Week 8

What is the most important thing you have learned during fieldwork observation?  Why?

Before volunteering in the classroom, I thought the most important quality for a teacher to have was to make learning fun. I assumed that children understood concepts better and wanted to learn if the teacher was funny, silly, and was friends with his/her students. However, I have found that when I try to be goofy and act silly with the kids, they walk all over me. Nothing is taken seriously in the classroom if you aren't serious yourself.
 The most important thing I've learned is that you cannot be an effective teacher unless you are prepared. There is more to teaching than what is seen during the seven hours of the day when the children are in the classroom. Great teachers put so much effort into their lessons. They go above and beyond what is required of them. I noticed that the teachers who go the extra mile have more smart, participative, successful students than the teachers who wing the lessons and are a bit unorganized.
I'm glad that I took this class! It was a great opportunity to be involved in the classroom and get a feel for what teaching is like. I'm eager to continue my education in the El.Ed program so I can become a school teacher.

Week 7

What are the procedures the teacher uses to make everything run smoothly in the class?

I haven't been in Mrs. Hutchinson's class long enough to notice any specific rules or procedures, but I have noticed a few unspoken rules. Maybe they aren't unspoken, but she possibly went over them at the beginning of the year. I'm surprised she doesn't have a poster hanging up in her classroom that indicates the major rules in her classroom which most teachers have in their own classroom.
One thing I noticed is that the students don't ask to get a drink; they just get up and go. But they do have to write their name on a specific area of the white board if they need to use the restroom, then she will excuse whoever's name is on the board when she deems it the right time. Another procedure I mentioned before is that the students have their white boards out and write out the same math problems the Mrs. Hutchinson writes on the board, but they only copy what is written in green.
Other than that, I haven't noticed any other procedures. I have been testing the students one-on-one on the Utah counties. It's been a long process. The students get three tries to name all of the counties. Today was the second time around and many of them were only able to name one or two more counties than the first try. They told me that their teacher didn't teach them the county song or gave them a list to look at. They just have the floats in the library that they made to look at.

Week 6

What strategies does the teacher use to actively engage the students? How effective are these?

I was supposed to be in Ms. Hutchinson's class today, but she took her class on a fieldtrip during the two hours I normally volunteer in, so I was with a different fourth grade teacher, Mrs. Crane. When I arrived to her classroom, they just returned from the library where  they set up their displays of their county projects (the students floats were very creative...a little TOO creative...it makes me wonder how much help they had from their parents...). The class discussed what they liked about each other's floats and what they learned from researching their assigned counties. After that discussion, they went onto their language arts lesson. Today's lesson was on the words "obstacle" and "bravery". They had to guess what they thought the word means and share examples of what the word describes.
I liked the way Mrs. Crane set up her classroom - the desks were lined in an open square with two rows that stretched across the middle. I think this desk formation makes each lecture more of a discussion. The kids feel like they're not only talking to the teacher, but to the rest of their classmates as well. Almost all of the students would listen to whoever was speaking and respond by raising their hands to share stories or examples that went along with the lesson or story the last child spoke about.

Week 5

What do you think is the most challenging role a teacher plays?  Why?

Today (October 23) was my first day in a fourth grade classroom. This class was working on math during the time I was there, specifically learning about estimating in story problems. The teacher, Ms. Hutchinson, had me sit in the back of the room and observe while she lectured the students. The desks in the classroom were arranged in groups of four, so the students could discuss their answers or explanations for their math problems. Also, they each had their own white board to write out their work for the math problems she would read aloud.
After their lecture was over, they were allowed to spread out in the classroom and do their worksheets. I walked around and helped a student if they raised their hand and looked over shoulders to make sure they were doing their work correctly. Many of them were having a difficult time figuring out how to do their story problems.
When I was observing Ms. Hutchinson's math lecture, she was continuously getting frustrated with the students for being rowdy, but I don't think they were being bad at all. She made them seem like they were behaving ten times worse than they actually were. There were about three students she scolded out of the group and those three were having the hardest time on their math assignment. If she had not been so hard on them, I think those kids would've done better on the assignment. I think the most challenging role a teacher has is learning to keep her patience and her emotions controlled without letting it interfere with her job.

Week 4

How does this teacher manage assessment?

Today was my last day in the K-3 grades, so that means I'm halfway done with my fieldwork for this class! But I still have twenty hours left to do (I'm also required to do fieldwork hours for my child lit. class). Just like the week before last, I volunteered once again in Mrs. Homer's class. Luckily her heart has healed a lot, so she no longer needs to hire substitutes for the day if she doesn't feel well enough. I like having Mrs. Homer there more than the substitutes; the class is more structured and the kids actually listen to me!
I helped them with rotations again, however, Mrs. Homer put a twist in the workshops. Because October 31st is drawing near, the activities were all centered around Halloween. There were five different workshops. First, a small group of students listened to an audio tape and followed along to the book Skeleton Hiccups by Margery Cuyler. The second rotation was a writing activity where they had to create a story, using their vocabulary list, about witches. The third rotation drew pictures around a pair of eyes and write a description of their creature. The fourth was a math activity where the students paired up and played a math game called "Bump". Finally, Mrs. Homer had the students come to her one by one and read to her. This assessment allowed her to see if the children had improved in their reading skills since the beginning of the school year. If they weren't surpassing the number of words per minute they could read at the beginning of the year, Mrs. Homer increased their reading time and told them to spend a lot of the time reading aloud to their parents.
I'm a little sad to be leaving this class - they were a fun group of kids and they made me laugh a lot. But I am excited to observe the older classes!

