Over the past four weeks, our class had an experience gaining, eye opening opportunity that us as a class were able to capitalize on to further our knowledge and experience as teachers. The opportunity for us to work at Birchland Park Middle School over the past four weeks was an irreplaceable experience being able to work with middle school students and working along side such knowledgeable and experienced teachers at such a great school. I can personally say, the feedback that I received from my students as they were learning the content and performing the lesson, the feedback and friendly life comments I received from my cooperating, Ms. Crews, and the feedback I received from Mr. Losee and Dr. Lorenzo, all together was one greatest learning experiences I am able to take away a plethora of knowledge.
Reflections about my teaching experience/s and developing effective teacher behaviors.
Through this experience I feel as if I grew so much as a physical education teacher. From the first lesson all the way to my third and final lesson there was room for improvement in all of my teachings. But, as each lesson progressed I saw my self improve on the areas I saw I needed to work on as well as, I continuously accepted the feedback from my cooperating teacher, Ms. Crews and the instructors of my PHED 238 class. The feedback I received from all the teachers I had worked with in these four weeks helped the improvement of my teaching behaviors were beneficial. An example of
Union Hill Elementary School is embedded in an area of rich history in the City of Worcester. Their school building was built following the Civil War and has withstood the changes of time from its early years of a primarily Jewish Immigrant and merchant town to today’s urban neighborhood, rich in diversity but plagued with instability, crime and poverty. In March of 2010, Union Hill was identified as a Level IV School; it was a school that lacked structure with a chaotic environment with many deficits. There was a lack of supervision, schedule, standard-based curriculum, effective instruction and leadership. Most importantly, there was a lack of trust among the parents. They did not have the faith that Union Hill was going to give their children the best education possible. Under the supervision of new Principal Marie Morse, changes were made. There was a new level of commitment and passion among the school staff that drove them toward creating five areas of focus for the year:
The realization that I was unequivocally now a graduate student occured to me when I was sitting across from the counselor that I was interviewing for this project. The feelings I experienced beforehand were both excitement and anxiety. I felt nervous about being a guest at a high school and interviewing a seasoned counselor. However, I was thrilled about learning from a veteran in the field and having the freedom to ask the questions that I wanted to know.
Through completing this activity, I learned more than I have with any other activity I have done thus far while earning my Education Specialist degree. I had to observe a teacher and provide constructive feedback using the Framework for Teaching. This observation included a pre-conference where the teacher told me what she wanted me to pay particular attention to. It required that I observe in real-time, rather than simply using a video where I can pause frequently. I then had to analyze the data I collected during the observation, in order to determine strengths and areas for improvement that I shared during the post-conference. The teacher was a master teacher and thought the lesson went very well. She was shocked when I had some ideas for how to improve her instruction. I mentioned that students seemed fidgety, and she could incorporate more cooperative structures to get students more active in their learning. I also thought she needed cooperative roles for students when they completed their group work, that way everyone was accountable for the work.
Week two of field observation at Crestone Charter School. My Second week of field observations was really fun and interactive. I had the opportunity to work with several students from the k-1 class with special needs. We traveled to several reading stations and did a read along with the fourth and fifth-grade students. At arrival, I met with the main Para, Ammie Morphet and was informed that Lexi whom is one of the charter schools highest priority/needs students was the student I would be working with. Lexi usually has a personal in class Para that works with her throughout the day, but she was out sick. Since I know Lexi and have personal experience working with her we came to the conclusion that it would be best if I assisted with Lexis daily routine and any other classroom needs. This allowed Mrs. Morphet to attend to the other students she had previously scheduled for us to meet with.
Kyndall Fritz~ I am a member of the girls’ varsity tennis team. I am a year round competitive swimmer and I plan on swimming for Wheatmore this winter. In my spare time I like to hang out with my friends and go to the beach. I am an active member in my church youth group. My friends would describe me as a funny, friendly, and kind hearted person.
My eyes repeatedly peered to the stands which had a crowd of at least four hundred students eagerly waiting as we were warming up. Observing the crowd I noticed the left side of the field was full of students in orange Parkview High School shirts while to my right students were in purple Brookwood High School shirts. It was the Lacrosse Region Championships between Parkview, the school I played for, and, Brookwood High School. Both of our schools were ranked top ten for biggest rivalries, we knew it would be a fight to win the most significant game for us.
