Field Blog-Final Blog

Overall I have really enjoyed my field experience. It has given me the opportunity to go visit schools that I would probably not see otherwise.  While I enjoyed visiting the high school and middle school, I definitely believe that I belong in a classroom teaching younger children.  I enjoyed going into a high school and observing a teacher rather than being a student in the class.  It allowed me to see how teachers teach older students.  While at Shaker Heights High School I was able to see how the two teachers I observed truly tried to form a connection with all of their students.  This also held true at Mayfield Middle School.  While I enjoyed my experience at Mayfield, I don’t believe that I would want to teach middle school.  Gearity Elementary School and St. Joseph School definitely furthered my decision to teach early childhood.  Gearity Elementary School allowed me to see how a teacher handles teaching children as young as three years old.  While there was a big emphasize on play everything in the classroom also had some aspect of learning to it.  I truly enjoyed going back to St. Joseph School.  It was very interesting being able to observe a teacher that had been my teacher before.  St. Joe’s allowed me to see what a third grade classroom was like.  Like at Gearity all of the children were so full of energy and it gave the classroom an exciting feel where children would want to learn.  I enjoyed being able to visit classrooms of all ages, but these experiences have confirmed my decision to teach early childhood. 

Field Blog-St. Joseph School Visit 4

On my final visit to St. Joseph School, the day started like normal with announcements, the pledge of allegiance, and a decade of the rosary.  When that was completed, the students worked on their daily Simple Solutions.  After everyone was finished, they checked the math problems together as a class.  While checking the problems, the teacher had the students take turns reading the questions and answering them.  The students then went to the library.  The librarian read them a story, and the children got to pick out books that they could check out.  The students went back to their classroom where they got to switch seats.  The teacher allowed the students to pick where they wanted to sit and only had to switch a few students around.  After they had finished switching seats, the class had to pick parts for the Mass that they were in charge of the following week.  In order to pick who got to participate, the teacher pulled sticks with the students’ names on them.  If the teacher picked the student’s name, they got to decide what they wanted to do in the Mass or if they didn’t want to participate at all.  After picking their parts for Mass, the students went to computer class.  When they got back from computer class, the children received a piece of paper telling them the steps of confession.  Together as a class they went over the steps in preparation for confession that afternoon.  They then started their math lesson for the day.  That day they were learning about patterns.  While going over the problems, the teacher gave the students’ opportunities to participate.  Once they completed the lesson, they had to finish a workbook page to practice their skills.  When everyone was done, they checked the workbook page together as a class.

Field Blog-St. Joseph School Visit 3

On my third visit to St. Joseph School, the day started out with the children attending Mass.  During Mass the class got to be the choir for the day.  When they had returned to their classroom, the first thing the teacher had the students do was take a Simple Solutions quiz.  Once a student had completed their quiz, they sat at their desk and read a book until all the other students were finished.  Next, they played a round of Sparkle to practice their spelling words.  After playing Sparkle, the students had to work on a page from their reading workbooks.  When they had completed the workbook page, they checked it together as a class.  While checking the page, the teacher had the students go around the room and answer the questions, giving each student the opportunity to participate.  The class then played another round of Sparkle, and the winner of the game won a special treat.  The students took their spelling test, and the teacher gave the children a break and allowed them to play a few rounds of the game Four Corners.  When they had finished playing Four Corners, the students had to take a reading test.  Once each student had finished the test, they were allowed to get an iPad and work on their math or reading skills by playing games.  While playing on the iPads, some of the children had to stop and write a letter thanking their special friend for coming and spending Special Friend’s Day with them.  The students were allowed to continue to play on the iPads or read their books until it was time for recess.  

Field Blog-St. Joseph School Visit 2

On my second visit to St. Joseph School, the day once again started with announcements, the pledge of allegiance, and a decade of the rosary.  After the announcements were completed, the students worked on their daily Simple Solutions. When the students were finished working, they got to color an Indian to help decorate their classroom for Thanksgiving.  After the children were done coloring their Indians, they checked their Simple Solutions by going around the room and each getting a turn to answer a question.  After completing Simple Solutions, the students got the chance to go to the school book fair.  While at the book fair, I got to walk around and help the kids select which books they wanted to purchase.  When the children were done looking around the book fair, the librarian read them a story.  The students then went back to their classroom and started their math lesson for the day.  During their math lesson, the students were learning problem solving using multiplication.  While learning the lesson, the teacher gave the students’ opportunities to answer different questions.  When the children were done with math, they went to computer class.  After computer, they started working on their spelling words for the week.  First, the students had to write the words down in their student planners.  When they had completed that, they worked on pages in their reading workbooks.  After all of the students had finished their workbook pages, they read the story for the week together on the carpet.  Rather than the teacher reading the story aloud, they listened to an audiobook version of the story.