Nicole's Social Studies Adventure

And that's it everyone! I can't believe this is it, and next semester I'll be student teaching. I've never felt so prepared for this next stage of my life and I have this class and all the other ed courses at Mount Saint Mary College to thank for that. There have been a lot of ups and downs to get me to this moment and I'm so happy and proud of myself for making it this far. I've made so many new friends from these courses, friends that'll last me a lifetime. I'm so lucky to be in the education program at the same time as all these amazing hard working peers. They push me to work harder everyday, and truthfully I don't know if I could've survived without them. My peers along with my amazing professors are making me into a wonderful and confident teacher and I'm so blessed to be where I am right now.

This was my final time doing edTPA before student teaching and it was still just as stressful as ever. As my second time doing it though it was a lot easier than last time. Last time I felt like I was lost in a foreign city without a map, and I was making wrong turns every two minutes. This time however wasn't as scary. I felt more prepared, and I was able to use my work from last semester as a reference. As I finished up my last piece on work I was kind of shocked. I was shocked because I remembered that the next time I'll be filling out edTPA it will be for student teaching. I'm getting closer and closer to my goal and I'm so lucky that I'm able to practice this. My friends in different education programs never do anything close to this. When I mention edTPA they get so stressed and try to change the subject. I remember that's how I used to react when I heard edtpa, but now I feel so much more confident! 

Finishing my Efolio was one of the most satisfying things I've ever done. One thing I've learned about making efolios is that it's not that hard. I will 100% be making a website for my future classroom. Finishing up this efolio truly reminded me how much work we did this semester in this class. It was a lot of hard work and I'm so glad that it's finally over and summer can begin! I'm going to use efolios to keep to post assignment for my students, and post updates about the classroom. There will also be schedules on line each month so the parents can stay updated on important dates and times for that month. I'm glad I was given this opportunity to learn how to use these tools for my future classroom. 

This interview experience was nerve wracking to say the least. My group started off with a pretty difficult warm up question. "What theme song would you say describes your life?" I said the friends theme song because you always need someone there for you especially through the rough times. I really enjoyed when I was asked "Why do you want to be a teacher?" It really brought a smile to my face to remember why I'm going through the stress of the interview. I want to become a special education teacher so I can help students, like my brother, with disabilities.  My brother has Down syndrome and school has never been easy for him, but these past few year after switching to a different district I've noticed him flourishing as a student. I want to be apart of school districts like this, that really help all the students. It was really nice to hear that question. I was happy to hear that I had been given a position at one of the schools. It made me realize that I r...