Fieldwork Discoveries

- Discoveries from Planning and Teaching

• Planning needs to be very exact. 
• Lessons can go faster or slower depending on how the students grasp the material, there needs to be prepared for both. 
• Students are going to ask questions that I may not know the answer to, they could either be told to research it themselves and report back to the class or as a teacher, you can tell them that you, as the teacher will research it and get back to them. 
• It is important to learn the students and know their personalities 

- What was discovered about students

• These particular students were very emotional, some were very bossy, and some personalities in the classroom didn't quite click with every other student. There were several "know it all's" in the class an they did not get along with the students who were very bossy.

     - What were your expectations? Were they lived up to? 

• I expected 5th graders to be somewhat organized and more independent than not. I expected them to be able to work with one another with minimal arguing. I also expected them to have really good listening skills and more self control. 

• I personally believe that the maturity level of this classroom was no where close to what it should be. The students were always arguing, even over silly things. They were not independent. They had to be directed step by step in almost everything. Several students lack self control and just think they are too good to do projects because they "know" the information. They make a simple game of jeopardy a process because there is so much arguing. Transitioning from one thing to another was a nightmare. If they have 3 seconds to themselves, all control of the classroom is lost and it takes double the time to get them back on track. 

- Discoveries about self. How did you perform in front of classroom?

• I thought I performed quite well in front of the class. After the initial nerves of being in front of my first whole class, my nerves simmered as I began teaching. I felt very confident in the information that I was teaching. 

- Discoverers about team teaching