Week 15

What? After field I've really started to better understand how important the Arts are in the schools. The lessons that my field partner and I included Arts related activities in were the lessons that the kids really seemed to enjoy the most and they also seemed to be the ones the kids learned the most from. They really understood the things that we were teaching them. They participated, for the most part, and worked really well with their groups. They really seemed to be learning the things we were teaching them.

So What? I think that including the arts is so important. It helps the kids learn to think outside of the box. By using things like visual art, drama, and dance, the kids are able to see that there isn't just one "right" answer. They learn to think for themselves and solve problems themselves. They also learn how to work with groups and solve problems that may arise in a group. Arts also seems to build confidence in students. They are able to express themselves in a safe environment where they are not made fun of and they are more likely to explore and develop their talents further.

Now What? I will definitely include the arts in my future classroom as much as possible. The kids will learn better that way and not just forget the information that I am teaching them. They will learn to share their creativity without being forced to follow strict rules of what is right and what is wrong when learning. It helps the kids that learn through different learning styles such as visual and kinesthetic. I think it's important to teach in a variety of different ways and not expect kids to all learn in the same way. I will use a variety of teaching methods so that each one of my students has a better opportunity to learn and understand the information I need to teach them in a way that they will actually remember it and be able to apply it in their own lives.

Week 14

Spring Break

What? This week was our last week of field working with the 6th graders. Erica and I were able to teach more lessons on Ancient Greece and help the students more with math and other subjects. For one lesson this week we taught the students about Aesop's Fables and then divided them into groups and had them act out a fable. We took them outside to do this and they got a little bit wild some of the time but for the most part they all did really well and their skits turned out very cute. They all seemed to enjoy it and the groups worked together well. For another lesson we had taught the kids about myths and then had them work in groups to create their own myth. This was the day that our supervisor came and observed. The class had a substitute that day and they were really crazy for the substitute but then when we taught they were super good for us. Our supervisor told us we did really well considering the substitute.

So What? I learned that you can set expectations for the students and change their behavior, regardless of how they are behaving for others. I think it was very helpful to have a partner while teaching because while I was talking, Erica would help keep the class under control and while she was talking, I could help keep the class under control. It's a really good way to learn to work well with my fellow students and to learn to take advise from them. What I might think is the best way does not always work the best, and I've learned, working with Erica, that it's important to listen to the advise of others as well.

Now What? Learning to work with others will be really helpful as a teacher because I will be able to work with and take advise from other teachers and from the principal instead of just assuming my way is the best. Some things that I don't think will work actually turn out better than I expected. Others have ideas that I wouldn't have thought of considered doing on my own so working with a partner and with the cooperating teacher has really helped me to listen to the opinions of others.

Working with 6th graders was very helpful to me. I have only worked with younger students and working with older kids is very different. This experience will help me in the future to decide whether I want to work with younger kids still or if I want to try working with older students some more. It has helped me to see that it is fun working with older students and that I am capable of doing it, but I still think I would do better working with the younger grades. This field experience has helped me to actually start considering more what age group I really want to work with in the future.