This past semester, I have gotten the opportunity to experience Rocky Mountain High School in the shoes of a student teacher. I learned from admin the importance of their students, equal opportunity, and the amount resources available for students, teachers, parents, and the community. The course was split into two parts, starting every morning with CSU students guided by Karen Rowe, our professor, and actual classroom experience with Missy Wolf, an art teacher at Rocky. We focused on multiple elements when together as CSU students including the idea of “thinking” and how to create instruction to help students become independent learners, management strategies, the importance of assessment, and instructional strategies. It is very necessary for each student to walk into student teaching with the content EDUC 450 gave us. Although I enjoyed the content, something that was spoken about multiple times were the large topics and issues found in our world today. Some teachers keep it out of their classroom, but I believe that it is crucial for students to be educated and have independent thoughts to create a healthy and safe environment to cultivate democracy. Karen did a great job when bringing up large issues for us to discuss as individuals and future educators. Education goes beyond our specific content and in EDUC 450, I learned that it is important to hear all perspectives, develop good reasoning, and take care of students.