1. Sarah Carey
November 20, 2013
CI 442 Reflection
I have learned so much through this class that I know will help me and be a huge
benefit when I become a teacher. I feel like this is one class that really does teach the
things that teachers need to know about and will actually use when they start teaching.
I love that this class wasn't all about writing lesson plans that we will never use, taking
tests on information that we will only memorize for a short period of time, or working
on busy work that makes it seem like we've actually done something. This class was
about real life situations and things that will really happen to us when we're out in
the real world teaching.
I learned about so many theories and management techniques that I definitely
plan on using in my own classroom someday. One of my favorites and the one that I
think will be most helpful is when a child might be misbehaving or causing trouble, just
go stand beside them, maybe give them a little pat on their shoulder. I've already tried
this during my reading block and it's so funny how such a simple action has such an
impact on these students and really helps manage their behavior.
I was a nervous wreck about the presentations and I told my partners from the
very beginning that I knew I was going to get picked. I did get picked, and while at the
time, I hated being the one chosen, now I'm really glad I was. I learned so much during
the presentations that day and it was all stuff that you can't get from taking a test or
writing a lesson plan. I learned how to deal with a child who might be getting sexually
abused at home, how to manage a child who causes problems in class, how to
handle a situation where a child might not speak English, how to work with a child

2. who might have a certain disability, what to do in a situation where a child may bring
a weapon to school, and how to handle a situation where a child isn't getting the basic
things they need at home, like food. These are all situations that teachers face every
day and it's all things that we are going to need to know how to deal with. After this
class I feel much more confident in my ability to handle situations like this and I'm
very grateful for the opportunity to have learned it in such a great and educational
way.