Looking Back: A Reflection on Student Teaching

 At the beginning of student teaching, we were asked to define our “theoretical north star.” Mine was "Relationality." At the time, I wasn’t entirely sure if "Relationality" was an established theoretical term or something I had perhaps 'hallucinated' amidst the hundreds of pages of academic literature we'd read. Either way, for me, it signified a commitment to focusing on cultivating connection throughout my student teaching experience.

The mantra "connection before content," frequently emphasized by my parents (a theme in many of my previous reflections), continues to resonate deeply with me.

My role as a classroom assistant, starting in October felt like a natural extension of an established professional pattern: prioritizing early relationship-building. This was a key point highlighted in my Cooperating Teacher's letter of recommendation, so it wasn't new territory. The more specific, or perhaps more focused, goal for this student teaching period was to cultivate a classroom environment that actively encouraged and generated connection between students. To achieve this, I implemented several strategies.

Firstly, drawing from our discussions on dialogic pedagogy in Justin's spring course, I intentionally designed opportunities for students to engage with one another: to talk, move, speak, and draw upon their personal experiences. Early in the year, I used foundational activities like "This or That" to help students connect with and share their personal experiences. Later, we explored "textual lineages," where students brainstormed and discussed their favorite books, movies, and TV shows. While these activities might not seem groundbreaking, they served to reinforce the value of student voice and experience, and notably, they sparked numerous student-to-student conversations.

Another deliberate choice was implementing an assigned seating chart, strategically placing students with peers they were less familiar with. This decision wasn't always met with enthusiasm; I frequently fielded requests to "change seats." The rationale, particularly relevant as we were reading The Outsiders, was to mirror the protagonist's journey of recognizing the humanity and complexity in those around him—both Greasers (his own group) and Socs (the rival group). My hope was that this arrangement would, even in a small way, foster bonds between students from different social circles or those who might not typically interact. The results were mixed: some groups became quite talkative, while others, like middle schoolers, remained stubbornly silent, hesitant to engage with unfamiliar classmates. I balanced this structured seating by allowing free seating and independent work time towards the end of most classes, during which organic conversations often resumed.

Towards the end of the term, I administered a feedback survey. I was particularly pleased to see that virtually everyone agreed with the statement, "Mr. T cares about my learning and well-being." A significant majority (35 out of 60 students) selected "strongly agree," making it the most overwhelmingly endorsed statement. For me, this is a clear indicator that my primary goal—to build strong relationships with my students—was successfully met.

Furthermore, a majority of students reported feeling more confident in their writing by the quarter's end, which I view as a significant achievement. It was a writing-intensive class; I provided ample opportunities for writing, including free-writing sessions approximately three times a week. All three summative assessments were writing-based, and I was genuinely impressed by the growth I observed in their work throughout the quarter.

Overall, I am really grateful that I was granted the experience. But, the work doesn’t stop—this is just the beginning.