Field Experiences

I've been placed with my mentor teacher for going on 2 semesters and I will stay with her through student teaching. When I was notified about my placement, I was not happy. I had always said I wanted to teach 1st grade and applied to get placed in a 1-2nd grade class. I decided to keep an open mind because I had heard that Ms. Holloman was a good teacher. Her class began to grow on me and now I am in love with fourth grade.

I have had a really good experience in Ms. Holloman's class. I learn more each time I go. Not only do I observe lessons that are being taught, I learn about discipline and organization. Being organized is really important in how well a classroom runs. I've learned this by being in many different classrooms. Teachers that had to take time to get things together have more problems with students' behavior. Teachers that has everything ready to go and transitions smoothly from one thing to another leaves less time for students to disengage.

My favorite visit was one in which the students were taking part in a mock-trial. They were working on point-of-view and were really excited take a part in the court trial. They worked so hard to analyze the story they were given and pulled the tinyest details out to prove their back up their arguments.

I'm not sure I have had a least favorite visit. Even a visit where the students we taking a math assessment was interesting. The students had to write out explanations for how they solved the problems and why they did what they did. I think that was a good idea because most of the time, if you can explain how to do something, then you understand it.

I'm looking forward to more time in Ms. Holloman's classroom and I am nervous, but looking forward to student teaching. I know I have already learned a lot from my mentor and will continue to learn.