Field Experience Essay
When I first made the decision to go to college to be a teacher, I did it because I enjoyed kids. Now after being in the education program for two years and having been in multiple classrooms, I have decided that I want to be a teacher not only because I like kids, but because I enjoy being a part of the intellectual and physical development children go through. To me being able to witness and help in the development and growth that children undergo in the classroom is one of the most rewarding feelings I have ever experienced. I have had teaching experience in both small and large group settings and the feeling was the same, when I can help a child succeed in learning, I find myself successful too.
Each field experience I have been involved in has shown me many different aspects of teaching. I feel I have become more aware and more prepared to be a teacher myself. I am confident in writing lesson plans and I understand that lessons might not always go as planned and that improvisation and flexibility are key. From my experience I have learned that lesson plans are very important but they also are just the key ideas and concepts, if the children I am teaching are not following or not …show more content…
interacting well with the lesson plans I had, then it is important to change and continue on with my key ideas but in a different way. I have also learned in my classes and experiences that children learn in different ways and at different speeds, some children are kinesthetic learners, some linguistic, some auditory, some spatial, and some are a mixture, it is important in a lesson to reach out to every type of learner so that all children are learning the best way possible.
I have learned concepts on providing challenging material to each individual student and how to keep the appropriate speed in the classroom so that all students are learning and being challenged. One idea that I have learned about and also seen in action in the classroom is to hand out varying math problems to students, each student gets a math paper that challenges them in their own development, this way students that are ahead are still being challenged and students that are behind are not continually falling behind and are working to continue to move forward.
Another thing that I have learned about lesson planning is that it is important to continually come up with new ideas. In my experiences, I have worked with teachers that have been teaching for ten or more years, and a lot of them continually came up with new ideas for the lessons they had been teaching for years. Either the teachers used old lessons with new twists or completely new lessons, but they were always changing and transforming their lessons from year to year. I find this to be very important because it keeps creativity in the classroom and it also discourages the same lesson year after year or to be teaching an outdated lesson.
I am aware how important it is to communicate with other teachers and staff in the building that I will be sharing my students with, this way I know how well they are doing in each area of their development even when I am not teaching them.
I have had the opportunity to work with a couple students on IEP’s, they left their main classroom for thirty minutes every day to work with the special education teacher and myself to achieve their goals in math, reading, and writing. One of the most important concepts I took from this experience was the communication between the classroom teacher and the special education teacher. It was important for both parties to know what development had been achieved, what still needed work and what the children have been working on in each
classroom.
I have also learned that communication is key with parents and guardians and that it is important to let parents know both positive and negative things that go on in the classroom with their child. One of the mentor teachers that I worked with told me, “Always start with a positive, even if you are contacting a parent or guardian for a negative behavior, start with a positive just to convey the idea that the child is not always a problem and also to maintain a positive relationship with the parent.” Having a positive relationship with parents and guardians will help the child in the long run and will also let the child know that many of the adults in their life are working together and want what is best for them.
Each field experience I have been involved in has shown me many different aspects of teaching. I feel I have become more aware and more prepared to be a teacher myself. I am confident in writing lesson plans and I understand that lessons might not always go as planned and that improvisation and flexibility are key. From my experience I have learned that lesson plans are very important but they also are just the key ideas and concepts, if the children I am teaching are not following or not …show more content…
interacting well with the lesson plans I had, then it is important to change and continue on with my key ideas but in a different way. I have also learned in my classes and experiences that children learn in different ways and at different speeds, some children are kinesthetic learners, some linguistic, some auditory, some spatial, and some are a mixture, it is important in a lesson to reach out to every type of learner so that all children are learning the best way possible.
I have learned concepts on providing challenging material to each individual student and how to keep the appropriate speed in the classroom so that all students are learning and being challenged. One idea that I have learned about and also seen in action in the classroom is to hand out varying math problems to students, each student gets a math paper that challenges them in their own development, this way students that are ahead are still being challenged and students that are behind are not continually falling behind and are working to continue to move forward.
Another thing that I have learned about lesson planning is that it is important to continually come up with new ideas. In my experiences, I have worked with teachers that have been teaching for ten or more years, and a lot of them continually came up with new ideas for the lessons they had been teaching for years. Either the teachers used old lessons with new twists or completely new lessons, but they were always changing and transforming their lessons from year to year. I find this to be very important because it keeps creativity in the classroom and it also discourages the same lesson year after year or to be teaching an outdated lesson.
I am aware how important it is to communicate with other teachers and staff in the building that I will be sharing my students with, this way I know how well they are doing in each area of their development even when I am not teaching them.
I have had the opportunity to work with a couple students on IEP’s, they left their main classroom for thirty minutes every day to work with the special education teacher and myself to achieve their goals in math, reading, and writing. One of the most important concepts I took from this experience was the communication between the classroom teacher and the special education teacher. It was important for both parties to know what development had been achieved, what still needed work and what the children have been working on in each
classroom.
I have also learned that communication is key with parents and guardians and that it is important to let parents know both positive and negative things that go on in the classroom with their child. One of the mentor teachers that I worked with told me, “Always start with a positive, even if you are contacting a parent or guardian for a negative behavior, start with a positive just to convey the idea that the child is not always a problem and also to maintain a positive relationship with the parent.” Having a positive relationship with parents and guardians will help the child in the long run and will also let the child know that many of the adults in their life are working together and want what is best for them.