During my first week back in field experience, I have already learned so many amazing things from my new teacher! I knew that being a student teacher in the sixth grade was going to much different than being a student teacher in the fifth grade, even though I only moved up one grade level. Not only have I fallen in love with my field experience teacher within the first week, but I have rethought what I would like to teach in my own future.
On the very first day of my field experience, I mainly observed the students and helped out with what I could. My teacher had planned a very well thought out activity for the students as she teaches Social Studies and they are learning about maps. The first thing she did was get out all of the students into the pod outside of their hallway and once they were outside she split this class in half. Once the students were split she then gave every student a partner, there was one group of three. One partner was the A partner and the other was the B partner. The A partner's stayed in the pod area, where they read an article about gold and its history. They were also required to take notes. The B partners followed my teacher back into her classroom where she explained their instructions. In the room there was three pieces of paper on the floor of her classroom, but in different areas. On the pieces of paper were pictures of gold and the B students job was to draw a map for their A partner of where to find the three gold pieces. The B students had five to eight minutes to finish their map. Once they were done, they were sent back outside of the classroom but they had to sit on the wall and wait for further instruction. My teacher then asked me to come into the room and help, I had no clue what she was up to or what her lesson plan was. Once we walked into the classroom, she locked the door and then looked at me and said, “Now we get to trash the room!” I laughed nervously and asked what she meant by that. She showed me by carefully tipping over a desk and chair on to their side. Then followed by moving the rest of the desks to completely opposite sides of the room. We did that to every single group of desks in her classroom. She said to make it look like a blizzard went through it because in the activity, that’s what happened. She then turned on a playlist with tons of windy sounds and she put a picture of a snow covered mountains on her smart board. To add more dramatic effect to the activity, she proceeded to put on a heavy winter coat, a fuzzy scarf, and a oversized beanie. I then asked her if she was hot and she said, “I feel like I’m having a heat stroke.” Yet, she was determined as ever to go into full character for her students. Once she was outside in the pod, she told the B students to give their A partner the maps they drew. Once all the A partners had a map from their partner, they went into the classroom and had to find the gold pieces from the map their partner drew. While my teacher and I were making the room into one big mess, we turned the three pieces of paper with the gold on the front over. We then proceeded to put other pieces of paper on the floor, so the students would have to rely on the map alone to find the gold. Very few students found the gold, but after the activity my teacher asked the students why it was so challenging and how could their partner have made a better map? Which then lead to her whole concept of the lesson: Five Important Aspects of Map-Making.
My teacher decided to teach the lesson this way because the students would be able to understand why those five aspects are so important and why they need them. By having them perform a hands on simulation, they were able to focus and get their own ah-ha moment towards the end of the lesson. Not only that, but the students had to participate in the simulation. Whether they were creating maps or taking notes on an article, they were never just sitting there. She did this so that she could keep them focused on the task at hand. She also had everything single part of the simulation tie back into what her main concept was. There was no busy work or useless worksheets. Every part of the simulation had a purpose. The article provided background information about gold and how it was discovered so the students would know what they would be looking for once they were in the classroom; creating a disarrayed room, created an illusion for the students as if they were really were scavenging for gold, giving them an incentive to participate in the activity. Going the extra mile for students can really improve how they interact in an activity whether it’s a whole class simulation or just a small group activity. They want to participate because it’s fun and exciting! Going the extra mile could push them to go even farther than giving the minimum effort.
Being a student teacher is more than just getting early experience for my future career, it's about being able to really get involved in my community and experience the politics of being a teacher as well. Without the knowledge of the teaching at my age I would not be as prepared as I am at the moment.
