Interconnectedness of Knowledge, Schooling and Society. -Nov 27,2018 To start off my last day of my fieldwork I went in a couple minutes early. My coop teacher gave me student projects to hang on the boards to display their work, and I helped a student with math who stayed in during recess to get their homework done. The grade 4 class went to health, where my field partner took attendance and then I was asked to go talk to the students one on one, to show them their mark in the class for there upcoming report cards. I had to tell the students what number they were at (1- Beginning, 2-Progressing, 3- Meeting Excellence, 4-Excellence) in the class along with going through some assignments with them. After health we went to music where the students played the bells and practiced their songs for the upcoming christmas concert. After music it was recess. While the students were outside we brought out computers, made sure they were turned on and set them on each students desk. The students were working on an art project. They have a professional artist come in a couple times a year and do projects with the students. For this project the students had to find three pictures on the internet of the topics they had chosen the following days before. After they did this they had to learn how to copy and paste it onto a google doc and send it to the teacher. We spent an hour on the computers where my field partner and I ran around trying to help the students learn how to do it and help them. There was one point where I was moving from one student to another so fast I thought I was going to get dizzy from all the turning and running around I was doing! After this it was the end of the day and the students packed up. Before the bell rang the class gave us both a card that they had all signed, saying they would miss us! We also got a classroom photo from picture day so we could have a picture of our very first class! The bell rang and all the students gave us hugs and left. It was really sweet of them to do that and it meant a lot. The things I was given are things I am going to keep and cherish forever! I loved my field experience and the grade four class I was with.
I think in my time during field work I have grown a lot. Being in a classroom environment was something I really enjoyed and that made me realize how much I want to be a teacher. On day one I was not really nervous because I knew this was something I wanted to do. The community and school was super friendly, nice, and supportive as they wanted us to learn as much has their own students were. One thing I learned is that everyday is different. There will never be a day the same as another. There is always something else going on or something happening, whether that is in the school, classroom, or with the students in general. Being a teacher is not easy work and it is really busy too, but it is something I want to do. Overall my experience in the field was very positive and I loved being in this class. I know not every class is like that and sometimes they are easier or harder but this was a great first group to be with. I learned and saw many things that I want to take with me has a teacher. I also learned about many topics in the classroom without really realizing it. We talked about these in class and I have discussed them before but it is not the same until you experience it inside the classroom. The effect of technology, diversity, environment, different ways of learning, instructions and more was greatly shown in this grade four classroom. While I was still observing the class it felt like a lot more than that. I spent lots of time helping out and doing different things with the students that there were not many times I was just watching (unless listening to the teacher talk to the students). I learned about some ideas to teach different subjects that can be taught in different ways to help students learn. I enjoyed it so much that I am going to their christmas concert in December! We also gave our emails to our coop teacher encase she ever needed us for anything. There were no words to express how much I have learned and how much I enjoyed being in that classroom.
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Students & Learning Environment
Oct 9, 2018 The first impression of my field experience was very positive. Everyone, students and teachers were super friendly and cheerful, along with the atmosphere of the school. While inside the grade 4 class on Tuesday afternoon we focused on reading, library time, and math. Reading was where the students picked out books they had chosen from the week before and silently read them. To encourage quiet reading the teacher had set up a reading corner where there was a schedule posted of what days what students got to sit on the little couch, red chair or at the rainbow table (which was just a table in the shape of a rainbow). During this time the teacher actually asked me to sit down with one of the students and help her read. So while I sat next to her she read three books, reading them out loud so I could help or correct any words she could not or had trouble pronouncing. When it was time to go to the library the teacher had set out three types of books she wanted and her students had to pick one from each area. I sat down with one student to see if the book he had picked was to difficult for him to read. After recess they wrote in their notebooks about a story they had read earlier, and I walked around helping students who were unsure of spelling. Then it was onto math, where we focused on adding and writing finishing sentence once solving the problem, along with an assignment given to the students. Again I sat down with the young student I had before and helped her go through step by step of solving the math problem. The grade 4 classroom itself was very colorful and bright. It had lots posters and different things on the wall like student art, calendars, or things they had previously talked about in the class. Instead of tables every student had their own desk, with lots of personal space, and the shared blue lockers that were found inside of the classrooms instead of outside. The space itself is very organized, clean, and you could very well tell they had a system to the way things worked. The students were super nice and most were pretty open to asking us questions, or just having a general conversation, like telling us stories. The space felt very comfortable and open, which makes it such a great place to learn. This was similar to the way my elementary schooling was, but still had little differences. My schools locker were always on the outside of the classroom in the hall, and it felt like some teachers I had focused more on the class on a whole for some assignments rather than see those few students who may have needed the extra help, but other than that, from what I remember it was quite similar. In week one of being in a school, I have to say I really enjoyed it. I felt pretty comfortable in the classroom and helping students. My overall impression of it was just that it really showed me from the one afternoon that teaching can be fun and exciting, and it just made me want to become a teacher even more. Being in the field even after such a short amount of time, you can see the hard work that is put into it and how it is important to adapt to the type of class you are teaching. Keeping the room colorful and lively, helps maintain a sense of positivity and encouragement in the classroom, that I will also bring into my classroom. Having posters and calendars of what the class is doing that day, or even a calendar for class birthdays keeps things fun and interesting in the class. One other thing I think was a really good idea was the reading corner, where they had a little couch, table and different types of chairs that student would rotate to use during reading times. I think this helped promote reading and the desire to read along with teaching how to relax, focus and concentrate for a certain amount of time. Obviously I still have a lot to learn to become a teacher, but by being in the classroom setting even just for the afternoon, I have learned and seen many things. It shows you how important it is to be prepared and organized in a lesson and generally in the classroom, but to realize that unexpected things do come up and that those things can help you become a better teacher. The more time I spend in the classroom, observing and getting myself involved will definitely help me learn how to become a better teacher. |
What Is This About?In this section of my portfolio you will find stories and experiences that I have witnessed in an actual school environment. You will be able to see how I have grown from the first day of field experience to the last. |