Final Reflection of Scoil Bride

It is hard to believe that I am here back at Boston College for my senior year! My spring semester spent in Galway, Ireland was one of the most rewarding experiences I have had thus far in my life and student teaching only enhanced that experience. It was very interesting to see the differences in the American classrooms and the Irish classrooms based on the way the students acted in the classroom, the number of students and even the style of teaching. At the beginning of my teaching experience, I was eager to stick to what I already knew as far as classroom management, but I saw that the students were completely different. I had mentioned that in a past blog posts, but I am curious to again be in an American classroom again. During my P3, my goal is to work on my classroom management and I think that an Irish approach to classroom management could potentially work well. I am also interested to see how I go back into the requirements that BC practicums require like the weekly journals and the strict requirements for lessons.

This summer I was a full time nanny and tutor for a family of two and the kids were aged 7 and 10. Though I had spent the past two years babysitting for the family, I had never been a tutor for the family. It was a very different way to interact with the kids and I found myself noticing the academic differences to my Irish students. They were much more likely to find blame other factors instead of themselves for not completing work I had asked them to do or for not understanding a concept. In general, they were more likely to give up instead of just asking for help from me when I was right there. I hope that I can spur my new students to be like my Irish students and take responsibility for their actions in the classroom so that they can further their own education as I scaffold on the side.

As I go into my third practicum and then my full practicum, I am eager to merge my two new ideals of teaching into one new brand! I am definitely going to miss my lunch breaks with Ms. O’Donnell where we would eat biscuits and tea… I might have to bring that into my full practicum classroom.