Monday, January 29, 2018, was my first day at Saraland High School and it was my first day of observations. Saraland High School is located in Saraland, Alabama where it is a part of the Saraland City Schools School System. Saraland High School has a student population of approximately 1,000 students. The teacher that I will be observing for this semester is Mr. Kendric Cook. Mr. Cook teaches Health to 10th graders. Mr. Cook has been teaching and coaching for 6 years and this is his first year teaching at Saraland. On my first day, I got to observe Mr. Cook and his teaching styles. Mr. Cook told me before he started his lesson that he considers himself to be a non-traditional teacher. He likes to sit at his desk or sit on top of the student desk when he teaches because he really wants to make sure that his students are engaged in the lesson. Mr. Cook told me that when he was in school his health teacher would just sit at his desk and he would not really “teach” and he
At a school in Texas called Hickory Hills middle school in 1999.It was a normal day for Timothy John he was stealing a nerds lunch.
You would think that at every school there is a rule that there is no bullying allowed. That was different at this school. At this school there were kids getting bullied left and right by this one kid Billy. Ridgeway Middle School did nothing to stop it
This plan took place in 8th grade year, I was a new student at Sunland elementary. It was around September when this event occurred. I learned to not try to impress others making bad decisions that could lead to big trouble.
While getting ready to observe my first class at Upper Moreland High School I was excited to see a new classroom climate through objective eyes that I may not have used before. I would be observing a teacher with fifteen years of teaching experience and is looked at as a prominent member of the music department. Although we have worked together for four years I have never been able to see him teach and was excited about this opportunity. When I approached this teacher he was hesitant, much like the teacher from Reflexive Teaching: Toward Critical Autoethnographic Practices of/in/on Pedagogy , and expressed that he had been teaching the “same way” without any new “fancy techniques” for many years(Warren,139) Before the initial observation I interviewed the teacher. While interviewing him I not only asked about his teaching experiences but about other life ventures and was given some very surprising answers, such as the fact that he was a business owner for ten years previous to teaching. I was curious to see if his business side, as well as, other aspects of his life would show through in his teaching. After three days of observations and shadowing, I have learned a great deal about how life experiences, personal demeanor, among a mountain of other things molds one 's teaching and classroom climate.
It made me realize some things that I didn’t know before. This experience showed me how much of an impact I can have on the students I teach and I am excited be a role model for all of them. I am committed to being an effective physical educator so that my future students can grow to be the best they can be. I can help lead them down the right path of success. Before going into this experience I would have never imagined myself teaching students at the middle school level, but I realized from observing that I would actually love to teach students at this level. The students at the middle school were a lot of fun to work with. They thought everything was new and exciting. The students at Bleeker Middle School wanted to try anything and they really made the best out of everything, including the Fitnessgram testing. I think that I could be a good role model for these students. This field experience has made me even more excited for my future as a physical
In that class, the student learns about different teaching methods and how to care for children. As part of the curriculum, we volunteered at Long Elementary as teacher aides. Working with 4th grade students and observing an everyday class room was such an awe-inspiring experience. I had a completely new perspective about teachers. I have so much more respect as before. Teachers put so much time and effort into helping children for their benefits. I knew from the first day I helped with Ms. Williams’ 4th grade class, how much a teacher is a positive influence on children. There is an overwhelming feeling when you help a student with a problem and in return they give you the most heart-warming smile. The experience at Long Elementary helped me make my final decision on whether I wanted to teach elementary or secondary school. As much as I enjoyed helping elementary students, in my heart I knew secondary school was the path God had in store for me.
The high school experience is something that will forever dominate the psyche of most American adults. It was an unforgettable time of fun, rebel-rousing, summer loves and parties. It was a time of warm summer days at the pool and chilly autumn nights, watching the football team and wondering were the party was going to be that night. School dances and hotel parties. Seems like all I can remember are the good times. High School is a very emotional time for many teens and everything matters. The insidious problems that I had to face are but a smudge on my memory, things like too much homework, zits, mean people, gossip, and algebra. The social atmosphere that permeated every aspect of high school could
When people start high school they’re usually so excited. They can’t wait to experience everything that comes with being in high school, I mean who wouldn’t? Everyone says that high school is the best four years of your life. Now that I’m months away from graduating, I can’t say they were my best years but I can say they were my most educational years, of course I wouldn’t say that they weren’t fun because they were. When I say educational, I mean I’ve learned so much about myself and so much about life. I learned what the words family, love, betrayal, law and life meant. All these events changed me, and I’m glad they happened because I wouldn’t have learned all these lessons. My personality hasn’t changed; I’m still a carefree girl,