Field Experience Reflection

1. How many hours did you complete?

I completed 5 hours, or 300 minutes, of field experience.

2. In a short paragraph or bulleted list, how did you spend your time?

I spent two hours of my time observing Mrs. Bugg, our school library media specialist; two hours observing Mrs. Cole, a first grade teacher; and one hour implementing a lesson in my classroom. 

I observed Mrs. Bugg during two different fifth grade library lessons.  The first lesson was on characteristics of Appalachian drama.  The students first reviewed the three types of cultures that they had read plays from – Colonial, Cherokee Native Americans, and Appalachian cultures.  Students then were assigned parts in a Reader’s Theater from Appalachian culture called Old Dry Frye by Paul Brett Johnson.  Students spent the rest of their time reading and acting out the Reader’s Theater.  The second time I observed Mrs. Bugg she was identifying the different genres of literature and reviewing genre characteristics.  First, student groups were given genre cards and they shared with the rest of the class what the meaning of that genre was.  Next, the class used the Smartboard to play a game that gave questions about genre characteristics as they moved around a game board.  Through my observation, I saw first hand how much content Mrs. Bugg teaches during the library special area class.  I always knew she taught and didn’t just check out books, but I learned how in depth her lessons were.

My two hours observing Mrs. Cole and her first graders showed me how she incorporates reading into all subject areas.  I observed her class before Mother’s Day, and they were reading The Mother’s Day Mice by Eve Bunting, illustrated by Jan Brett.  Mrs. Cole did a lot of things that we learned about in this class, including asking BIG QUESTIONS and focusing on the illustrations, too, not just the words.  Some of the questions she asked were “Why do you think…,” “Can you make an inference about what you think he might do?,” and “How will mom feel about that?”  When talking about the illustrations, Mrs. Cole used the illustrator’s name and made connections between this book and others illustrated by Brett.  During another observation, Mrs. Cole read an informational text about pennies.  This book has big color photographs that showed what old and new pennies looked like, what a mint looked like, etc.  While reading, the students made text-to-self connections. 

I spent one hour in my own classroom, implementing instruction for Rosa by Nikki Giovanni.  During a discussion on Civil Rights, I read the book to my class, asking BIG QUESTIONS as they arose, discussing new vocabulary words, and highlighting the illustrations.  My students had many different opinions on whether they would sit there strong and silent like Rosa, or if they would leave the bus, or (in some cases) punch the bus driver.  This book allowed us to have a discussion about Civil Rights and let the students feel like they were actually in Montgomery with Rosa Parks.

3. How did the experience help you to strengthen at least one Kentucky Teacher Standard? (be sure to name the standard)

         My field experience helped me strengthen Kentucky Teacher Standard #3 – creates and maintains a learning climate and Kentucky Teacher Standard #4 – implements and manages instruction.  By observing other teachers, I was able to see how they handled discipline problems in various situations.  I will be able to take these techniques back to my classroom and use them to better myself as a teacher.  By implementing my Rosa lesson, I was able to take things I had learned in this class and use it with my students.  By incorporating BIG QUESTIONS into my lessons, I was able to deepen the understanding of my students.

4. Talk a little about one thing you learned because of this field experience.

I learned that it can be easy and effortless to incorporate books into various subjects.  Of my five field experience hours, three of them used reading in other subjects – math, drama, and social studies. The more this technique is used, the more seamless it will be for students.  I will definitely be incorporating more reading instruction into all the other subjects that I teach.