Perspective from a Future Teacher: Reflection on the fall 2020 school year

Before the fall 2020 semester started, I had many expectations for how my first semester of college as an education major would go. I pictured going into elementary classrooms to observe teaching and to have all in-person classes. Well, none of that happened. I started this semester feeling a lack of confidence in what I would learn, considering I was going into a form of college that I never expected. This semester has taught me many tools for becoming a successful future teacher.

First, outside of my classes, I was allowed to attend about six educational webinars. Some of these webinars included promoting inclusivity in the classroom, learning a rough draft math technique, and even learning different technological learning tools from our own, Samantha Fecich! I am genuinely grateful to everyone who took the time to organize the webinars. They have allowed me to build on my skills as a future teacher, and I have gained more confidence as I pursue my teaching career. These webinars also opened my mind to what education is all about. Education goes beyond the core subjects and helps shape students into confident, kind, progressive, and considerate learners.

Second, I have learned so much from my education classes this semester. I took Fundamentals of Math, a course that strengthened my mathematical skills and taught me specific ways to teach mathematics to my future students. I learned to give my future students a strong understanding of mathematical concepts by creating an environment that challenges them to create their problem-solving strategies, allows them to learn the concepts gradually, and encourages them to ask as many questions as needed to understand them. This will lead to my future students having a deeper understanding of the concepts and more confidence as they move on in their math journey. I also took Art Integration this semester which taught me how to integrate art into my future classroom. At the beginning of the semester, I was very skeptical about integrating art into my future classroom, but now I have learned the benefits that it can indeed have on my future students. Integrating art will allow my future students to become strong problem solvers, learn perspective, make mistakes, and much more!

All my other classes this semester were general requirements, but I could still learn strategies for my future teaching career. For example, in my speech class, I learned how to make my future classroom comfortable when presentations are given. I will encourage my students to visualize success when they are nervous about presenting. Overall, I am much more confident than at the beginning of the semester and am proud of all I have gained. I will have field experience online in the spring, but I know I will still learn much with all the success from my fall 2020 semester!

Meet Abby

My name is Abigail Azizkhan, and I am working towards a dual major in Early Childhood and Special Education at Millersville University! I have also gained experience with children by working at a developmental daycare!

I love my job, which makes me more excited about my future teaching career! Lastly, I love soda, swimming, music, and hanging out with friends!