I worked at Lincoln Terrace Elementary a few days a week, trading off my placement at Fishburn Park. The clinical faculty I was paired with went back and forth teaching between the two schools, so I followed him to and from each school.

Lincoln Terrace was in a much worse area than Fishburn Park was. It was a much lower income area as well as much more diverse than Fishburn. Working with the students at Lincoln Terrace was a lot of fun. They were all such nice kids, who loved to see you every morning. The thing about Lincoln was that since it located in a worse area, they often changed their staff members up, lost students regularly who would transfer out, and struggled to get substitutes in daily. Which made it that much more special when you regularly saw a student and welcomed them into your classroom. They really appreciated your time and enjoyed seeing you. 

While I dealt with safety drills regarding shootings and robberies, students coming in saying they are upset about relatives being killed or commiting suicide, and many students saying they aren't sleeping at home or are hungry, I still really enjoyed working there. It presented many challenges, but those were simply hurdles to get over in order to better myself as a teacher. The school itself wasn't bad, nor were the students. The area was just rough. 

I had a lovely time working with the students at Lincoln Terrace, and learned a lot from my time there. My biggest take away was the realization that we truly do each come from different backgrounds and have different stories. We each are facing our own struggles and many of us need an outlet or a support system. I worked to be a positive support system and outlet for each one of my students.