Rahma Salat, an elementary education and TESOL/ENL teaching major, is enjoying her professional year (i.e., intern and student teaching semesters) despite the challenges. This semester she is intern teaching in a first-glade classroom, and is now in her third week of hybrid teaching.
“Student teaching during COVID-19 is like going down a bumpy road, never knowing when things will change or what new thing will affect our teaching,” said Salat. “I love student teaching, I am being challenged in different ways. There are days my mentor teacher and I feel like we mastered our routine and everything is running smoothly…most days we are being extremely flexible, we are slowing down our lessons and improvising.”
In Salat’s class, Monday classes are held online, and Tuesday through Friday classes are held in-person while rotating between two student groups. “When we are in-person teaching our main goal is to make sure students are comprehending instead of rushing through lessons,” said Salat. “The students love seeing us in-person and being around their classmates. We do lots of hands-on activities and movements to engage them in their learning. Our first graders good such a great job of wearing their masks, sanitizing, washing their hands, and keeping a distance from each other.”
Salat is completing her student teaching at Taft Elementary School in Boise School District, and working with mentor teacher, Tanya Brisson.
