Field Teach Day 3

Today I did my last of the three field teachers, and it went better than day 2. The kids were much more active in the lesson than they were for day two, although because it was a group activity, it was harder to make sure that all the students were participating equally. The way my mentor teacher and I planned this was so that I would be teaching a review today, and tomorrow they have a test. It worked out well, Senora K did some reviewing of some worksheets they did, and then it led right into the jeopardy game that I had planned.

This 3 day lesson was geared to a particular student who is struggling in the class, and while I think the lesson accomodated her well, it could have been better. What ended up happening is that she paired up with one of her friends who does quite well in the class, and the friend ended up doing most of the work for her. This was not the orginal intention of pair work. I explained (in Spanish) that each student needed to have their own papers during our day 2 activity, but that didnt happen with this student. Next time, I'll have to do a better job monitoring my special needs students and supporting them when I let the class break to do their pairwork.
Another student in the class, Nathan* had a hard time today, the student didnt really participate much, and overall had a bad day. The student is known for his temper, and it appeared today to have really stuck out. Bad things really effected his mood, from getting a bad grade on a test to many other social issues that just seemed to add to his stress.

Overall, I am statisfied with this field teach, not because it turned out perfectly clean (because it certaintly didnt) but because I know I did what I could. I did stumble quite a bit on day two, but revamped my plans for day three when I reflected on what happened. I know more about making connections and transisiton... The kids needed more specific directions and more concrete examples than I gave them.

I learned a lot from this field teach, about how much review kids need, and how even when you give them a cheat sheet, unless you go over it in class, they will still get things wrong that they shouldn't have, simply because they didnt read it.

My interaction and comfortability is increasing each day. I know the kids by name, and that is one of the most helpful things strategies I have learned. Kids really appreciate when you know their names. a lot. Its a way that you show that you have picked them out of a crowd. (Even though I had to use the seating chart to start remembering them, I made it a point to connect with them after I learned their name, which helped me to remember them)


*student's name has been changed