Blog #8

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

 So I feel like I have answered this questions in part in every blog that I have written.

 From all the great traits that I observed of the teacher I followed. I would say it kind of boiled down to being PREPARED. Because she was prepared with what she was going to teach, how she was going to teach, and had the instruments needed to teach. She was able to be teach with confidence, she was able to stay calm when it came it answering questions, she was able to concentrate on the children learning the subject instead of how to teach it. If she was ill prepared she could be focusing on what and how she was teaching the subject more then how the children are ingesting the subject.

For example, the teacher had the children do a drawing of themselves. She knew enough about aspects of art and portrait drawing that she could give solid instruction, "Draw what you see not what you think should be there" , "Eyes are not ovals with road dots in the middle, what do you see when you lookin the mirror" "A Neck isn't just a two straight lines, filled in with color. Your neck has different colors.. draw those difference"  If another person that wasn't well versed at art where to teach the students, they may have been refereing to a manual , or would n't have answers to questions. ect.  

But as this teacher was well prepared she was able to give all of her attention to helping the kids learn. This teacher was a great example to me for the classroom and for life. 

Blog #7

• How are materials organized within the classroom?

So the school that I did my service at was a summer school and the teachers were not in there original classrooms. Instead we borrowed classrooms from other teachers. So the set up wasn't entirely the idea of the teacher that I was shadowing. 

Still there was plenty to notice in the set up. First of all the classroom that I was in there wasn't individual desks. They actually had tables set up in the room. The tables weren't one behind the other either, they were staggered in a zig zag pattern around the room. Each of the tables were designed that a person could sit on the opposite side of the children and then the children could sit around that person in the middle in a half circle. Giving the instructor and children all an equal view.  By getting rid of the desks all in a line the tables made it easier to see what the kids were up to and the teacher was able to walk around and in-between each of the tables easier then if they had been sitting at desks.   She was also able to instruct something int eh middle of the table and have several children with an up close view of what she was instructing. 

Also in this classroom they had cubbies for trays with children names on it.  So on the outside of the room was where the cubbies, supplies, computers, and ect.  So the teacher could still have a clear view of all the areas of the class room. With every area organized it was easy for older kids to decipher where to get supplies, where to put there own stuff, ect. 

The entire classroom was set up for a better learning experience, set up so the teacher could get close to the children and also see what is going on when she has several students doing different tasks. Great set up makes me want Tables in my future classroom. 

Blog Number 6- What strategies does the teacher use to actively engage the students? How effective are these?

The particular teacher that I had was wonderful at keeping children engaged. Which I knew would be main part of teaching I just didn't realize that with 20 + students keeping everyone engaged wouldn't be so easy. There are just so many different attention spans, work ethics and personalities to deal with.

First of all this teacher kept a CALM VOICE. Even when the kids were acting up a bit or trying to get a rise out of other students. She was the MASTER at the calm voice, and not letting the kids get her sidetracked. The age group I had varied but they were older (5 and 6th graders), and if it was a subject they really weren't into they tried all kinds of excuses to either get out of class or to get the teacher off of the subject. But through it all the teacher kept calm and would redirect back to the project or subject.

Along with staying calm and redirecting she was great at adding specific encouragement. She would walk around the class when they were all suppose to be working on a project. Watching and walking around the classroom was another trick of the trade. Not just giving them an assignment and sitting at her desk. But along with walking around she would say specifics like, " Johnny (Name change), your brush strokes are great try adding some more color" or "Annie, I can see a hint of personality in his eyes, you think if you added some more wrinkles around the eye we will be able to tell what he is really thinking?" By doing all of the above with the personal comment on there work she was able to keep the students engaged in what she needed to them to focus on.

Blog #5- What do you think is the most important role a teacher plays?

We all know there are many different roles that teachers take on to be effective. But the more I think about it , I am positive that the most important role a teacher can play to someone who holds high expectations for themselves and the students.  Is there a one word for that role? High Expectation holder? (no) Motivator (Maybe). But it is more then just motivation, it  is keep themselves and the students accountable for there own learning. The idea of what you put in is what you get out. 

If the teacher keeps there standards high, then the best quality of teaching will be the outcome. Which would be the most nurturing, encouraging and enlightening environment that teacher can provide for there classroom. In turn, by keeping the exceptions high for the students they in turn will rise up to the bar.  There may be the argument that expectations that are high might be too hard, for certain students and/or crush self -esteem. I would rebuttal that a teacher that knows there students will know how much they can handle. With expecting more, I have seen students step up for the challenge. Or not see it as a challenge just something you DO in that classroom.

