Personal Narrative: My Field Experience

3. Train other students to initiate social interactions- Because the time of a teacher is limited, getting students involved will be a great benefit to helping out the teacher in the classroom.

327). Whether in small groups, individual learning, one-on-one or whole group, students are able to build upon each other’s strengths and weaknesses, bringing with them valued points and strengthening thought processes (Woolfolk & Margetts, 2013, p. 327). These interactions when had in a supportive setting, help to build resilience, self-regulation and tolerance toward one another, which directly impacts on a student’s behaviour (Kay, 2006). My classroom will reflect my passion to facilitate students to reach their full potential, in a safe, respected and nurturing environment, that celebrates the diverse needs of

For my observation hours, I attended a first grade classroom at the Meadow View Elementary in Alabaster. My cooperating teacher's room was full of posters which she had created that featured strategies for counting, reading, and writing. She had created small reading corner, a another corner was Scholastic news, and a side of the room was dedicated to computers and iPads. My cooperating teacher had a total of nineteen students in her classroom and she had numbered all of them one through nineteen, randomly. She had arranged the student tables in small groups of four with an assigned table number to collaborative instructions and she had assigned the students according to heterogeneous groups, but during reading she had the students in homogeneous groups. My cooperating teacher had her table at the back of the room in order for her to see the entire classroom from her desk.

As my two-week camping trip in Cherokee, North Carolina, came to an end, I had mixed emotions about summer vacation ending. My party of six, made up of my parents, two younger brothers and a close friend, packed up the cars; and I was still somehow excited to go home. I missed the little comforts and convenience of a real home, and my dog who I left in the care of my grandmother. But I would miss so much about the campsite I called home for some time.

Since I can remember I have struggled with self-confidence. I have always cared too much about what other people think of me. It inhibited my life in a way. I wouldn’t go out and go to parties, or try out for sports teams. Being shy doesn’t help with this either. However, I made a decision in high school that to this day, I am still shocked I made. I decided to try and gain confidence, and so I did my high school Survivor. As a result from this experience, I learned how to put myself out there. I learned that I can do hard things as well as work well outside of my comfort zone. I gained confidence in myself and I conquered my fear of not doing things out of the fact that I may get embarrassed.

Have you ever felt like something you were doing was so crazy it felt like a dream. I’ve felt that before and it was unbelievable. It was one of the craziest things I have done in my life.

Today I was blindsided when Charlie Gordon, a student in my class for slow adult learners, asked me out for dinner. Apparently, he has had a crush on me. When Charlie asked me, I wasn’t so sure at first. He’s a really nice guy, but he is my student. I told Charlie to ask Dr. Strauss. Dr. Strauss said that it was ok, so it was decided, I was going to dinner with Charlie because I did not want to be rude. He seemed overly excited when Dr. Strauss and I said yes. He jumped and threw his arms in the air as if he had just won Jeopardy. Charlie said to meet him at the Roadkill Café at seven o’clock. As I was driving to the café I was getting nervous about dinner. I tried to get my mind off of that so I focused on the beautiful, blazing, vibrant red, orange, and yellow colored sunset that brightly lit up the horizon. When I got to the café Charlie was not there yet. Granted, I was early, it was about ten minutes till seven.When I walked into the café and looked around and there was not a big crowd there. I was not quite sure when Charlie was going to get there, but he showed up about three minutes later. Charlie seemed quite nervous when he got there. We sat at a little two-person table in the corner and waited for our waitress to come and take our order. When she got to our table she said, “My name is Elizabeth and that there are two specials for today. The specials are the Dixie Line Bovine, tastes real good runned over by wood, and the other special is the Canine Cuisine,

I gasp as my eyes spring open. For a moment, I forget where I am, and scan the room for something familiar. The plant on the windowsill. Four months ago, I reached the city limits of Twisted City. In a few weeks, I would be moving in with Alice. I was taught it was good manners to bring a thank you gift when someone invited you to their home, but what could a homeless girl like myself bring along? I had become accustomed to begging, scavenging, and even bargaining, gathering money wasn't my problem, choosing an appropriate gift was. A few blocks from the compound I lived in, was a flower shop. One day as I passed by, a plant in the window caught my attention. The small plant hid beneath it's much larger siblings, away from the sunlight and attention of consumers. Nevertheless, this plants beauty exceeded above the other supposedly elegant plants. The green of the leaves matched Alice's eyes, and the single blue flower matched my own. Of course, I had to purchase this plant, to grant it freedom and sunlight it was lacking. I had just enough to purchase the plant but would have to find an alternative for a saucer. Maybe the shop keeper felt pity for me, for she gave me a terracotta pot to house my little plant in. Alice loved the plant, she placed it in the window with pride and even became upset when the little plant's life began to fail. I took over its care, though Alice still admires the plant.

When I was younger and hanging out with my friends, I now realize that we didn’t have the best experiences. I feel as if I was always the one to get hurt out of the family although I have never broken any bones. I’ve done some crazy things and stupid stuff, but I’ve learned from it and gotten better about knowing what to do and how not to hurt myself. Overall for being fifteen, I have been through a lot of “injuries.”

This summer, I had the opportunity to “recreate” my identity—to really “be myself”— when I went to a six-week residential summer program in Pittsburgh. As my parents saw me off at the airport, they cheerfully waved and said, “Be yourself and have fun!” And so I did—or tried to, at least. There, no one knew me, and I knew no one, so it was the ideal place for me to take a step back and reflect on who I was—to figure out who I was. There, I wasn’t the annoying, (apparently) haughty, and obnoxiously energetic “baby” of the Sato family. Nor was I the reserved, quiet high school student at AB, the soccer player, the piano player, the list goes on. I wanted to become someone completely different—my true self. But then, does that mean that all of these different versions of me were, in some way, fake?

Surely in life, you have experienced rejection. Suddenly substituting a significant lost before allowing ourselves mend from that hurtful reality. Maybe pursued counseling for a failing marriage yet the ending results were divorcing. Perhaps trying to overcome the pain of betrayal by a friend or family member. Is it possible had an interview didn't meet the qualifications for the job and feel like a failure?

There’s a saying that goes, “In this world, there’s always going to be people better than you, so stop comparing yourself to others and be the best you can be.” I have always thought of this as foolish. Why couldn’t I just try and be as good as them? My own stubbornness pushed away the logical view of this quote and instead, challenged it.

The class trip to the museum seemed boring, but it actually proved to be one of the best adventures of my life. We strolled through several floors seeing tons of majestic statues, old books, and ancient paintings. Interestingly, loads of caution tape covered the entrance to the basement floor. So putting our brilliant minds together, my friends and I slipped right through the caution tape looking for adventure.

It was hot summer day in Banso, Cameroon, kids were running around, parents were washing clothes and cooking as the wind blew the dust into our eyes but we loved it and didn't care. I was playing and my mom came to up to me in the backyard and said, “you are going” and I instantly knew what she was talking about;

When you look through the window of an Elementary classroom, ages 6-12 you will see a steady “hum” of activity. There will be children sitting in small groups working together, some children are working alone, a small group of children will be sitting on the floor with the teacher receiving a lesson. Older students might be helping younger students, children will be moving about the classroom, children will be working with manipulatives, and some might be absorbed in research. The elementary classroom is a very busy community filled with inquisitive minds solving the why, how and when of everything.