February 12, 2015 Afternoon Fieldwork Experience Blog 8

What is the most important thing you have learned during your fieldwork observation? Why?

     I am very grateful for the opportunity which I have had to go and work with such a wonderful group of first graders and their teacher.  It was an eye opening experience for me and one which I will never forget.  I think that the most important thing that I learned from my observation is that a first grade classroom (which grade I was set upon teaching) is not the grade for me to teach.  I loved the honesty and excitement in the kids but they had so much energy and were all over the place.  There was a lot of tattle-telling, crying, "selective hearing", and lots of other misbehavior's.  They would try the patience of a Saint and believe me their teacher was one!  It is the first year these students are at school all day and they learn a lot about structure, rules, and control in this first year.  Personally I think I would be better able to handle a slightly less out of control group of students... second or third grade.  I am glad that I observed and had the opportunity to discover this.
     I learned so many valuable things thoughout this semester including ways to engage the students in the classroom better, different ways to deal with behavioral issues, and most importantly that there is now a common core that teachers teach from.  I am excited to continue to learn how to become the best teacher I can and to hopefully remain open minded to new thoughts and ideas.

     I always loved school and thought it would be great to be one of those teachers that I think back on and appreciate.  I was blessed to have passionate grade school teachers who loved what they did and loved seeing their students succeed; that makes all the difference in the world.  I hope to one day have the opportunity to inspire that same love of learning in a new generation of students.