For my student teaching experience, I was placed at the L.R. Appleman Elementary School in Benton PA. For sixteen weeks I worked with my cooperating teacher to instruct three levels of fourth grade math to a total of sixty students. I enjoyed my experience and had the opportunity to practice the differentiation skills I learned about throughout my Special Education minor.

Seven weeks into my placement, my world was turned upside down with the world-wide outbreak of COVID-19 and the halt of classroom instruction across the United States. At first, this was a huge challenge for myself, my peers, my cooperating teacher, and my supervisor as we were all entering uncharted territory. Benton Pennsylvania is an extremely rural area where many homes do not have access to what many of us in New Jersey consider the "essentials". Without access to internet, school officials began to work rigorously to create a plan to support student educational opportunities without the sole plan of moving to an online curriculum. 

Of course the uncertainty has caused a lot of anxiety, however, I do believe this experience has caused me to think more outside the box and truly put one of the most important qualities of an outstanding educator into practice: flexibility.