My Monitoring Experience During These Classes

During the months of September and October this semester I spent time at two different schools in four different classrooms. Being able to observe different classes and teachers at Westside Junior High and South Live Oak Elementary was a very new and exciting experience for me since I can’t say I’ve always wanted to be a teacher. My experiences at these schools gave me a better insight into the differences between schools, classrooms, and teachers. The purpose of this field experience was to get 10 observation or tutoring hours in an elementary or junior high setting. I chose to observe a

* Observe and record certain elements of the pupil’s academic work therefore taking some pressure off the teacher having to complete all observations themselves.

My observation for the spring semester was placed at Pine Richland High School. I was able to watch over John Dolphin’s twelfth grade British literature course. John Dolphin has been teaching at Pine Richland for the past eighteen years. I went to observe his class three times. Two out of three of those visits I was able to be at the school all day long to really get the feel of the way it is like to be at the school all day and seeing the difference of his eight classes. Throughout my time there I learned different strategies on how to keep the students involved, the way that a school of this size is ran, and the difference of how John taught compared to my previous observation teacher.

At Arts-Based School I did my observation in Leni Fragakis’s third grade class. This was the first observation I had done since learning about instructional design. Since learning it, I now have a new way of observing, I pay more attention to the teacher; how she implemented the lessons, what strategies she uses, and the types of assessments she uses. This gives me a better experience because before I was just paying attention to what the students were doing and their part in the classroom and now I am paying attention to so much more. Even though it is important to watch the kids, I now also know how important it is to observe the teacher, too. I was also able to observe what I am learning in class be used in the classroom.

I learned the day before my visit, Miss Suzy threw a pizza party for the children. The day of my visit they were going to make their own individual pizzas (I did not get to view that part of the day). I noticed that during circle time, two children seemed uninterested had wandered off. Miss Suzy did not do anything about it, she just let them be. I thought that was wrong of her because the two children were not being involved. The children could of already known what they were speaking about. If that was the case she should of given them some work to do. When circle time was over, Miss Suzy asked each child which part of the room they wanted to play in. Students chose dramatic play, arts and crafts, reading, and playing on the computer. Miss Suzy walked around each group asking them questions, expanding their imaginations. Morrison states "that teachers work with gingival children, small groups" (2003, p.232). Watching Miss Suzy, you can see she really enjoys what she does. She never once ignored a student who went up to her. She seemed genuily interested when the children shared stories with her. She always welcomed them with a hug when walking into the room in the morning to begin their day, and the children would come in running to hug her.

Another interaction was when the teacher was reading a story, two kids were taking during she was reading. The teacher said to them to stop and listen and they did. Another interaction between the teacher and the children was encouraging the upset child Kayln. He liked to be alone all the time, and he wasn’t an active child. When the time of the outside activity was done, the teacher asked him to enjoy the group in music area, but he refused and kept being alone and then the teacher asked him to draw something then he did. I noticed there were many redirections to the children. For example, one child was drawing and colored all over the paper and the table got messy, then I told him the paper is used for drawing and the tables are for toys. Then he drew again and wasn’t messy like the first time. The teacher was using effective technique to teach the children when one child tried to be alone and was shy, and the teacher changed the environment of the child and he became less shy. During my lab time I learned many important things, like I learned the best thing which was to wait first and see if the children can solve problems by

Journal one of the Westminster College class EDU 562 Field Experience was related to observation and participation with a first grade classroom, on Monday, January 4, 2016. Upon arrival the class teacher provided instructions to assist in the set up of the classroom January calendar, make a graph of the lunch choices, and to pass out morning work for the students to complete as they arrived in the classroom. At 8:30 a.m. the teacher welcomed most of the students with excitement as they entered the room. She informed the students in detail and repeated the routine and morning arrival instructions. Once everyone arrived, the teacher rang a bell which symbolized it

Today was my first day with my coop since she was out sick last week, and meeting her students, I began my day observing. The current chapter that the students are starting is part of the SLOW program; therefore the students need to take a pre-test before they begin learning the chapter. This test will be graded but will not count toward the students' grade in the class. Once the students take the post-test, Mrs. Falchek will compare the pre-test grades and the post-test grades. This information will be use to help her evaluate her lesson and make the necessary modifications.

