Is the seat in the correct place? Did I fill up my field log correctly? What if the students start acting out? Everything had to go right, it was my first observation. Since then, I have come a long way. I look back and remember my supervisor giving me feedback on how I did and improving on those things just to satisfy her. I was too stubborn to understand that she was giving me this information for my own good. I just did it for the grade and knew when I had my own classroom things would be different.
Going into Pre-K I had no experience teaching in a public school, but I had to do it. It made me happy that I had another intern in my classroom. It made me feel a lot less nervous about talking to my students and teachers. It’s weird but 4 year olds made me nervous. I think I was scared that I wouldn’t be able to keep their attention or teach them enough of what they need.
In the Pre-K classroom, I liked the way there were was a parapro in the classroom. The teacher took advantage of this and split the groups up during instruction. When I moved onto Kindergarten, the parapro was not used in the same way. Instead I saw a lot more centers and very little whole group teaching. This was not really my favorite. First grade was the first classroom with just one teacher. She taught them whole group and there were no centers. I didn’t think I would miss centers, but I saw a need for it. During PTLS I got to try out some team teaching. I just wish I knew more about it so I could have done it effectively. I enjoyed having another teacher who helped me out during the lesson.
As an intern, we have to take upon our cooperating teacher’s ways. Sometimes they might think it is offensive if we try to switch things up, but once I was confident enough, I would add some of my own things into my teachings. I noticed this got some attention from the teacher when it worked well. For example, in 5th grade I used a lot of powerpoints and the students enjoyed the simplest lessons. They seemed to be a lot more engaged than just writing on the board. I noticed the teacher trying to do the same things.
GSU has trained interns to NEVER use worksheets. This was easy in the beginning when planning simple lessons, but when it came to the upper grades it became a bit difficult. I noticed my classroom teacher using tons of worksheets and when I didn’t she would assign one for homework. This was what she agreed with and what I was told NOT to do. It was also hard to be creative and not too childish. I noticed myself finding lesson plan ideas in places I never looked my first semester.
The lessons I taught without worksheets were fun and enjoyable. Students got a chance to rap about a subject or put together puzzles I made at home. Students got to see pictures, colors, powerpoints, and attractive things. I would put myself in their position and ask myself if I would be engaged. Everyone loves color and it seems to help with students writing/reading skills. I think my students learned them most when I made lessons with hands on experiences. They learned the least when they did things out of their workbooks. Through this experience, GSU just proved to me why they dislike worksheets.
As I reflect back to the first semester, I now realize how helpful the observations really were. I have improved as a teacher mostly because of the placements and observations. I like how we get to see the different kinds of instruction. I enjoy the various kinds of feedback from the different supervisor. I have realized that I do not have to agree with everything but it doesn’t hurt to try it out.
Given the experience I have many questions about literacy and education. Even as teachers watch hands on experiences, why don’t they utilize them in their own classrooms? My teacher saw that some of the fun activities stuck with the students, but she still did worksheets with them when she taught. Why can’t teacher understand that there are more ways than just worksheets to teach lessons? I just don’t get it! The teacher’s should be required to ask themselves, would I enjoy doing this? Do I really want to grade this? These are the questions I ask myself before implementing a lesson.
FINAL RESPONSE
Is the seat in the correct place? Did I fill up my field log correctly? What if the students start acting out? Everything had to go right, it was my first observation. Since then, I have come a long way. I look back and remember my supervisor giving me feedback on how I did and improving on those things just to satisfy her. I was too stubborn to understand that she was giving me this information for my own good. I just did it for the grade and knew when I had my own classroom things would be different.
Going into Pre-K I had no experience teaching in a public school, but I had to do it. It made me happy that I had another intern in my classroom. It made me feel a lot less nervous about talking to my students and teachers. It’s weird but 4 year olds made me nervous. I think I was scared that I wouldn’t be able to keep their attention or teach them enough of what they need.
In the Pre-K classroom, I liked the way there were was a parapro in the classroom. The teacher took advantage of this and split the groups up during instruction. When I moved onto Kindergarten, the parapro was not used in the same way. Instead I saw a lot more centers and very little whole group teaching. This was not really my favorite. First grade was the first classroom with just one teacher. She taught them whole group and there were no centers. I didn’t think I would miss centers, but I saw a need for it. During PTLS I got to try out some team teaching. I just wish I knew more about it so I could have done it effectively. I enjoyed having another teacher who helped me out during the lesson.
As an intern, we have to take upon our cooperating teacher’s ways. Sometimes they might think it is offensive if we try to switch things up, but once I was confident enough, I would add some of my own things into my teachings. I noticed this got some attention from the teacher when it worked well. For example, in 5th grade I used a lot of powerpoints and the students enjoyed the simplest lessons. They seemed to be a lot more engaged than just writing on the board. I noticed the teacher trying to do the same things.
GSU has trained interns to NEVER use worksheets. This was easy in the beginning when planning simple lessons, but when it came to the upper grades it became a bit difficult. I noticed my classroom teacher using tons of worksheets and when I didn’t she would assign one for homework. This was what she agreed with and what I was told NOT to do. It was also hard to be creative and not too childish. I noticed myself finding lesson plan ideas in places I never looked my first semester.
The lessons I taught without worksheets were fun and enjoyable. Students got a chance to rap about a subject or put together puzzles I made at home. Students got to see pictures, colors, powerpoints, and attractive things. I would put myself in their position and ask myself if I would be engaged. Everyone loves color and it seems to help with students writing/reading skills. I think my students learned them most when I made lessons with hands on experiences. They learned the least when they did things out of their workbooks. Through this experience, GSU just proved to me why they dislike worksheets.
As I reflect back to the first semester, I now realize how helpful the observations really were. I have improved as a teacher mostly because of the placements and observations. I like how we get to see the different kinds of instruction. I enjoy the various kinds of feedback from the different supervisor. I have realized that I do not have to agree with everything but it doesn’t hurt to try it out.
Given the experience I have many questions about literacy and education. Even as teachers watch hands on experiences, why don’t they utilize them in their own classrooms? My teacher saw that some of the fun activities stuck with the students, but she still did worksheets with them when she taught. Why can’t teacher understand that there are more ways than just worksheets to teach lessons? I just don’t get it! The teacher’s should be required to ask themselves, would I enjoy doing this? Do I really want to grade this? These are the questions I ask myself before implementing a lesson.