I had a teach in Junior High who would require us to take notes in a outline formations. For each chapter of our American History books. We outline each chapter subject,  each paragraph was summarized in our notes, We hated it, it was tedious, we complained but we DID IT. What was the result? EVERYONE in the class got B- or higher on the tests. Most of us got A's not because the test were easy but we because we had outlined all of the information and had lectures on the subject, the outlines were great for studying and we just had the knowledge to back up the questions. Even now in college if I am having a hard time memorizing or learning something in a subject I will start doing my outlines as taught in jr high. The high expectation stuck with me and I and many other rose to the occasion.   That is why Motivator just doesn't cut it but having High Expectations is the most important role to me. 

Blog #4 What clerical and preparation responsibilities have you participated in?

As part of my time volunteering at the school. There was an art project that the students were going to work on, I had the wonderful job of cutting long pieces of paper in half in order to meet the specifications for the art project.  It was easy, not complicated but it just took up time. Another time I was the person who hung out all of the art projects on the wall. It was not LIFE CHANGING work, but it was something that took up time, and was nice for the kids to see there art project up on the wall.

     These types of activities take up valuable time but  need to be done.  With all the different roles teachers take one, grunt work is part of those roles. Preparing for a lesson can take more time then actually teaching the lesson. But it is vital to being an organized, well prepared teacher. You will just be more productive at teaching if you take the time to do all the clerical and sometimes mundane tasks.

No wonder teachers appreciates parent volunteers and aids in there classroom.  By being able to hand the jobs off like Cutting paper, Reorganizing an art closet, making copies, running messages ect. the teacher can then spend more time with the students in instruction and encouragement.

What Modifications For Learners who are exceptional

The class that I was volunteering in. The teacher never came out and said, " So and So has ADHD, or So and So needs items explained more then once." But as I mentioned in my previous post she was very good and making sure those that didn't understand were able to get the clarification that they needed.

But now that I have been through this course there are items that stick out. For instance we had one young man who had a very difficult time staying on task and he was very good at distracting others. After a couple of times of reminding him to stay on task, one time she had him come up to a table that was closer to her with less children, and asked him to write a list of words that describes himself.  What she did was break down the assignment to smaller tasks for him to focus on instead of a whole large assignment.

She also had removed him from distractions and brought closer to the person giving the instructions. I already thought she was a great teacher to shadow but as I continue on with this I realize she had the tools of a Seasoned veteran with learning to back her up.

Tell about an opportunity you had to work one on one with a student.

So I'm not sure how to tie this in to the historical aspects of the module other then, I am working at a Native American Summer school which in the time of segregation we wouldn't of been able to be in a white school with white kids (other summer school classes were also going on in the building)  The fact that most of these Native children came from educated backgrounds is something that didn't happen just a generation ago.  So there is progress. With that progress there ares still cultural differences when working with this Minority group. It was kind of nice to be able to speak Navajo and English to some students my own form of Navaglish ha ha.  Say jokes and tease with out having to explain why the punchline was funny, and realizing that eye contact isn't the highest form of respect for some of the children.

ANYWAY, on to my one on one experience. (it will be hard in 2-3 paragraphs). I was put with a young girl that just wasn't catching on to the assignment very fast and the teacher chose to put her with me to complete the assignment and move the class on with another activity. With every question that I asked her the response was "I don't know"  I would make the question simpler the response was the same. I would ask in another way still "I don't' know." at one point i got a bit frustrated and it showed (Hey, I'm just learning still).

The child then perked up and said, "I bet you don't think i can do this huh" I replied, "I know you can I am just sitting here waiting for you to get it done" she perked up even more. "You really think I can" I said again, "I KNOW you can. So get going" and to my utter surprise she started digging into her assignment. Her blank look was gone, and she was working. Later I asked her about it, she first said "I don't know " again, and I gave her a look and she actually said, " Sometimes, they just don't make me do it if I take a long time'  this little girl used the "I don't know" to frustrate her teacher in to the point she got out of assignments  AND SHE KNEW IT.

Yes she was a bit behind the other students but she had the capacity to sit, think, figure out and do the assignments. I am not a professional, but my guess is she has a learning disability in something and that is where she figured out her "I don't know" blank faced look that she then used in all subjects.