What to prioritize?

Being a STEM teacher- the why

It's hard to know what to prioritize as an educator. When I first started in the CU Denver Masters of Teaching program, I was thinking about all of my experiences teaching kids outdoors skills and believing that I experiential learning is the best way for students to learn. When I started my first internship, I was placed with a teacher that did not do a lot of labs or activities. As I continued through this internship, I began to appreciate her skills and knowledge more and more. We simply had different priorities.

While the worksheets were not the most engaging for students compared to a lab or activity, they were a conscious decision to prioritize the needs of students who might be quarantined at home with Covid or those who are still learning English and need online resources that would be more easily accessible for translation.

My priorities have also shifted. Now that I am placed with a different mentor teacher who utilizes activities much more, I have found that I actually have more moderate thoughts on activities than I originally thought. Throughout my journey in becoming a teacher, I have also been challenging myself to learn another language. I have come into a new appreciation for students who are learning a new language as well as new school content simultaneously.

Throughout my journey in the Teacher Education program, I guess I have learned to appreciate the different ways that teachers and students learn and grow together and experience education.