It's Time To Say Goodbye

Well we have finally arrived. The end of the course.

At the beginning I thought, "What have I gotten myself into?"

Now that we are at the end, I am happy to say that I wouldn't have changed any of it.

Yes, there was a lot of work. And yes, there were a lot of sleepless nights because of all the work.

All of that work, however, made me better.

I have more confidence than ever that I will be a successful teacher some day, and I have the work to prove it.

I have to be honest, I'm pretty proud of my unit plan.

Never would I have ever thought to do something of that magnitude on the Internet. Before this class I couldn't even tell you what a wiki was.

Blogging turned out to also be an enjoyable assignment.

As a past journalist, I used to be against blogging. I thought it was pointless, and just an outlet for people to ramble about their thoughts.

Well after having to blog for this course, I must admit, I now enjoy rambling about my thoughts.

It is an easy and fun way to reflect on what I learned, and share anything new I may discover in the world of education.

In the beginning of the course everyone I talked to that had taken this course with Dr. S in previous semesters said it would be overwhelming at first, but in the end you will see everything come together and make sense.

They were right.

Fieldwork - Assessment

During my observation, there was a lot of test prep going on.

The state ELA and math tests were coming up in a month, so students were being prepped repeatedly for these exams.

Fridays are review days in the 5th grade class I observed. The only day of the week, specifically designated as a day to "teach to the test."

For example, on the state ELA test, students are allowed to use a highlighter. Due to this, the teacher did a whole theme on highlighting during a social studies unit. She taught them how to highlight without highlighting the whole page or simply using the highlighter to draw.

The teacher goes over test-taking strategies, which were established by both her and the students.

Prior to taking a practice test, the students first had to share useful test-taking strategies.

While the students take this practice test, the teacher walks around the room and observes. The practice test is also timed out the way the actual state test is.

After a section of the test was completed, the teacher would read off the answers. If a student answered a question incorrectly, they would have to say where they went wrong.

The teacher has students do this self-assessment when going over homework answers as well.

She believes if the students can find where they went wrong, they can fix the problem on their own.

Fieldwork - Models of Instruction

During the days of my observations, there was little direct instruction.

Direct instruction would take place the beginning of math lessons, lasting only a few minutes. There was some direct instruction during ELA.

During lessons, there was quite a bit of social and interactive work by the students.

Students work collaboratively on certain assignments, but even when collaboration was not required, students were allowed to socialize and share their work.

During direct instruction, the students attention was generally directed toward the teacher. There were a few students who would talk while she was talking.

When other students were asking questions, the class became noticeably noisier.

The teacher quickly gains everyone's attention again and gets the students back on task.

Whenever a students needs help with something, some students raise their hands, while others just call out the teachers name.

The teacher made it known that she cannot stand when students call out her name.

She constantly lectures them on sitting quietly and raising their hands.

When seat work has been completed, students are well aware as to what they can do next.

A list hangs on the wall in the classroom giving students different options.

These options include finishing any owed work, reading a book, write a story/do a journal entry, study notes, practice math problems, or do reading BINGO.

Some students opt to read a book, however, many just talk to their neighbors or anyone else that sits in their group.

This was a VERY chatty class.

When students are speaking in front of the class, for the most part it is done clearly and loudly.

There are one or two who speak very softly or mumble.

As for the teacher, she speaks loudly and with clarity. It did not appear that, at any point during my observations, students may have had a hard time hearing or understanding her.

Fieldwork - Planning/Implementing Lessons

When it comes to planning instruction, the district where I observed simplifies the process with its scope and sequence.

The scope is based on NYS standards.

When writing out daily lesson plans, the teacher must write an objective, sentence or two describing the activity, and what the assessment will be.

Plans must be written for every subject and are handed in to the principal weekly.

As for unit plans, they are subject-oriented due to the state tests.

Science and social studies units are based on the districts scope and sequence. Math is as well.

ELA units are based on what the students need. This includes writing, word study, spelling, etc.

After going through all of the planning of units and lessons, the teacher must then implement these lessons.

The teacher I observed said that she does not even look at her lesson plans after she writes them.

She prepares herself for what she will be teaching ahead of time. It also does not hurt that she has been teaching for a few years now.

The teacher I observed tries to incorporate different subjects into lessons also.

During a math lesson, are was incorporated when students were asked to draw a picture showing translation, reflection, and rotation. Students then had to write a story to go along with their drawing using math vocabulary.

Another example was in science. Students were working on a compare/contrast essay, therefore incorporating ELA into science instruction.