I cannot express how incredible this experience was, and I learned so much about instruction and pedagogy during my time with the Chancellor’s Undergraduate Teaching Fellowship. I believe that nothing parallels experience when it comes to learning about education, and this fellowship provided me with the opportunity to get experience while working with an awesome mentor who helped me every step of the way.

Though I have been a UTA before, this was my first time leading instruction for an extended period of time, and I was definitely nervous. However, my faculty mentor, Dr. Jesse Jack, helped me prepare and was very receptive to any questions I had. As I got comfortable with instruction, however, I realized that I really, really enjoyed leading class, and my favorite part of it was hearing students engage with the material and bring their own thoughts into our discussion. It reinforced, to me, the value of student contributions and made me think a lot about how to engage with students and make classes more interactive going forward as I pursue a higher education degree in teaching. I have always known–even from my own experience as a student–that valuing student voices makes a class flow very well, and this belief has only been solidified after my time in the classroom. Education is–and should be–about the students who are learning, and I really valued the students’ contributions in the class survey administered after the unit, also. This feedback gave me new insights into my practices as an educator, and moving forward, I definitely want to incorporate student feedback surveys into my potential future classrooms.

As I mentioned a bit above, the thing I found the most valuable from the experience was interacting with the students. I cannot applaud their engagement and willingness to contribute enough. They welcomed me into the classroom space and contributed a lot of great insights. I also had the privilege of talking to some of them after class each day, and it was so rewarding to get to know them personally and hear what they thought about each lesson. The classroom space truly felt like a community, and I got so much value out of listening to the students and getting to know them. I have heard educators say that the best part of the job is hearing students connect to the work you do in the classroom, and after this amazing experience, I could not agree more.

Moving forward, I hope to get a Masters of Arts in Teaching here at Pitt. I want to be an English teacher at the middle and high school levels, and I will definitely carry the knowledge I gained with me as I begin this journey. I hope to continue to engage with students and create educational plans that incorporate all voices in the classroom. Inclusive pedagogy is incredibly important to fostering learning in classrooms and communities, and I want to learn more about centering student voices in these conversations, as well.

This experience has prepared me for the future by providing me with the support I needed to lead a unit on a topic that is important to me. I would be remiss if I did not thank Brett Say and the other awesome faculty who make this fellowship what it is. Without them, I would not have had this wonderful opportunity. I would also like to thank Dr. Jesse Jack, the instructor for the “Representing Adolescence” course and my faculty mentor, and her course UTA, Teagan Chandler, for opening their classroom to me and providing me the ability to teach this unit and engage in this formative experience. Finally, I would like to thank the students of the “Representing Adolescence” course. They further solidified in me the goal to be an educator, and I cannot thank them enough for engaging and making me feel at home in the classroom.