Senior Capstone Experience!

My 2014-2015 Senior Capstone experience is one that I will never forget. I decided to join the Career Mentorship 1 program at the Innovative Learning Center with Mrs. Gongwer, who is an absolutely amazing human being! It began the start of the second semester at Darby with my first time going to my mentorship site on January 20th. I have always had a love for working with children and even played ‘teacher’ with all of my stuffed animals when I was little. So, I knew I wanted to mentor at an elementary school, specifically J.W. Reason Elementary School. This school is the place where my education started and was a significant part of my childhood, it was meant to be. What was even better was that my first grade teacher still worked there and was completely enthusiastic about me joining her classroom! I would have never thought that my senior year is ending in my first grade classroom where it all began.

Unfortunately, although my car broke down at the start of the semester, I did not let this stop me from doing something I knew I would love. What did I do? I took the bus from Darby to the ILC and walked to J.W. from there. It was annoying when it was icy, but it was all worth it to step inside Mrs. Zawisza’s first grade classroom and see the joyful faces of all of my students as they greeted me.

My mentorship is still ongoing and will sadly end sometime in May but I have already learned and experienced so much! I have learned how be behave in a professional environment where others depend on me for leadership. I’ve observed classroom management skills from Mrs. Zawisza. I’ve gotten to work effectively with a group of students and keep them on task. I’ve learned to be flexible and quick on my toes (now I know why teachers must have eyes on the back of their heads)! I’ve learned better communication skills with my students and other teachers at J.W. Then, I’ve really gotten to see how Mrs. Zawisza motivates and inspires her to students to learn, be responsible, and persevere! It is incredible to watch and makes me want to help kids want to learn as well! Additionally, Mrs. Gongwer has also created such an excellent class teaching us about teacher ethics, rapport, lesson plans, interview skills, as well as creating a resume which we are working on now. These are all skills I can use in the future and I am excited to put them to use!

This whole experience has changed me and made me feel like such a better person. These kids watch everything I do and it is so important for me to be the greatest role model I can be for them! Mentally, this is such a big time in their lives where they are little sponges soaking up everything they see and learn. I’ve got to be the clean water they soak up, not the dirty dish water. So, I’ve found myself managing all of my actions and making sure it’s the kind of behavior I would want my students to exhibit.

Furthermore, for this experience I have documented everything on this website, with many blogs, pictures, a time log recording all my hours (which will eventually add to 50 hours or more), and other tabs with interesting features. Already by reading back through my old blogs I have seen the personal growth I’ve made and the evolution of my voice as a blogger. I love that I will always be able to come back to this blog to reminisce on an enjoyable experience in my life. However, with this blog I really hope to inspire others when they read it. Whether it be for other students that want to go into education or students who want to try Career Mentorship, I want them to learn from my experience and encourage them to do something similar. I think it could even inspire teachers and show them a different perspective of education from my point of view as a student and encourage them to give other students this great opportunity.

Obviously this has been a very meaningful experience for me and I would never want to do it differently. Will I go to college for early childhood education? Maybe, I love my first grade students and helping them become geniuses, but I am still young and this world has many opportunities for me.

Although my Capstone may now be finished, my experience is still continuing and I am excited and curious about what more I will be able to learn and do! Oh yeah and I'm driving now so no more walking!