Week Eight or Final Week: (some students will have 7 while others may have 8 half-days)
Final Reflections: Interconnectedness of Knowledge, Schooling and Society Immediately following your final day of field experience, take me to look back at the experience as a whole, look at the ‘big’ picture and write one final reflection.

 

 

 

 

The last day of field experience came way too quickly. I am going to miss going into the classroom every week. I learned so much in such a short time and wish I could continue to go more to expand my learning. To start of the afternoon, the students did some silent reading. Following this they were learning different ways they could represent the number ‘14’. They got to work with a partner first then took the ideas for some independent work. After the number lesson the teacher read them a Christmas story. After recess, the students wrote in their agendas and got to go have their library time. They got to pick new books and then listen to another story. I am going to miss all the students and see their progress in the reading, writing, and math skills.

At the beginning of the field experience, I was nervous to go. I didn’t really know what to expect and had never been into elementary schools in big cities, only small, rural schools. Each time I went into the classroom I felt more comfortable and more confident. I also learned something new every time and have lots to add into my toolbox. My cooperating teacher was excellent and made the whole thing less intimidating and gave my partner and I very useful knowledge and strategies to use in the classroom one day. I learned many new ways to get students to focus on their work. Being in a Grade 1 classroom, the students often had hard times listening and would get distracted or lose focus quickly. The teacher had many ways to re-group the students such as little songs, poems, clapping games, and telling them to be a certain animal. Something the teacher always did was positive encouragement. She never told children negative things and never gave kids trouble, but would instead say things like, “I appreciate how ***** is working quietly”. Often times the student that was misbehaving would hear this and want to also be praised and therefore would quiet down.

I think I have grown a lot and learned a lot from my first time in the classroom. I never realized just how much prep work goes into being a teacher and how much other paperwork there is. I enjoyed observing teacher techniques, how she taught lessons, and the role of EA’s in the classroom. The school as a whole was very kind, friendly, and supportive. My cooperating teacher said everyone in the school shares ideas and helps out when needed, such as with a student with behavioral issues. My time at W.F Ready School was a time I will never forget. Each day I had so much fun and never knew what to expect, as each day was a different day. I will use the things I learned there in my own classroom in the future. I am very thankful for this experience and everything I learned there.