Field Placement Week One
The first week in my field placement was interesting. It was definitely not what I was expecting when I first pulled up to the school. When I first arrived I went to the office and let them know that I was there from the university. They welcomed me and showed me the classroom that I would be in. The teacher greeted me and she showed me around the room and let me know where her day planner was and gave me a quick rundown on what the day would entail. Waiting for the kids to arrive was nerve-racking despite me giving myself the little pep talk to hype me up in the car. Once we went outside to meet the kids, all those nerves went away and they instantly brought me and my partner to play on the playground.
When we went back inside, the class was working with ice and how to melt it faster with salt. My partner and I were in charge of putting salt on their ice blocks and later putting colour on top of them to watch it fall through the melted cracks in the ice. The kids seemed to enjoy that. The rest of the class was essentially just playing with the kids and getting to know them. A majority of the kids were around three to four years of age and they were very intelligent. The class had a focus on animals and they were able to easily recognize animals when I asked them. There were many kids that all left an impression on me. For example, one who had just lost their first tooth in the morning before school was so proud she brought it in a bag and showed everyone. As well as another kid who wanted me to play with them. According to the other helpers in the room, she does not talk very much and usually answers in one-word replies, but when I was with her, she was talking in full sentences and seemed happy to have me around.
I am looking forward to returning next week and seeing what is in store for when I come back. Unfortunately, I did not manage to get a picture in front of the school, but I will try to get that for next week.
Field Placement Week Five
This week was quite similar to the one before in terms of the day to day activities; apart from the staff meeting in the morning discussing the recent school sanctions. My partner and I went outside to greet the kids and let them play outside for a while. While they were outside I did notice the different friend groups and cliques in the class. It was interesting to see them establish these groups at such an early age. As the day progressed, the kids were having their snack which led to many different types of food. My partner mentioned the diverse food groups which I found interesting because I had not considered it previously, but when she mentioned it I could not stop thinking about it. Some may have an assortment of fruits and vegetables, while others may have a quick muffin. Different types of food may not seem like much on the surface but it shows the many different demographics and different lives that the students have.
On our way to the library, we passed a bulletin board that showed different charts and achievements that the school had gathered from the year so far. It showed different statistics such as the schools’ attendance and so on. I thought that was an interesting way to show the many different things going on throughout the school in an easy way for all to understand.