Christine Spellman

ELED 3226
Language Arts Portfolio
Overall Clinical Experience Reflection
My IMB experience was in a fifth grade classroom at John M. Morehead STEM
Academy. My clinical teacher had taught kindergarten for seven years and was working with
fifth graders for the first time this year. This was also my first experience in a fifth grade
classroom as well as at a STEM school. Before college I attended private catholic schools
therefore my experience with public school systems is limited, especially STEM schools. I have
always wanted to teach Kindergarten but after my experience last year, in a first grade Title I
classroom, I found that I might even want to teach first grade. At this point in time I still believed
that I only wanted to teach children in K-3. However after my experience at Morehead STEM
the fifth grade class won me over.
In the related assignments to this reflection, my favorite assignment was assessing the
classroom management. I always thought I liked being in control, having routines, and
responsibilities. These qualities are what made me want to teach younger grades. After being
with the fifth graders, I noticed they have their own routines, responsibilities, and control of parts
of the classroom. I realized that as a teacher in a fifth grade classroom your attention could be
much more spread out as opposed to in a kindergarten classroom. With regards to routines, if
something came up and the schedule needed to be changed, the older students seem to be much
more comfortable with a change in schedule than younger students would be. Another important
aspect of the classroom that made me appreciate fifth grade was communication. When you
would ask students to do something, I felt there were less questions and more focus on the task at

hand. I felt like it was much easier to connect and communicate with more mature students. With
these children you could have a serious conversation about behavior as opposed to a behavioral
clip chart that you may find in a younger classroom.
Overall my experience at Morehead STEM really changed my perception of teaching a
classroom of older students. I used to believe that I only wanted to teach Kindergarten however
after my IMB experience I think I could find myself happy in any aged classroom. I have learned
that I am not prepared to start teaching today but with this experience I know that I want to be a
teacher and look forward to my Year-Long Internship.