Student Teaching at Claremont Prep

I moved to NYC with several classes to wrap up- all online- and 4 months of student teaching to complete. It was a tough decision back in August to quit my job with the DeMares and find something part time that would allow for me to complete these classes and student teach in January. When I found the perfect job and then some amazing part time gigs for the fall it all just seemed too great. I had the opportunity to work at Claremont Preparatory School- which is where Marcus and Luca had gone to school my two previous years with them. It was an enormous blessing to work with teachers and faculty that I already had a relationship with from being a nanny. Most people thought I had been the mom all of that time so that was even funnier when I showed up to teach. I started substituting there first and saw how much I missed teaching. I was very lucky to be placed with a 4th grade teacher- Mr. Tim- who taught with the most passion and joy I have ever seen. He is a DJ and writes and plays music prior to getting his teaching degree and incorporates music in his class daily. I felt a little out of place because on Free Dance Fridays- I couldn't do the robot or hold a rhythm during morning drum circle. But I taught a unit on the constitution and freedom documents that brought out my passion and love for history and teaching. We also visited the African Burial Sites in Tribeca and learned of slavery in New York and the hostile conditions that they endured. Seeing this type of teaching with passion is something that I needed to see first hand.

Next, I moved to 2nd grade to work with Ms. Shore. I was blown away at the amount of preparation and work that goes into teaching children this young and with so many different needs. She has an extremely challenging class because they were on such a wide spectrum. I was able to really focus on my abilities to adapt to their specific needs, but also have several adaptations for different groups of students. It was a lot more work, but excellent experiences. I walked across the Brooklyn Bridge with this class as we wrapped up our unit on Bridges.

It was a great experience and I'm so excited to GRADUATE NOW!!