Lauren Knapton, BSEd ’18, Lynn Hale Elementary, Arlington ISD
Fifth grade
Ever since the beginning of the summer, I’ve missed my students so much and have often wondered what they’re up to! I think that there’s something so special about a teacher’s “first” class of students. For me, I had the opportunity to be with 23 fifth grade students all day long, and just like every teacher, I hope I made an impact on them in some way!
My first year of teaching was a roller coaster of successes and challenges, all of which led to growth in my students and in me. My experiences in the School of Education at Baylor prepared me well for certain major responsibilities of teaching such as lesson planning, data analysis, assessing students, and knowledge of state standards. I am so thankful for this, and it made these areas of teaching easier because I felt prepared.
The part that I didn’t realize I had the most room to grow in was navigating the area of social-emotional learning with my students. To be honest, this is something that I think all first-year teachers struggle with and have to learn by experience over time!
I had several students in my class this year who had difficulties with self-regulating their emotions, as well as defiance of authority. At first, I felt like I was failing at being a teacher because I didn’t know how to handle certain problems that would arise in the classroom regarding student behavior. One word of wisdom that my principal told me several times throughout the school year was, “The students who are the hardest to love are the ones who need it the most.”
This really resonated with me and helped me start to see my students in a different way instead of getting frustrated every time a student misbehaved or didn’t follow directions. I learned to focus on the small successes of each student and was reminded that teaching is all about growth, including social-emotional growth! By the end of the year, I saw a lot of progress in this area.
If you are reading this and are about to go into a classroom by yourself, one piece of advice I can give you is to be flexible! There were a lot of moments throughout the year that I had to be flexible, whether it involved changing a lesson to better fit needs of the students, or even some schedule changes that occurred for our grade level. Being prepared is very important, but having a back-up plan in place is sometimes even more important.
As I’ve reflected on my first year of teaching, the element that I would say makes the biggest difference is really knowing your students. Students have strengths and weaknesses, and teachers have an important role to learn what those are for each of them. At the beginning of the year, I’ll be honest that I was at times too focused on thinking about my lessons and making sure I knew what I was doing, when really the most important thing was to listen to all of my students and just focus on building relationships with them. Giving intentional time to hear and encourage students made all of the difference, and this is when I started to see growth in their learning.
Teachers have an opportunity to truly change the world for the better when we love our students and help them grow. Let’s not forget that!”