fired up and excited to tackle my last two and a half weeks of student teaching! (Oh my goodness, how has time gone by this fast?) Unfortunately, both of those statements above are the opposite of how I’m feeling. While I am someone who loves breaks and loves my students, I DESPISE change, with the end of my semester rapidly approaching, I can only think of how much I am going to miss Chicago.

While I’m all full of love and good food from Thanksgiving, I am lacking in the energy department. The weather is slowly changing, and although I love the winter I definitely do not love the times where I wear my coat all day during school! I feel exhausted and ready for more of a break – I definitely do not know how I am going to survive my last week of full-time teaching! One thing I do know, though, is that my students will give me the energy that I so desperately need. There have been many times over this semester where my career choice has definitely been confirmed. On my bad days, hard days, and less-than-great days, my students have always cheered me up. I gain so much energy from them, and I definitely know I’ve chosen the right profession. So, although I’ve been in an exhausted turkey coma, I’m excited to go back to school to be with my students again.

Personal Narratives written by Rebekah’s students

Over the next two and a half weeks I will slowly be fading out of my classroom. We have a field trip we are going on this week, and I will also have my last observation! While my mentor teacher slowly takes back over (and I slowly give up my responsibility), I know that I will be a mess! I love teaching and I love my learners. But, all good things have their time! While I’m not ready to leave Cleveland Elementary, I am grateful that it is so hard for me to leave. I am grateful that I have grown to deeply love serving my students, school, and mentor teacher.

As I mentioned in my previous posts, I live “off-campus.” One exciting thing about this situation is that my house really feels like a home away from home during the holidays. We are slowly decorating for Christmas and I can’t tell you how exciting it is! The neighborhood I live in is full of older houses, and they look amazing decked out in holiday lights. Hopefully, in my last few weeks of student teaching, I will be able to make it downtown to see iconic sights like the Christkindlmarket. Until then, you can have a little peek into the Christmas decorations we’ve started to unpack!

Christmas Decorations

INSIDE SCOOP: The next blog will be my LAST blog post! I will have some fun pictures to show you, a reflection on my time at Cleveland Elementary/Chicago Semester program, and I’ll have news back about my edTPA results! If you have anything you’d like me to address/write about in my next blog, please feel free to reach out to me with our questions! I’m open, eager, and willing to hear from you!