May 3, 2019 was my last day of student teaching. In preparation I had written a well-crafted goodbye speech and practiced it obsessively to the point of perfection. I wanted to express my gratitude to my students. I wanted them to know how I felt, I wanted them to know what I learned, and most importantly, I wanted them to know that I cared; however, as I began to share my parting words with my first period, I came to the sudden realization that my carefully prepared script was utterly useless.
Each period was different. From the individuals that comprised it, to the subjects I taught and the way I taught them. The experiences I had shared with my students–the jokes I had made, the relationships I had built – all differed depending on the class itself.
As I sat there looking at the attentive faces of my students, I began to wonder how I could have possibly expected the same speech to work for such a wide variety of unique human connections and this unexpected dilemma caused me to make a split decision to spend my last day in organized chaos.
While it is true that each class received the same structure of conversation – laughter, crying, expressed appreciation, questions, and answers – all of these elements were heavily influenced by the distinctive interactions that had been fostered over the last few months. The jokes that were made, the memories that were recalled, the emotion that was elicited, was all dependent on the particular class and its students, and this phenomenon was one that not only applied to my last day of teaching, but to my entire experience overall.
When I first began student teaching I was rigid. I came with a prepared lesson plan and did not feel comfortable or confident enough to deviate from it; however, I soon discovered that this was a flawed practice. Students are unique individuals and it is unrealistic to expect all of them to respond positively to the same method of teaching.
I now know that if I truly want to benefit everyone in my classroom, the art of adaptability is both an inevitable and necessary skill I will have to master. This truth does not mean I cannot reference my lesson plans, it just means I cannot allow myself to be restricted by them. Just like my lessons, I approached my final goodbyes with a detailed structure in mind, and just like my lessons, I abandoned the rigidity of that structure as soon as I began to speak to the class. In that moment, I opted to take the individualistic route. I chose to keep the necessities of what I wanted to say without limiting myself or my students in regards to what we could say, and that was the best decision I could have made.
The things that were said that day led to some of the most meaningful and beautiful moments of my student teaching experience. In these final interactions, I was provided both the opportunity and privilege of conversing with the most influential high schoolers I have ever known, and for that I will forever be grateful.
Mina Starks (MAT 2019) has earned her Bachelor’s degree in English and is currently pursuing her Master’s in Teaching at the University of Puget Sound. She has just completed her student teaching placement at Lincoln High School where she instructed three classes of AP Language and Composition and two classes of Sophomore Honors English.
University of Puget Sound School of Education 
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