Great Stories
Montana Campus Corps:
College Students Meeting Critical Community Needs
The Comfort of Teaching by Shannon Smith

I had a wonderful time this semester teaching middle school choir and high school orchestra. I started my student teaching with the middle school. At first, I was nervous to be in front of the students. However, after a little while, I became more comfortable in front of the class and also more energetic with the students. The reason for this was simply because I had gotten to know them. They became "my kids." It was therefore a bittersweet day when I left the middle school to begin teaching at the high school. My favorite memory of this first half of the semester was when my cooperating teacher announced to the 6th grade choir that today was my last day. The entire choir of about 30 students group hugged me. It made me so happy to know that I had made a difference in their lives.
At the high school, I reverted back to feeling uncomfortable in front of the students. This soon changed, however, as I got to know them. The best part of my experience at the high school was knowing that the students were comfortable with me. After a little while, students were coming up to me to ask a question or to receive help tuning their instruments. It was great to know that they were beginning to respect me as their teacher.


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