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Bailey Swindle

Dr. Ellis

EDUC 2301.200

May 5, 2019

Reflection Paper

This semester I observed a third-grade class at Aikin Elementary School, in Paris, Texas.

My mentor teacher was Mrs. Carie Vines, whom informed me, has been teaching for over 30

years. Upon my first day, my mentor teacher told me that many students in her class had

dyslexia, and some minor learning disabilities, which was fitting for me as I had requested a

class as such.

My first impression(s) of this teacher and her class were not good ones at all. I saw a lot

of negative interactions between the teacher and students, but one that will always stick with me

is when she labeled the students receiving accommodations in front of the whole class. There

were many more remarks just like this one the rest of the time I was observing, and it was very

disheartening. Although I had such a negative first few days, I stuck with it and kept showing up.

Occasionally I would sit with students and read to them when they were most likely feeling

neglected or left out, and I was also allowed to help administer spelling tests to those who needed

to be read to.

My mentor teacher was very big one stations, so nearly every day they would have a

rotation of stations, where there was an equal amount of each learning style. Some stations

allowed for them to be very creative with markers and pens, while others appealed to their sense

of hearing while they listened to audiobooks. It was nice to see them experience a bit of

independence at such a young age. The children loved it, and it also gave the teacher time to
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work one-on-one with some of her students each day. I loved watching the class do stations

every day, because they knew what was expected of them, and they did it well for the most part.

During this, I concluded that my mentor teacher most likely had an essentialism teaching

philosophy because of her focus on the core subjects and learning. The stations allowed for a

teacher centered classroom, but the students were very independent in the work they were doing.

For these reasons, I would love to implement stations in my future classroom.

Even though I was definitely not a fan of my mentor teacher, I will say that it made me

want to become a teacher even more than I thought possible. I experienced first-hand the flaws

of inclusion, and it has inspired me to be a more inclusive person and teacher. Seeing and

witnessing some of the negative things I did only made me more passionate, and for that I am

thankful.