Whitney Leavitt
Dr. Agriss
June 11, 2013
Field Experience
Summary
Placement
at Shaw Middle School
1. What have you learned about
teachers during this period?
Being
in a classroom and teaching is different from sitting in a classroom and being
taught how to teach. My coordinating teacher teaches the same English class for
five periods a day. I am somewhat relieved because I think it takes me long
enough to plan one successful lesson to teach for one day. Some teachers have
to prepare two or three different lessons everyday because they teach a variety
of subjects. I have learned through my experience observing this quarter that
teachers are always busy, deal not only with intellectual growth but emotional too,
and without a classroom management plan, teachers are setting themselves up for
more work.
My master teacher is a busy man, I always knew teachers
had a lot on their plate but my thinking did not go much further than that. I
only spend two full days at the middle school a week and by the time I leave I
am exhausted and half the time I was not even the one who taught! Teachers have
early morning meetings, lesson planning, teaching, afterschool programs and
grading papers. Not to mention dealing with students who are struggling. I have
found that prep period and lunches are not always guaranteed. Teachers often
give up this time to provide extra instruction to students. My teacher often
goes on weekend vacations to get a break from the stressful school week. I may
have to do this as well.
I have also found that teachers are not just the people
who teach lessons and grade your papers. At the middle school there are a lot
of students with financial and family problems and often times their teachers
are the only stable people in their lives. I have walked in on my teachers prep
period only to find a crying student asking for help. They can’t get a hold of
their parents and they need to make a court showing or have no form of
transportation to get from point A to point B. There have also been a few instances
when I asked a student how they were and they end up spilling their guts to me
and expect words of wisdom in return. In order to keep a classroom of
emotionally and mentally healthy students, teachers can’t just address the
intellectual component but the emotional as well. Teachers do it all.
Successful teachers are also strict and well planned.
Those with classroom management plans, such as my master teacher know how to
control student behavior. There is a consistent system everyday where kids walk
into the classroom and they know they have to get started on the entry task
right away. They also know that during the entry task their teacher will be
asking somebody to write down the names of those who are not behaving as they
should. They know there are consequences and that their teacher is not afraid
to punish. Strict management plans can make a difference in the conduct of a
student in their classes. A student can be well behaved in a classroom with a
strict management plan and a trouble maker in one that is unorganized. Teachers
have to be on top of their game.
2. What have you learned about
yourself during this placement?
It
is usually not hard for me to be myself, but I found that it took me a few
weeks to adjust to the new classroom setting. The first few weeks I would walk
into the school and feel out of place and I would be awkward at times trying to
act normal. I was constantly trying to act in such a way that the students
would approve of. One day I was trying to get a student to do her work and she
told me, “You should not make that face at me, it is not cute.” I was taken
back a bit and decided to be firm with her. “Do your work.” was my reply. From
that day, I knew that in order for me to feel comfortable in the classroom I
had to be myself. Not every student is going to like me, but I guess that is
life. The last few weeks of my observations have been great! I feel like now I
connect with students on a stronger level and I am conversing with the other
teachers during lunch. I think I found the happy medium between being
professional and being my goofy self.
I
have made a few exceptions when trying to be myself. I am not usually a strict,
mean, feared person. I have found that in order for my classroom to settle down
and stop talking, I need to be strict and mean sometimes. At first I feared the
students would hold a grudge, but after seeing my coordinating teacher punish
students daily, they still came back to school the next day and have friendly
conversations with him. I feel some days it is easier for me to punish those
who are constantly talking out of turn but it is still something I need to work
on.
All
in all, I have learned that I need to be patient with myself, being a teacher
is a tough job and there is a lot to learn. Taking baby steps is okay. Most
people don’t go to bed an average person and wake up extraordinary, it takes
time and effort. I have learned to accept this.
3. What have you learned about schools
during this placement?
When
I had my interview at Shaw to see if I was a good fit, the principle walked me
through the halls of the school and explained to me their plans of bringing the
school together. They have four hallways, and each one has a team name. They
use the teams to establish groups for field trips, competitions, schedule
school wide testing’s, etc. While the principle was explaining this to me he
also told me of the difficulties. Having a school so big and many teachers, it
is hard to get everybody to agree on a plan. It is easy to develop a plan of
action and think, why don’t schools just do this? Saying is easier than doing.
Just because a school has low test scores or a high dropout rate does not mean
everybody that works there is lazy. Shaw middle school strives to promote
student success through fieldtrips, inspirational speakers, assemblies,
competitions and other fun activities. Schools are large and it takes a team
effort to make a change.
4. What is one lesson-learned that you
would share with another student just beginning their 341 placement period?
I
know that for me, coming into this class and seeing that I had to spend nine
hours in the classroom and teach eight lessons. I was a bit overwhelmed. Now
that it is almost over, I look back and realize it is not that bad. My
coordinating teacher and I have a good relationship. He is easy going and would
let me teach whatever classes I wanted, on whatever day. He would even give me
options on what lessons to teach. I would say that establishing a good
relationship with your coordinating teacher will make the experience flow a lot
smoother. I would also say to plan accordingly. You have eight lessons to teach
and one needs to be observed by your advisor, do not wait until the last week
to teach every lesson. You do not need to be more overwhelmed than necessary!
Another piece advice I would give is to plan ahead, you know that before you
come into this class that you need to spend a good chunk of time at the school you
are placed at, try to arrange your classes so you can go to the school twice a
week instead of 5 mini visits. I was lucky enough to schedule classes 3 days
out of the week and leave Tuesday and Thursday free to observe at the middle
school. I know this is a lot of advice but I believe it is important. This
class gives us the opportunity to learn and prepare us for our future jobs. You
do not need to be a perfect teacher yet, but you should strive to be.
