Last day in my third grade field study...

Today I spent my last day observing and helping students in my third grade class. I am really going to miss walking into a classroom and getting 5-10 hugs every morning, and kids wanting Liza and I to teach them. I really learned how much you get back from teaching, and I know that is just the tip of the iceburg becuase we only spent 15 hours observing in this classroom. When I first started the field I was a little nervous and unsure of myself and how I was going to teach. The idea of teaching to an entire class seemed so scary to me because public speeking has never been my thing, but I found it much easier to speak in front of kids and people who look up to you than to my peers. Even though I know I have a lot to work on to improve my teaching, the opportunity to teach some lessons built my confidence and allowed me to get through one small hurdle.

I really find teaching to be a new creative outlet for me, whether it be through reading, writing, spelling, math, or science (I have yet to teach Social Studies). I think it challenges teachers to think outside the box and come up with alternative ways to teach one lesson in order to address the needs of all students> Not only teaching, but observing the entire class and my case study/spelling student learn and interact, and the lead teacher, assistant teachers, and a peer student teacher, I was able to see what does work and what does not and how students respond to different styles of teaching. I am also amazed with the connection I formed with some of the students in the classroom (as cheesy as that sounds) in just 5 short weeks. I remember the first day they were so shy and although I may still struggle with names at week 5 (which I know appreciate teachers more who can learn names within the first week), I felt like I got to know most all of the children by the last week.

Through my one-on-one work with a boy in the third grade class, I really have become aware how important this kind of instruction is, especially for those students who are struggling. Not only does it boost the students confidence as they realize that someone is taking a personal interest in them and their needs, but it helps boost their motivation to learn and improves learning more rapidly, students also in return learn to trust the teacher. Trust is a huge part of the classroom environment between student and teacher and among students and their peers. In so many of my classes we have discussed bullying and one thing that really impressed me about this environment was the lack of bullying, name-calling, and put downs, and the amount of respect that was exemplified in not only the third grade classroom, but across the school. The school emphasisized the idea of both community and helping others, but at the same time being able to help yourself. This is such a valid lesson because it teaches students the important morals and values of kindness toward others, but also knwoing that just because you show kindness doesn't mean you will receive the same treatment back, and so a student must be strong for themself and be able to help themself.

As I have just finished my pop culture project for lang/lit, I also found the project to open up my awareness to the personal interests of the students, ways in which pop culture is already part of the classroom enviornment, and ways to incorporate it to activate the schema of the students. This was another domain of the classroom environment that plays a role in both learning and social dynamics. It was really fun to take a look at!

In conclusion to this field study, I am so happy that I got this five week opportunity over this semester to "get my feet wet" in a classroom other than my experiences in ECDC and also I am very glad I got assign to a third grade class, since I have mostly worked with pre-schoolers. I think that this experience was taught me so much and was a good way to ease me into the classroom environment. Her at CofC the majority of the student body is of European descent, and even more so at Bucknell, where I did my undergrad, and also Parsons for my post grad. I have always been exposed to people of different cultures and races growing up in the east bay area of CA, however, I never new what it felt like to be the one who was the minority. I really can't say it enough, this was really the best experience I could have asked for. I hope to be exposed to all kinds of new situations and environments in my fields to come. I was also so lucky to have been assigned to the teacher I was. She was very nice and gave me feedback on what I could do better and commented on what she thought I did well. Even with the things she suggested that I change, I still felt she helped to boost my confidence in the classroom.