In this class I was able to assist with everything the students did. I helped with craft time where the students would create a craft depending on what the lesson plan was for that week. I helped students utilize their fine motor skills by advocating the individual task of using a glue stick without help, coloring in the lines, and using safety scissors. Each task was focused on the child performing at the best of his or her ability and using praise to promote the task and the child 's ability to perform the task. During story time the students would sit in a circle and either Mrs. Abby or I would read to them while asking questions about the story or about something pertaining to the story. During music time, the students watched educational videos about letters, numbers, colors, and how to count. I saw that the videos kept their attention while also allowing them to dance and sing along. In this type of class setting I was able to contribute to the development and advancement of each child by pouring my knowledge and experience into their lives. Having such a small class was helpful in that I could focus on each child individually to ensure that the students were equally cared for and valued.

Since second grade reading starts at 12:45 p.m. and I come to the classroom at 1:00 o’clock p.m., I walked into the classroom and say, “Good afternoon.” Today, I helped two students, one-on-one. One student I worked with was creating a sentence using the word was. Before I started helping this student, I told her “I like your hair clips.” While I was helping her with her sentence, I would ask her to read the sentence to me to check for errors. The other student I helped one-on-one with was to creating a sentence using the word are. I did notice this student did not appear to be as motivated to work on this task and kept saying, “I don’t know how.” I helped this student by giving him positive comments such as, “I think you can do; you are almost there.” Both of these students I helped have different learning needs and I help assistance their needs by demonstrating a positive attitude and ask questions to help students complete tasks. By greeting the students, this allows students to know I do not have any bias

The aim of this journal is to relate the experiences I have had in my first practicum, the situations I have faced there and also to talk about some problems that occurs inside the school and I have noticed, these problems are related with the students and the teacher who is in charge of me.

All student development must be recorded by the teachers with the help of marked assignments and monitoring each child’s individual progress. The teachers must recognize any problems that students have, e.g., if a a student requires extra help, they should liaise with the parents, the Senior Management Team and the SENCO. This is to resolve any issues regarding the children’s needs and

Conducting classroom observations are very important to the prospective teacher. Observing helps show how experienced teachers manage their classroom. For this observation it was important to notice how the classroom was arranged, how the teacher interacted with the students, the teacher’s management style, and interview the teacher.

It has not been easy but challenging and interesting. Unfortunately in this present job I have no colleagues, institution authorities or supervisors, which means anything I do in the classroom hardly ever provides me any feedback of what I am doing. Except of course for the eventual commentaries I receive from my students and the annual performance evaluation. Therefore I had this urgent necessity of obtaining some refreshment and reviewing of what I am doing in my classroom. I need to make a stop to reflect about how effective my teaching is. If the things I am doing are adequate and suitable to take my pupils to achieve their goal to communicate in the target language. Teaching in this context was at the beginning of the journey a frightening and stressing episode, first of all because I did not know anything about mining, geology, finance and accounting, just to mention some and not to make myself look like a complete ignorant. Secondly the atmosphere in a corporate has nothing to do with the informal ambience in an elementary school and thirdly but not least important, the students expectations and perceptions are not the same. Thus, I had to remake myself.

I chose to observe Mrs. Tijerina for my classroom observation. There are many reasons why I decided to observe Mrs. Tijerina. I elected to observe Mrs. Tijerina so I could see another teacher’s perspective on teaching Spanish, as she and Mrs. Fiechter are the only Spanish teachers in the school. Furthermore, I never had Mrs. Tijerina for Spanish 2, as the teacher I had left Adams Central. Additionally within the hour I was observing, there were many sophomore students that I knew personally so I was able to ask them on their options of the class. Finally, Mrs. Tijerina’s goal was to teach in a similar way to Mrs. Fiechter’s teaching, and by observing her I was able to compare and contrast the two