Blog Entry #8 The most important thing I learned in my fieldwork observation

        I learned so many things in my fieldwork observation but I think one of the most important things I learned, is that a teacher needs to be organized and flexible at the same time. Things seemed to run a lot more smoothly when the teacher followed a routine, had things in their place, and had a plan for the day.  If she had a routine that she followed, the students knew what to expect and seemed more content in what was going on. The students were organized themselves and there wasn't as much chaos and confusion.

       Even when the teacher had a plan, things didn't always go as she was expecting.  In a few incidents, a student was misbehaving and the teacher would have to deviate a little to handle the situation, without affecting the other students or her teaching.  In another case, a few students weren't getting the concept the teacher was trying to explain so she would switch her teaching method to appeal to more of the students.   I saw many cases where the teacher had to be flexible to adapt to what was going on in the classroom.

I was able to spend my fieldwork with two amazing teachers and two classrooms of great students.  I learned so many things from both the teachers and the kids. I am even more excited to continue my education in Elementary Ed and become a teacher.

Bog entry 7 Classroom rules and how they are enforced

     On one of the first days that I started my field work in the Special Needs class, I took a few pictures of the classroom.  Everything was so bright and cheerful, including the classroom rules. They were on the front wall, where all the students could see them.  When I asked the teacher if I could take a picture of them, we started talking about how the students know what are expected of them.  She told me that at the beginning of the year they went over the rules and talked about what each one of them meant:
We will listen and follow directions
We will raise our hands to talk.
We will keep our hands, feet and objects to ourselves.
We will stay in our seats.
We will stay on task.
We will be nice to others.

        Every morning for the first two week they would go over the classroom rules so that all the students knew what rules they were suppose to be following.  The teacher said that throughout the year she would change the rewards and consequences that went with following or not following the rules.  While I was in the classroom she was using a method similar to the TOAD method.  She had a seating chart with the kids names on it and if they were disobeying, she would remind the student that they were not following the rules and then she would make a mark next to the students name.  She told me that at one time she had used a flip card method, where students cards were flipped to different colors when they were disobeying. She had also used rewards for following rules along with a few other methods that she changed throughout the year, when the methods started losing their effectiveness.
      I thought the students were well behaved and the classroom ran very smoothly.  I think this was because they knew what was expected from them and the teacher made sure that she gave a lot of encouragement and was very positive when the students were behaving appropriately but also let the students know when they were not behaving the way that was expected from them.  i was very impressed at how well the classroom functioned and you could tell that the teacher loved the students and they felt the same way.

.

Post #6 How does the teacher engage the students and how effective are these?

    In both of the classrooms that I spent time in, the teachers were amazing at engaging their students. In the special needs class, the teacher used a lot of visual aides, slide presentations and songs to keep the students interested and participating.  I was able to help in different centers that had different games for the concepts that the kids were trying to learn.  The kids seemed excited to be playing fun games as they were leaning new things. I loved seeing the variety of ways that the teacher used to keep the kids interested.  I think the songs and rhymes were some of the kid's favorite ways of learning.  They laughed and sang loudly as they showed me how they remembered some of the math rules.
   On one of the days that I was in the first grade classroom, the teacher was talking about weather.  She had different pictures that she showed the students and they talked about what they knew about what was going on.  All of the kids were excited to tell what they knew and had personal stories to share.  The teacher had the students start on an art project that had to do with weather and they seemed excited to do something hands on.
    I think all of the ways the teachers used to involve their students worked very well.  If something didn't seem to be effective or was losing the children's interest, the teacher changed her plan and moved on to something she knew would engage them.
   I loved seeing all the different ways that the teachers used to involve the students and to keep their attention.  I am getting a lot of great ideas for the time when I have my own classroom.

blog Entry #5 Most important and challenging roles of a teacher

   I don't think there is a single most important role of a teacher, I think they have many important roles.  From the things I have experienced in my field work, I have seen many of the roles a  teacher has and they all seem very needed in the classroom.  If I had to pick one to be at the top of the list, it would be as an educator but that is a given.  In both of the classes that I spent most of my time in I saw hoe important it is to be a planner, a teacher also is an organizer, not only of her own things but also of the students.  She teaches them to be organized in their work, to stay on task and to keep their personal items organized, along with many other ways.  I saw how the teachers were hero's to the students, surrogate parents to them and also disciplinarians.
   If I chose one of the roles that a teacher has as one of the most challenging, I would have to say that adapting their teaching methods to apply to all their students.  I could say many different ways that the children learned or responded to different teaching methods.  The teachers had to be creative in the ways that they taught so that it would appeal to every type of learner.  I am excited to learn more about how I can incorporate different methods of teaching into my classroom, so I can help all my students learn in the best possible ways.

