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

The Beginning of Our Expedition

The start of a new semester is always great. It means a fresh start and new beginnings. Even though I am in my third year of college, I still get nervous on the first day of classes. This means that I am nervous on Monday and then again on Tuesday. For about 2 or 3 days I am just a nervous wreck. One would think that by now I would have the basics of The First Day of School down pat, right? I do for the most part. The nerves usually come from rumors regarding the class I am about to begin, and if I will know anyone in case I miss a day, or get sick, forget to write down homework, etc.

Walking into class I was pretty nervous. My nerves were relieved when I saw a ton of people I already knew from previous education classes. I can check that off my list of things to be nervous about. Next was all of the rumors about the class pouring into my mind one by one.

The name tag ice breaker was a great way to start the class. Other than refreshing everyones names in my head after a long 3 months of summer, I think it really gave all of the students a solid goal. I know people set goals for themselves all of the time, but when we were all asked to think of a teacher that we had a positive social studies experience with, in my opinion, a goal was formed right then and there. From this class I want to gain the knowledge and the skills to be as good of a social studies teacher as my 5th grade social studies teacher.

The one thing I heard about this class is that it is a lot of work. From the first two days, I can see that this class will require a tremendous amount of time, effort and work; but I whole heartedly believe that by the end of the semester when the class draws to a close, all of that time, effort, and work will be so worth it.