RCA Kenzie's Practicum Experience

"Oh boy here we go! Buckle up! " -Kenzie

My story is real and raw and I do not mean to scare anyone away, however my experience was not what I had expected. This field is incredible, I love it now more than ever.

Here is my first semester in full detail.

I am so excited for the next chapter.

A van full of excited and growing educators. Me, Jessi, Tori, Ashley, Catherine, Kaitlyn, and Karol. We would meet on campus EARLY in the morning. 7:30 AM we were loading up the NAU minivan and heading to Leupp. Our days look very different compared to other cohorts. We spend 1 entire day every week at the school (8 hours a week), this happened on Wednesdays for us.

In the van, I was often the aux cord DJ as I drank a Redbull and ate a muffin. Ashley drove. She got paid to do this and she is absolutely the best driver out of all of us. Tori and Jessi would talk about what workout class they were going to next. Karol often took naps on the way to school and Catherine would practice reading her book that she was going to read to her classroom that day. 3 other vans followed us to campus and we would begin our teaching day around 8:30.

We took the time to get where we are. On the first day of our semester, we sat all at different desks. Except for me and Ash, we are best friends from our hometown of Peoria AZ and were sure we sat at the same table. On the first day, our professors went through the entire thing for us. Answered all of our questions, told us to wear blue and closed-toed shoes. We wrote a list of grades we would like to work in. My list was 1st choice: 3rd grade, 2nd choice: 1st grade, 3rd choice: Special Education Preschool. This may look different for other partnerships with other professors, so don't assume this will be how your first day looks. I got an email the next week before we actually went into the classrooms, I wasn't placed in any of my top 3 choices. I was placed in the RTI classroom. RTI stands for the response to intervention. My teacher's name was Mrs. Wysong and I was paired with Tori in my classroom. Due to our large practicum cohort, we had 2 practicum teachers per 1 mentor teacher. I was emotional and upset about not getting my preferred placements, but come to find out this was the best thing that ever happened to me.

Week 2 of school and we were on our way to school, it was quiet and awkward in the van. Everyone was a stranger, I had no clue if my music choices were pleasing everyone and hardly knew their names. My 1st day at Leupp had me emotional, upset and I called everyone I knew and told them I wasn't meant to be a teacher. It was the worst day of my teaching career. I went to work that night and Erika cheered me up. However, it was hard to hear that Erika and Ashley were having wonderful days and loved every second. I kept going though. Took wonderful notes in 402,403 and 330, participated and built a relationship with everyone in the cohort. 7:30 AM, week 3 of school. I woke up excited this Wednesday. My teacher is wonderful and the groups I was working with were great but I was upset that all other teachers were getting to see the same 20-30 kids every day, creating wonderful relationships and my days all looked different. I was still struggling and didn't know what this meant for me.

I stuck with it. My mentor teacher and I had real and honest conversations about my fears and worries. She helped me through this, gave me my own groups to pull throughout the day and had me lesson planning for them, assessing them and tracking their growth on my own. I was connecting with kiddos all day and gaining a wonderful experience. These kids would stop me in the hall on the way to the copier to ask when I would get to do reading and math with them. I felt needed and I was making great progress with my groups. In the end, I came out just fine and with TONS of experience. After really understanding what all my friends were doing throughout their day at school, I realized I was getting great practice and we were all doing different things. When I was lesson planning they were reading one on one with kiddos and asking comprehension questions. We were all at our own pace and doing what our mentor teachers believed was the best. Our 330 class asked that we complete certain things during practicum and I had these done already as it was apart of my everyday lessons. I thrived in the RTI room. I didn't know it was what I needed but I fell back in love with the career field I had chosen because of my first term experience.

Your experience may be better and it may be worse. You may have a great first term and a tougher second term, however, sticking it out can be eye-opening. Get through the semester you are in. Give it your all in class and in practicum. I believe in you.

My next steps:

I am enrolled in my second semester of practicum and it is taking place this summer. The summer accelerated term of 10 weeks is held at the Lowell observatory and allows for a very unique experience of practicum. I am taking the coordinating classes at NAU with my professors Shannon and Marti and I am very excited for this next term and look forward to seeing what insight it brings to my future and my teaching career.