Field Work Blog 5

I think the most important role a teacher plays is that of a good example. These children are around one individual 6 hours 5 days a week! They are bound to pick up on things. More than just learning the curriculum, these students are seeing how their teacher faces difficulties, is flexible with the changing of plans, and also they are picking up on how their teacher feels about them. A teacher's impact can not be quantified. It is endless in scope and infinite in possibilities. A teacher's belief in a child can change that child's life. Maybe that child will start believing in themselves, too. And they will follow the teacher's example and start believing in others as well. And from there it cascades into a beautiful positive impact on the world. And it all started with a  teacher's example. 

The most challenging role a teacher plays is that of diciplinator. (Is that a word? Spell check doesn't think so. But I think it fits what I'm trying to say, so there it will stay.) I think it would be extremely difficult to have to be the one to enforce the rules, and give negative consequences when students do not obey. Teachers are NOT the student's mothers, but the ones who behave badly probably aren't getting enough guidance and support at home, and so that direction has to come from the teacher. But as a teacher and not their mother, it's much more difficult to help the students learn essential social skills and help them behave than it would be otherwise. It places a huge burden on the teachers and it effects the learning of other students when students act out. It's an issue that doesn't have a particular one size fits all solution, and dealing with it on a case by case basis sounds extremely challenging. Mrs. Wilson has spoken to me multiple times about how difficult it can be to help a student learn to behave. She knows this student has no real support or guidance from home, and it's sad for her to try the best she can and see no improvement. It sounds discouraging, frustrating, and heartbreaking.I can't imagine a job much more difficult than that of a teacher's job to discipline the students. 

Field Work Blog 4

Mrs. Wilson stays after school at least 1-2 hours (or more) every school day to do lesson plans, grade papers, and coordinate with other teachers. I stayed after school one day to help her grade some science tests. It took so much longer than I thought it was going to! I found myself losing steam quickly- especially since I had helped throughout the afternoon in the class. She played some relaxing music, and she settled in to add lots of grades into the computer. She had me record the scores for the tests, I put the tests in number order (each student had a number to keep things organized). Mrs. Wilson also had me return some previous assignments back to the students in their cubbies. I learned there is a lot of organization and alphabetizing and coordinating that goes on behind the scenes for teachers. 

As for testing, Mrs. Wilson's class had just completed (or tried to complete) the new RISE testing from the State. She explained to me about all the problems they had trying to complete the testing. Mostly due to technical difficulties, she was disappointed and frustrated in the State School Board for moving forward with a test that was not ready to actually access what the students have learned. In the past, Mrs. Wilson's classes have always scored very well on end of year testing, but this year the tests will not be considered at all due to the technical difficulties. The normal unit exams for the various subjects are generally put together by herself and the other teachers based on the Common Core (such as the science test I helped grade). Overall, Mrs. Wilson doesn't have a problem with testing in general, but the feels like it needs to be done in a professional manner in a way that can more closely assess what the students have learned.  

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Modifications for Exceptional Learners

In Mrs. Wilson's classroom, she has a few exceptional students. There are many different ways she supports these students, and many different modifications she makes. As I was helping grade papers, she gave me special instructions on how to grade certain student's homework/ morning work. For some, she only required them to do half the amount of work, and still gain full points. She explained to me that these students were doing their full effort to complete this work, and because of their mental capacity they can't do much more. If they do their best, give them full points.

 There were other ways these exceptional students get the help they need. They have various "pull out" classes. Mrs. Wilson said that they try and incorporate them as much as they can with the rest of the class, but for some things they have to go another class. I was able to observe in these other classes. There is much more one on one help, as in smaller groups (2-4 students per one teacher) the students are able to more easily focus and get questions answered. These pull out classes were for the fundamentals in reading, writing, and math. I feel like having these classes really is beneficial for the students, and allows them to learn in a better environment. Keeping them as much as possible in the "home room" classroom also allows them to develop their social maturity and not feel completely ostracized or left out. Overall I learned a lot about the various ways teachers help those who are exceptional students. 

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One on One Experience 

I had a wonderful opportunity to work one on one with an ELL learner. Elise (name changed) has moved here from Mexico, and speaks very little English. She needs extra help with reading and writing, and doesn't communicate much. Mrs. Wilson had me pull her aside to the back table and do some reading exercises with her while rest of the class worked on their guided reading. We read a simple book (about 1st grade level). She did very well- but got easily confused on words like "looked". We practiced the words she struggled with, and then I spoke some sight words aloud to her and she had to write them down. Because I spoke a little Spanish to her, she opened up to me. Mrs Wilson said she hasn't gotten that far with Elise so quickly in one sitting before, and was very impressed. I was grateful for the opportunity to work with her, especially since her level is so different from the other 6th grade students. 

This experience brought to my mind the impact that diversity can have in our classrooms. We do not discriminate, we do not leave any children out. Everyone deserves an education. Just like those who fought for desegregation in schools, we know that including all students is what is right and fair. We see the impact of diversity and inclusion in our schools today. Their efforts have lead to so many more kids being included and learning in ways they maybe would not have. I am grateful for those who stood up for what they believed in, and brought all children together to learn. 

Field Work Blog 1

What does a teacher do all day? 

For my field work, I am helping in Mrs. Wilson's 6th Grade class at Brockbank Elementary. My first visit for field work today was an interesting day. She warned me that because it was the end of the school year, a lot of things do not run as normally on a routine like the beginning and middle of the year. These 6th graders were practicing for their 6th Grade graduation and I helped herd all 90 or so of them from the three 6th grade classes into the gym to practice for their graduation program the next day. I noticed that sometimes there is chaos in teaching- organizing events like graduation takes flexibility, vision, and an extreme amount of patience.

It also took teamwork. All three 6th Grade teachers had to work together to figure out where the classes would sit, where they would stand for receiving their diploma, how to get the projector set up, etc etc. I was amazed with how detailed it all had to be. And although they all had a good idea of how it was supposed to run, sometimes you just have to get "down and dirty" to get the job done- by taking all the 6th graders down to the gym to figure out the kinks. It was amazing how they bounced ideas off of each other, made decisions, and communicated clearly with the students.

Following the graduation practice, I observed and followed along as Mrs. Wilson completed some benchmarks. She pulled students back individually, introduced a text, had them read a section to her as she followed along marking every word they read. She then had them finish reading the story on their own, and come back later to answer some comprehension questions. I was impressed not only with how well the students responded to Mrs. Wilson, but also to how meticulous it was for her to keep track of every single mistake and question answered from the student. Paperwork and recording progress is a huge part of teaching.

Although it may not be exciting to simply write down errors and corrections, it was exciting to see how well the kids read and understood their texts. Mrs. Wilson was 100% focused on the students and discerning how well they had "learned" and absorbed the text. She knows that students learn different ways- but the most important thing is that they LEARN. By doing the benchmarks, she was able to find out how much these students were actually improving and learning in their reading.