Practicum

Something that I've noticed throughout my time at my secondary methods practicum is the rapport that my cooperating teacher has with her students. They relate to her, and respect her so much because she makes a point of remembering things about them. She asks them how the play is going, if they are a member, and about how their game the night before went. She remembers about their families and genuinely cares if someone they care about is not feeling well or doing well. She gets on their level and tries to make everyone feel like what they have produced is valued. Another thing that I think enables the relationship she has with her students is the honesty that she has with her students. I don't think that her students ever question or wonder where their grades are coming from or what she is thinking and I know she feels that in return her students are honest with her if they don't understand the assignment. Because of this honesty I think her students trust her a lot. I think that she has a relationship with her students where they know she has expectations for them behaviorally and art wise that create an environment in which the classroom is peacefully going to go about a routine and my cooperating teacher could leave for half an hour and come back (not that she has done this but she could) and her students would not have gotten out of hand and they would have stayed on task to get work done. This is something I found so unique about her class that was inspiring.