The Finish Line is Just the Starting Point. End of the Semester Reflections.

WOW! I cannot believe this semester has come to an end!  I feel that I have taken away so much from this   class and connected with  my peers in a way that I have not experienced in any other class I have taken.  We truly become a supportive, learning community.  The biggest aspect of this course that stands out in my mind is the use of technology.  

I feel very strongly about the use of technology in the classroom.  In a world that revolves so heavily on the latest technology, I feel that students should be exposed and feel comfortable using it, as it is their future. Teachers should not be afraid or resistant to technology as it can provide many helpful, time saving tools for them as well.  When researching my webquest, I found many helpful tools online.  On teachertube, I found many videos made by experts on the topics.  Technology is a great way to motivate and inspire students as well as a wonderful aid for teachers.  When I teach, I plan on use all the technological resources available.  

I have grown and developed as aspiring educator.  This class has given me so many new skills working with technology, developing lesson plans, and giving and receiving feedback.  I believe that because of this class I have gained so many new skills that will be invaluable when I become a teacher.  Teaching truly is a learning process and learning never stops.  This class has shown me that there are always new innovative ways to teach and that there are always improvements that can be made in teaching.  I believe this class has really developed my teaching and professional skills and that I am better prepared to land a teaching job in the future. 

Fireworks!

I truly enjoyed taking this class and I feel that I have grown magnitudes as a developing education professional.  

Dr. Smirnova, it was truly inspiring to have a professor with such a great passion for  education, creative thinking and technology. Thank You!

Talking the Talk and Walking the Walk : My Fieldwork Experience

I completed 10 hours of fieldwork in a 6th grade classroom, I observed and taught the DI, IPM and SIM lesson plans  that I designed.

Classroom Observations: I really enjoyed observing my cooperating teacher and students. The teacher that I worked with has been working as a teacher for 6 years now so she remember very well what it is like to have to do fieldwork and observe.  She was very encouraging and helpful.  The teacher has a very good relationship with her students.  The atmosphere in the classroom was very relaxed, yet student were motivated to learn.  This is the type of setting I would like to create in my future classroom, warm, friendly, relaxed yet hardworking.   The students were not afraid to ask the teacher questions and was always encouraging students to ask questions and share their thoughts and feelings.  The teacher demanded respect and kindness towards all her students.  When there was a disciplinary issue, the teacher would take the student aside and talk to them one on one, in a way that caused the least classroom disturbance.  I really admire this teacher and hope to work with her again and perhaps student teacher under her.

Direct Instruction Lesson:  I was extremely nervous when I was giving my direct instruction lesson as this was the very first lesson I had designed and implement in my career.  The solar system powerpoint that I had designed did not load on the computer so I had to improvise and make the lesson into a direct lecture.  I had to make sure that I was slow and expressive to keep the students attention.  I stopped often to check for understanding and to ask questions to make sure that students were following me.  The students were able to complete the worksheets and were interested in the topic of the solar system.  Altough, I had some technical difficulties, I believe this taught me a very important lesson, you never know what is going to happen in a live classroom.  You can spend hours planning, but once you are the actual classroom anything can happen, so yo have to be flexible and be able to think on your feet and modify things.  I also struggled with keeping track of time.  I had a half and hour to teach my lesson, which was a very short period of time.  The time constraints, made adjust my lesson to present only the most important and essential information.

IMP and SIM lessons: When implementing these lessons, I was a bit more calm, as I had become more familiar with the students in the class.  The students really enjoyed the premise of the webquest and loved working on computers.  During the IMP lesson, I stuggled making sure the student did not linger too long on one of the websites.  Next time, I will include fewer websites, so that students will not have to search too many different sights to find the information. Time constraints, were a limiting factor as well.  Students 30 minutes to complete the webquest, so the students were not able to finish and do the final powerpoint presentation.  This was my first webquest, I believe over all it was a success.  During the SIM lesson plan, I really enjoyed seeing students work together in cooperative learning groups.  I was at a disadvantage, because I was not extremely familiar with the students personalities and strengths and weakness when I placed them in groups, but my cooperating teacher helped me.  At the 6th grade level, the students are prone to fight and bicker, so I got experience diffusing situations and making sure that members of each group were being respective and cooperative.  I believe SIM lesson plans are essential because they not allow teach important subject matter content but necessary social skills that students will have to use throughout their lives.  The more practice they get working with their peers, the more prepared and well rounded the student will be. I plan on using many SIM lesson when I become a teacher.  

Overall, I really had a positive fieldwork experience, I enjoyed working with my cooperative teacher and implementing the lesson plans that I designed.  It was nice to put what I have been learning all semester into practice.  It allowed me to become more confident in myself and know that even when things do go just as planned, I can think on my feet and still have  positive outcomes.