Personal Narrative: My Classroom Observation

For my graduation project, I volunteered at Nancy Grayson elementary and worked with kindergarten teacher Mrs. Corman in her classroom. I was meant to work with her students, handle projects, and guide them when they faced problems. The purpose of this was to learn more about grade-school children (specifically kindergarten), and understand the most effective ways in which they acquired new information. My goal was to understand how they learned, what best motivated them, and how I could effectively help them apply what they learned.

For over thirty hours, I was exposed to a wide range of behavior and got to learn first hand how exactly children learn. It was an enjoyable and enlightening experience that opened my eyes to the full complexities of developing minds. I learned about the intrinsic curiosity children have, and how much they truly desire to understand and learn about their surroundings. This realization only heightened my
This proved to be the most difficult problem when completing my project. I became flustered and unable to retain control of the students, and it overwhelmed me when things got out of hand. With over twenty students to the class, there were times when only the head teacher, Mrs. Corman, could get them to settle down. When a substitute replaced her during one of my visits, the students were loud, energetic, and disobeyed nearly every rule established with Mrs. Corman.

However, over time, I soon gained my footing and was able to properly supervise the students. Overall, they were incredibly sweet children that I would love to continue to teach if I could. They drew me pictures, asked me questions, and allowed me to get involved in their process of learning. They really inspired me to continue down this field, and helped me enjoy all the time I spent in the classroom. I feel I have a better understanding of the behavioral patterns of children