Now that I am student teaching I understand the full importance of it in a future educators learning process. While college is used to prepare you for your future career, classroom learning alone is not enough. Since I began student teaching in January I have learned so many things that I never got from my classes at Cortland. Many of the things that I learned in the schools can not be taught in a classroom setting. They are the things that are learned from experience in a teaching setting.

Cortland certainly prepared me with the knowledge to teach physical education. However, many people have immense amounts of knowledge but could never convey that knowledge in an effective way for others to learn. I believe that much of teaching comes with experience. For example, at Cortland we were taught the various teaching styles. Not every style of teaching will work for every teacher. Through experience you find what works for you and what ways work for your students.

One of the major things that I did not learn from college classes is classroom management. The importance of classroom management was stressed. However, I never had the opportunity to see the importance or practice different tactics. Through student teaching I have seen the effectiveness of smooth transitions. It does not matter how great you lesson may be. If it does not flow smoothly from one activity to another, it loses it's effectiveness.

Equipment set up and take down is another lesson that I learned through student teaching, not in college courses. Although equipment was used to teach lessons at Cortland, a lot of it was already set up and available. If it was not set up already, it was minimal equipment that needed to be prepared. Allowing for time to set up equipment before and in between classes was never an issue at Cortland. Setting up equipment in a productive and safe way is important to the overall class. There are things that I realized through actual experience in doing it.

I was required to do quite a bit of peer teaching while I was at Cortland. I do believe that it was beneficial. It gave me the opportunity to stand in front of others and teach. However, I was not confronted with many issues that I am now. Issues such as: discipline, students asking to go to the bathroom or the nurse, being prepared for class, and willingness to participate. During peer teaching we were all more than willing to participate and on our best behavior. We did not have the small issues to deal with. Student teaching has definitely taught me many different strategies to avoid and deal with the issues regardless of how big or small they may be.

Adaptability has become a very important trait for me in teaching. Being able to adapt to the situation and change things when they may not be working the way you planned has been important. I have seen that no matter how well prepared you are something can go differently than you had planned. Being able to change and work through it is necessary.

Although I felt very well prepared going into student teaching, I would have liked to have more previous experience in a school setting. I think that the more experience that you have as a teacher, the better. It gives you an opportunity to see what works and try different things. I have learned so much through my student teaching experience. I am looking forward to entering the teaching profession.