Week One: Students & Learning Environment: You will focus on the students in the classrooms. Core Questions:

Who are your learners? What does the learning environment look like? Spend some me talking with students to get to know who they are. Join your students on the playground at recess and have informal conversations (and let them get to know a bit about you too). What does the learning environment look like? Take a photo of the class- room (empty) or draw a sketch of what the classroom looks like. Does this remind you of your own schooling or is it very different? How does this space make you feel?

 

I had a positive first impression at my first day of field experience. All the teachers and staff were very friendly in the school. The grade one students were also very welcoming and excited, which is expected from them. They were all very enthusiastic to meet us, show us what they are working on, and learn. They are a very active and fun bunch. The classroom is spacious and bright. The student’s artwork is on the walls as well as other assignments they have done. There is an area in one corner of the room where the teacher explains tasks, reads books, and talks to the students. The teacher has many different ways to get the children to listen and sit quietly, which I thought creative, and the children all find them fun. The desks are put into groups of four and the students have assigned desks. This reminds me of some ways my elementary teachers organized how we sat.

The students had art and gym while we were there. They were making pumpkins to hang out in the hallway and it was fun to see how each student had different ideas to create their pumpkins. When the students were finished with their craft, I got the opportunity to help a couple students with their reading. For the most part they did well, they struggled with big words and words they are not familiar with, but it was a great experience to help them correct themselves and listen to them read. We took the children outside for gym since the weather is still nice. One thing I noticed and liked about the classroom was the teacher has a chart with one hundred hearts on it and it is titled “100 Random Acts of Kindness”. When a student does a random act of kindness for another student, they get to colour in a heart on the chart.

My first day of field experience was great. The teacher and the students are all very friendly and welcoming. Being around the children and observing some of the teacher’s methods made me even more excited to become a teacher.  I enjoy seeing all the little things the teacher does to keep control of the class, make things fun for the children, and all the details in the classroom that make it a fun atmosphere. I am really looking forward to my second day of field experience next week!