Fieldwork Summer Semester

Some of the classroom rules were stay in your assigned seat, come to class ready to learn, work on the assignments that are assigned, and keep the talking at a low volume.  Rules are important for a good learning environment.  It is important for the teacher to enforce the rules.  In the classroom Ms. Cheney's students would always loose their pencils.  Ms. Cheney decided to create a game where each student is given a pencil with their class number on it.  Whoever still had their pencil at the end of the school year would receive a prize.  This shows that a teacher doesn't have to always be "mean" when enforcing rules, they can make it fun. Some procedure the teacher would do to make everything run smoothly, was to keep the student on a schedule.  The students knew what to do, and what the teacher expected.  Also Ms. Cheney would make a list of assignments that needed to be done and instead of micromanaging the classroom, she would be at her des...

While volunteering I saw many different strategies the teacher used to actively engage the students.   One strategy was classroom dollars and group points.  The teacher I helped, Ms. Cheney, is a huge Disney fan so she made Disney Dollars for her class.  When the students were good and actively participating they would receive Disney Dollars.  The students could then spend the Disney Dollars at the classroom "store".  Ms. Cheney also kept track of group points.  When groups worked together and stayed on task they would receive points that they could then use at the classroom "store". Ms. Cheney also had the kids work on an activity that the students actively participated in.  Ms. Cheney had the students separate into pairs.  The pairs would then pick a topic and make a podcast based on it.  The students were all very excited.  The students actively researched their topic.  I sadly did not get to see/hear the finished products, but...

The most important role of a teacher is being open to new ideas.  It is easier for a teacher to just teach lesson the same way every year.  When that happens the teacher becomes more redundant and less enthusiastic about the lesson.  A teacher should always look for new ways to teach.  They should listen to advice given to them by their piers and try to apply it.  When teachers are open to new ideas it improves the way they teach. A challenging role a teacher plays is being a confidant to their students.  Sometimes teachers have to do what is right for their students.  Sometimes that includes being there for their students and getting help for the students that need it.  It can be difficult to see/hear what one's students are going through.  Even though this role is challenging, being there for the students is extremely important.

I participated in many preparation responsibilities during my time volunteering.  I would arrive during lunch so I helped the teacher, Ms. Cheney, get ready for her next lessons.  I also graded projects on important people to Utah's history. I found them very interesting, I'm from California so my school's history was different.  I also recorded the grades the students received on their math homework.  On my first day helping out I was very nervous about messing up and recording/grading something wrong, but the second time I volunteered I was more confident in my skills. The week I was volunteering was the week of testing, so I didn't get a chance to see classroom testing.  When Ms. Cheney was talking to another teacher about the testing and how their overall class was doing. I realized that teachers actually care about how their students do and that the schools look at the scores of the teacher's students. When I was a student I never thought about how my sco...

My time in the classroom was very brief.  The total amount hours I volunteered was six hours.  I didn't see many modifications for exceptional child while volunteering.  I do remember that when I was in elementary school, one way the school was able to modify the lessons for exceptional students was by placing students of similar paces in the same classes.  Also they would have us switch classes for the subjects so if one student was not as fast at science, but really good at math they would't be placed in a slower placed class for all subjects.  As a result to IDEA there are special ed programs offered at schools.  Some strategies the teacher does to help students who are English learners are placing those students near her desk so she can be there when they need help.  Also she would always check on them and make sure they are doing okay.  I am from Southern California so in my schools growing up many teachers could speak Spanish so they could...

While volunteering in the classroom, I had many opportunities to interact with the students.  My first day helping in the class, I got to introduce myself and the class asked me ten questions.  After that the students worked on assignments.  The next time I volunteered, I was able work/interact more with the students. Since it is the end of the year the teacher, Ms. Cheney, had me call each student to the back to get their workbooks to take home.  When they came up I was able to talk to them and get to know each student.  Ms. Cheney is going to teach at a different school and was trying to figure out what books to bring with her, so she had each student pick their favorite books from her library and then give them to me to pack.  It was very fun to see what kind of books the students picked.  This also made me realize the importance of having a fun reading books in the classroom. Teachers have many duties.  They have to communicate with the othe...