Post 8

Thinking back to my fieldwork experience I was trying to think of what the most important thing I learned was. I decided the most important thing I learned was that every classroom is different. Every student is different and they all have different learning styles. They are all different people. I learned that because each student is different, a teacher needs to adapt their teaching styles to meet the needs of all of the children in the class.

I also learned that not all lessons will go exactly as planned. I learned that teachers need to adapt as they go through the lesson and might need to make adjustments on a moments notice.

Another important lesson I learned is that teaching requires a lot of patience. Teaching children can be stressful, especially when it gets closer to the end of the school year. Children are getting excited for Summer vacation and they need more reminders to stay on task and do their work.

Post 7

         I noticed in the class that I observed that the teacher had one big rule that was always mentioned and was always expected- The rule was "Respect Everyone". When students would argue or call each other names, she would ask "Is that respecting everyone?" I felt like it was a good way to make sure the kids were well behaved.
         I also liked how the teacher had a basket for each of her students. In the basket the students kept their workbooks, a pencil, and eraser, and their sticker chart. This was a good way of making sure the children each had everything they would need for their work.

Post 6

     I felt like the teacher I observed did pretty well in actively engaging her students, but I have seen more effective methods in the classes I have worked in as a Para-educator.  The teacher that I observed for my fieldwork called on students and she did make sure to continue to call on students who hadn't been called on yet during the lesson. I didn't really observe other methods of keeping students actively engaged in the lesson.
     The teachers that I have worked with as a para-educator have some techniques that I definitely would like to try and tie into my teaching. While it would need to be modified for a general education class, I think it could definitely be applied- the teacher I work with now does a morning calendar meeting, she goes over the information of the date, weather, and how many days we have been in school- she has the students answer questions as she goes through the information.  The students enjoy being called on and it is a good review for them each day on their reading, counting, etc.

Module 5

I think the most important role a teacher can play is a hard question to answer. I feel like every role a teacher plays is extremely important.

I observed my teacher being a tutor, she walked around and helped the students individually with their work. She was answering any questions they had and was happy to help them with their assignments.

I observed my teacher being a mediator. There were students who were arguing over answers on the assignments and she talked to them together and solved the problem and was able to get them to not only stop arguing, but work together for the remainder of the assignment without arguing.

I observed my teacher being a friend, a confidant, and a comforter. One of the students came in from recess and had gotten hurt and she comforted her and was able to calm her down and get her to talk to her and explain what happened. Luckily it was a minor injury, but for a young child the minor injuries don't seem minor, and the teacher was there to help.

I don't know whether or not there is a most important role. I feel like the most important role of the teacher depends on the child and the situation that they child is in.

Post 4

I was given the opportunity to help do some clerical work in the classroom by grading assignments. I was able to help grade the students work books and literacy assignments. The teacher simply showed me how she did it and then gave me a bunch of them to work on. 

The workbooks were pretty easy because it was strictly fill in the blank answers. They were multiple choice questions and they were grammar questions.

The literacy assignments were also easy to grade, they were just reading comprehension questions and they were also multiple choice so it was easy to mark questions right or wrong.

The journal entries were harder to grade and it made me realize the difference in each student. A lot of the students were unable to spell simple words and sometimes it was really hard to understand what they wrote. The teacher must have been used to it by the end of the year because she was able to immediately tell me what the student had tried to write. 

Blog Entry 3

          One thing I noticed when I was observing teachers at Cherry Hill was that the teacher I observed had a specific time in her class where the kids were working in some workbooks, and the kids were all at different points in the work book depending on what they understood.
         I thought this was a good way to let the students who are struggling get help without being singled out. The teacher just walked through the room helping all the students as she passed there desks.
        I thought this was also a good way to let the students who seem to be a head of others learn and not get bored by learning things that they already know.

Blog Entry 2 June 3, 2016

             I enjoyed working with a young boy on his literacy assignment. His assignment was to write a journal entry about what he was excited to do about summer. He needed some assistance on spelling but the biggest issue he had was staying focused. it was interesting to see that little things helped him such as using a cushion to sit on when he was doing his work would help him concentrate on his assignments.
            Another situation I had was when I was working with a group of 4 students at a time. I was helping them with their comprehension workbooks. They all seemed to understand different concepts and I was required to adjust my teaching and explanations to work for each student, some were a bit behind according to their grade level requirements, some were right on their grade level, and some were a bit above their grade level and needed some more challenging exercises.