Experience in the Field

I have not posted to the blog in quite a long time.  Our Teaching Science and Technology for Elementary class has been involved in field work at Bishop Dunn Memorial School for the past 4 weeks.  We were broken into 4 groups of 4 people and were required to present our lesson plans together as a group.

The group I was assigned to was a good group to work with.  Everyone was willing to get together and had really good ideas.  The end product was very good.  However, it was extremely overwhelming how much work was involved!   I am so glad it is over with!  This past weekend I went to visit my son and I realized I felt as though I had been living under a rock for the past 4 weeks since I was so consumed with working on the lesson plans for our presentation! I just hope eventually lesson planning will be like breathing, and will not be so all-consuming.  I hope the more we do it, the more natural it will become.

However, I did enjoy actually teaching the material to the students.  I just love being with the students and seeing them engaged in what they are learning.  The paperwork is overwhelming to me--I wish it didn't exist!  I know I will need to present to my principal what I plan to do for a unit or semester in the future, because that will be his/her job--to know that the curriculum is being covered.  Yet, I just would rather not have to deal with paperwork--it is just so tedious!  It is my most NOT favorite part of the teaching process.

The field work was valuable.  I learned what works and what doesn't work for keeping students engaged.  Technology can be a God-send for keeping students' attention.  Little boys love video games, so computer programs, such as Kahoot, are very attractive.

Having a long slidseshow or presenting too much information at one time causes some students to lose attention.  They become overwhelmed, like a circuit which is overloaded, and shut down.  This leads to behavior challenges. 

The presentations of the other 3 groups were engaging and educational.  Group #1 taught about the 5 senses.  I have always been fascinated by the human body.    Group #2 taught about gravity.  Their inquiry lesson was very engaging.   The final group, Group #4 taught about wind and had the students construct pin wheels with different materials.  I really thought this was the best lesson as the students really had to investigate which materials made he best pinwheels, and test them out, and draw conclusions based on their experiments. 

I am looking forward now to next year and being nearly done with the coursework and tests for obtaining my teaching license.  At first, going back to college was exciting and I enjoyed the coursework, but that was over 2 years ago.  Now I just really want to be done and get back to living life.  I am beginning to count down the months that are left.  I cannot wait to don a cap and gown and receive my diploma!  I feel I am on my way to being a great teacher, I already see a difference over where I was a year ago.  I know this time spent inside the classroom, as a student, is valuable.  I hope I will look back fondly on this time in the years to come.