Looking back at my field placement, I think about my first day and how I felt showing up to the school for my first day. In a way, I almost felt like my first day of high school. I was very nervous about being in the classroom and I am pretty sure that my partner felt the same way but once we got into the classroom it was smooth sailing. What really helped was meeting our corresponding teacher and having her calm us down and making us feel welcome inside the school.
I knew that in my mind I wanted to be a teacher but when I got through that first day, I knew in my heart that this is where I needed to be. Once we got into the classroom and started having conversations with all the children I took a deep breath and just relaxed because I knew that this is what I want to do with my life. I am what you would call a people person so I love being around people and being able to talk with somebody and figure out what I can do to help them in any way that they need. I have always tried to be a leader when it came to anything with teamwork so I knew that teaching would come naturally to me. Some of the kids at first were a little scared to talk to us but other than that we really got to know everybody fast.
At first glance, I wasn’t quite sure of how the students preferred to be taught but after talking to the corresponding teacher. We both noticed that in the classroom the students were allowed to move around and work in different spots so they could be closer to friends if they chose. understanding how the classroom worked was good to know because I could then put myself in a place where I could help the students and they could ask us questions as well. Being able to actually help the children with learning we got an understanding of what every kid was looking for in terms of help. Some kids suffered with certain tasks while others thrived in those certain situations so we could adjust with our delivery of the help to better suit the child. This was my first real taste of teaching in a proper setting so it helped me understand how what kind of teacher I wanted to be.
Due to Covid 19, my field placement was cut short by a couple of weeks. I was quite upset about it when I first got the email saying that I wouldn’t be going back to the school. The part that sucks the most is I was just starting to make connections to all the kids and we were starting to get comfortable with each other. Other than the field placement being canceled early, I really did love my time at the school and being around the students. the truth about ECS 100 is that your field placement is the best part of the class.