Week 3

What results of laws like IDEA do you see in the school?

I taught in Mrs. Homer's class again today. There was a substitute, but Mrs. Homer knew that I would be coming in so she left the sub a note that said what I can help with. It was basically the same as last week - walking around the classroom and helping the children with their rotation workshops. The kids were so rowdy today, and it was hard to get the boys to focus. The girls quietly did their work and raised their hands when they had questions, and a few of them would help the other boys when they were done with their work.
In Park Lane, they have a few classes called "resource" for the students who have disabilities, or just need extra time and help in their studies. The teachers in the resource classes are patient and compassionate. The students are with other kids who are on their own learning level, so they are able to go at the same pace in their school work.

Week 2

Tell about an opportunity you had to work with a small group.

This was actually my third week in the classroom, and I was finally given the chance to observe and help out in the third grade! The teacher I was helping with, Mrs. Homer, just returned from a sick leave; a few days before school started, she tore her aorta. Even now, she can only be in for half of the day instead of full time because she is still recovering, so she needs all the help she can get.
I arrived in the morning and the kids were just finishing with their starters. I graded them, then Mrs. Homer had me help the kids in their workshops. There were five different assignments they needed to work on: one was a craft where they had to cut paper and glue it together to make a resemblance of themselves; the next was a worksheet of determining whether a sentence was a derogative or an interrogative; another worksheet was a story they had to read, then answer the following questions; along with the worksheets, there was one which required the student to alphabetize twenty flash cards and write them down; and the last workshop was reading in small group with the teacher.
Mrs. Homer had me walk around and help the students. A lot of them weren't reading the directions on their worksheets, so I had to hint to them certain words that changed the way they were doing the assignment.
There were two kids that were joking with me on their craft. I came into class with a high bun on my head. They told me that one of the hairstyles they cut out looked like a cinnamon roll, just like my bun.
One thing I noticed was that these kids treated each other for who they are, not what they looked like. I'm glad that we live in a generation where it's considered rude to judge other people based on their appearance.
I was sad when it was time for me to go - I enjoyed helping Mrs. Homer today. I hope they send me back to her class next week.

Week 1

What modifications for learners who are exceptional do you see?

Today was my first day of volunteering in the classroom.  I decided to do my fieldwork in the elementary school down the street from my house, Park Lane Elementary. My grandma was a second grade teacher there (she retired last year) so she was able to reference me to some of her friends who currently teach there, whom are excellent to observe. Although it wasn't my top choice to observe this age group, I was put into a first grade classroom. I was aiming to observe a third grade class, but the teacher my grandmother wanted me to observe has had a substitute since the first week of school (she has a torn aorta, so she won't be returning for a while). I haven't been around any other grades to really have a set preference, but I'm sure first grade is the next greatest thing to third grade!
The teacher I observed (unfortunately I don't remember her name) is in her second year of teaching. She taught kindergarten last year, so she has a few students in her class that she taught last year. If she wasn't so young, I would have thought she has been teaching for a long time! She's very patient, organized, and works well with the children. After the morning rug time, she had me help out with her workshops; I helped the kids with the math/counting workshop. This workshop was great for the students who excel in visual and kinesthetic learning. Each student was given their own bag with the following items: two decks of cards with the number 1-12; three separate papers that say, "is less than", "is the same as", and "is greater than"; and small, stackable cubes. The students had to leave both decks of cards facing down, then pull a card from each pile. Then, they had to determine whether the first number was greater than, less than, or the same as the second number. If the student wasn't able to figure it out right away, they could use the stackable cubes and stack the amount for each number (this was good for kinesthetic learners). Or,  they could read the papers aloud (which is good for audio learners). I noticed that the teacher set up each station so it usually required the students to use all three learning types. This also allowed her to see how the individual students learn best.

Introducing...the one and only....

My name is Ms. Bennie, according to the students of Park Lane Elementary. I am studying to become an elementary school teacher (preferably to the third grade). I guess I can be considered the next step up after "rookie" when it comes to working with kids. I had absolutely no interest in working with kids until December 3, 2012.
It all began with talking to a friend of a friend - Josh Palmer. It was December of 2011 and I was sitting at a table in the school cafeteria, when suddenly, a boy dressed in a golden Sherwani approached my table.
"Hey guys! How's it going?"
The rest of my friends got up and bro-hugged him. "Josh, you're back from India!"
India? I thought to myself. What was he doing in India?
After Josh and my friends had their reunion, I asked Josh why he was in India. He explained to me that he went with a nonprofit organization, Youth Making a Difference, on a humanitarian trip to West Bengal, India. There, he and twenty-four other high school seniors taught English to the children in rural villages. Along with teaching them English, they brought newborn kits, educational supplies, winter clothing, first aid kits, and other supplies for the children and their families.
I thought that was the coolest thing I have ever heard. Like, ever.
Josh told me that YMAD was accepting applicants, and the next expedition would be leaving in November.
There was no way I was going to pass up that opportunity.
I applied, the leaders of YMAD accepted me into the program, and after a year of leadership training, myself and twenty-five other kids ventured out to the Himalayan village - Chamba. For two weeks of November into December, my life was changed. My eyes opened to a new understanding of love, compassion, humility, and charity. I never thought I could love a group of people so much, despite cultural differences and the language barrier. I didn't want the feeling to end; the feeling that I got when I saw children succeed and desiring to learn more to have a brighter future.
Before I left on the expedition, I wanted to become a veterinarian. After my life changing adventure, I am now determined to become a teacher.