Blog Entry #4 Assessment and Clerical Resposibilities

               In the Special Needs class I was able to help a little bit with preparing for the days assignments.  The kids were going to be working on animal reports so I helped get the sheets together and stapled for the outline they would be using to add their ideas and pictures to.  There were three groups that would be working on different reports so I made sure that each child got the right report on their desk, before they got into the class room. The only other thing I helped with in preparing for the days schedule was when the teacher talked to me about what they would be doing for the day and what group she wanted me to be in charge of.
    The first day I went into the class room, the students weren't there yet. The teacher explained a little to me about how things were structured for the day and a little on the process of how the kids were placed in her class.  It is quite a process on how the kid's abilities are assessed.  If the kids were in the Special needs program the year before, they are recommended by their current teacher.  Most of the kids have the same teacher for three year.  New kids that have parents that have concerns that their kids might need special help, meet with the Special Needs teacher, a psychologist, and the principal.  They are tested on their abilities and then the teacher and psychologist make the determination on where the kids should be placed. 
             Throughout the school year, the teacher is making assessments on where each student is on the grade level that they are focusing on.  At the beginning of the new year, some of the kids can be mainstreamed into the other classes, kept in the same Special needs class for another year and some that are not progressing will be put in a different class for those that are lower functioning.

Blog post #3 Accommodations for those who are exceptional.....

    I spent half of my time in the classroom for Special needs students. Even in a classroom of children with exceptional needs, there were students at many different levels and skills.  One of the little boys was a little higher functioning than most of the other kids so different accommodations were made for him when the class was taking a test.  The teacher had to read most of the instructions on each question to the whole class but the one boy who could read and understand on his own, was allowed to go at his pace.

    All of the students have a learning disability so laws like IDEA play a big role in the classroom. I was able to talk with the teacher about some of the protocols that they have to follow when evaluating students who may need special education classes. She said that it is pretty intense and parents are encouraged and usually quite involved with the process.

   I was amazed with the teacher and her aides, things ran very smoothly and they were so amazing with the students.  The classroom was very organized and the students were very well behaved.  I think this might have a lot to do with how structured the classroom was. The kids have a routine they follow and they know what to expect every day. Even though they are at a little lower level than other kids of the same age, they are so smart and surprised me with the things they knew.  They were all so sweet and were excited to see me each day. I had a great experience in the Special needs classroom.

Blog Post #2 Working with small groups and one on one with students

I had several opportunities to work with the students one on one and in small groups.  In the first grade class I was able to take each student and have them read to me for five minutes or read at least 2 books that they had been practicing on.  The kids read very well, knew every word and read without having to keep their place with their finger. I know that parent volunteers and their teacher have been working with the kids on mastering their proficiency on their books and it shows with how well they were reading.

In the special needs class I had quite a few chances to work with the students in small groups.  One day the kids were broken up into groups of 3 by their learning abilities and I was able to play a time telling game with them.  I put the cards that had the clock faces on them, face down and then the digital time I left face up so the kids could match the digital time with the right clock hand.  I changed up the game if it seemed a little too easy and put all the cards facing down to make it more challenging.

Another day I worked with a group of for Special needs kids on their animal reports.  All of the kids had Ipads to look up information on the animal they were reporting on.  They had to find out different facts about the animal, write it in their books and draw a picture about it.  It was fun to see how excited they got to learn more about the animals.

After learning more about Segregation, I am so glad that everyone has the right to an education, no matter your color or abilities.  I think everyone deserves to be treated equally and have the right to the same education.