Although my field placement was cut short due to the COVID-19 outbreak I feel like I learnt and accomplished a lot.
The core questions we were given for each week in the field had us paying attention to all our surroundings. Including the school hallways, other classrooms, the students, as well as the teacher. This also helped because the majority of the questions related back to one another in some way. The connections I made with the school were mostly to my personal experiences in an elementary school. Each week in the lecture and seminar the core questions for the field placement were brought up. It allowed me to connect easier with why those specific questions were asked and how it should or could impact my teaching identity. By going through each week in lecture and seminar the core or concept questions that we were responsible for answering in our field blogs helped me gain a sense of independence for myself within a school and search for the necessities that the professor(s) asked for.
I found a new respect for how much effort teachers put into lower-grade students as well as the amount of patience the teachers gain from the students within their classrooms. I have learnt for myself how to comprehend and gain a form of patience for the student’s stories, as well as fun facts or jokes that they wish to tell you on a daily basis. I began to enjoy the stories, jokes, riddles, and fun facts that the student’s liked to share with not only me but also the class too.
Overall, the experience of being in a school helped me know that I was in the correct career path. It also helped me understand more about what students want or expect in today’s education system. It is not completely what I expected it would be like. I expected the classrooms to be a lot fuller and crowded. Yet, the classrooms were actually quite organized and the classroom I was placed in had a corner that everyone fit into for storytelling. I also learnt that the students I receive in my own classroom are where my teaching methods will expand and grow because I will have more time to adapt to their needs and wants for the remainder of the year. I am very grateful I got the opportunity to attend and shadow in the school I went to because I feel like any other school would have been much different. This school seemed like a good fit for me because many of the students had high energy which made my mood better. The students were always in a good mood. And when they were not I was able to make them smile at least once throughout the duration of the day which made me feel helpful and like they were at least glad that I was there to cheer them up.
