Student Teaching - Week #6

by Erin Schrupp - Ray Elementary School

William H Ray Elementary

So far, I’ve stayed on a top of my lesson plans. It’s been great to coordinate really well with my cooperating teacher and to get feedback on my lesson plans in case I need to change anything before I teach them. I’ve been able to understand how important my position is as a student teacher at Ray Elementary and I’ve really taken a liking to feeling like a real teacher when I go home. I feel like a real teacher because I grade papers, plan lessons, and talk about how I can differentiate for my students. 

I recently experienced a special moment while I was teaching math. It was after instructional time was over and the students were about to split into working with partners. I walked to the back of the room and I heard one student say to another student, “Man, Miss Schrupp is really getting a hang of this teacher-thing!”  It made me smile because the students see that I’m trying and they can tell that I am doing a good job. This means so much coming from them because I feel that as kids, they are very observant. Especially if they have been taught from my cooperating teacher the whole year. It really boosted my spirits about how I was doing and how they were perceiving me as a teacher. It’s really great to have all my students’ support as I go through this semester of teaching! SUCH a great moment!

The view of downtown from Promontory Point, a Hyde Park landmark.
Spray from the waves on Lake Michigan have frozen on these bushes. 

Student Teaching - Week #5

by Erin Schrupp - Ray Elementary School

So this past week has been fun in terms of the activities my roommates and I have been involved with. Chicago Semester gives us the opportunity to go to great art events every Thursday night. You’re able to get different tastes of Chicago that you may have never gotten if you weren’t told about them. I’m very thankful for this opportunity that Chicago Semester gives us to go to these events. It really causes us to step outside our comfort zones and experience the art of the city in various ways. IT’S SUPER COOL and causes you to become a well-rounded individual.  

Chicago Art Institute

This week we went to the Chicago Art Institute. It was so fun to see all the different types of art ranging from Modern Art, Folktale Art, and even some European and Japanese art. What a cool world we live in, right?! It was a great experience to have with my roommates and I know we really appreciated the different types of art and history that were displayed in the Institute.

The second activity that my roommates and I did this week, was an activity we decided to do all on our own. It’s called AERIAL YOGA. I don’t know if you’ve ever heard of it before, but it’s fantastic! There are all these little shops around Gold Coast that can give you some pretty sweet deals on fun classes to take, or just different things to experience if you look hard enough! Anyway, we were able to get a complimentary session from Lulu Lemon to try out this aerial yoga-thing…whatever it was!

AIR is a suspension training program fusing ballet barre work
with yoga + Pilates on aerial silk hammocks

We decided to be adventurous and to our surprise, we all thoroughly enjoyed this! We enjoyed it so much that we decided to go a second time. This time, we only had to pay one dollar because AirFit (that’s the business) gave us a promotional code for it! I’d be lying if I told you my body wasn’t sore even as I’m writing this, but hey, it was a great way to step outside the box and get in shape! That’s all for now, I’m so excited to see what this next week has in store for me!

Student Teaching - Spring 2014

by Erin Schrupp - Ray Elementary

I am with my roommates,
who are also student teachers.

My name is Erin Schrupp, the girl in the front of the picture, and I’m the first person from Bethel University to enroll in Chicago Semester this year. I’m from St. Paul, Minnesota and so far I have absolutely loved being here in Chicago. I really love city-life, which is funny because I grew up in a pretty small town. It’s already been a growing, yet challenging experience and I have only been here for three weeks! I live in the Gold Coast area which is a fantastic place for eating, exploring, shopping, and eating some more. I’m so excited to explore this city more in-depth and really dive into the different cultures of the neighborhoods!

I am currently involved in the Student Teaching program and was placed at William H. Ray Elementary school. Ray is a neighborhood, public school that has a focus on speaking Spanish and is located in the Hyde Park neighborhood.

William H. Ray Elementary

This school is composed of 710 students: 51% are low-income, 55% are African-American and 21% are White. I get the privilege to be in a second grade classroom! I’m in love with all my students already. I’ve been so blessed by the cooperating teacher am working with. She has made me feel so comfortable and welcomed that I already feel as though Ray Elementary has captured a piece of my heart. I definitely know this semester is going to be a challenging, yet memorable semester!