Fieldwork Experience

During the first half of my Science and Technology Methods course, my classmates and I broke into groups and all taught two science lessons to a fourth grade class. This was the first time I was going to teach to a class and I wasn't really to sure what to expect. I am so happy I got to experience teaching a class and being able to learn from my peers while they got the chance to teach the class. I thought I learned from this experience a lot more than if I just read articles and books about how to teach. I was able to observe the actions of students, for example, what excited them, distracted them, engaged them and much more. This experience overall added to my understanding to student learning because I was able to see what students benefit from in a classroom and some successful teaching methods. I learned that students really need to have an organized set of notes so they can easily follow along and retain the information they are learning. I noticed that when students weren't sure what was asked of them it caused confusion which ultimately meant they weren't learning because they were distracted. The groups that taught with a clear set of notes and expectations had a better response from the students. The first day of teaching my group and I handed out flowers colored red, yellow, and green to check for the students understanding. Although it sounded creative and fun for the kids to use, they became a huge interference with the students' learning. This made me realize that some things might sound good on paper but could be difficult to successfully implement in a classroom. I also realized how important time management is in a classroom for it to function properly. The more planned and organized a lesson it really shows in the students work and learning. Students need time to write notes, ask questions, and discuss their learning but teachers need to make sure not to rush so students can do this. I learned about how each lesson should focus on the five E's: engage, explore, explain, elaborate, and evaluate. I understand that students need to be engaged to really learn about a topic. In my future class I want to find interesting ways to engage my students and get them excited to learn! I noticed that the more engaged the students were then the better the outcome was. Confidence is also very important while teaching. Students can tell when someone is well prepared when they are teaching a lesson and when they are unsure of themselves. It is so much more beneficial when the instructor is really educated on the topic they are teaching because then more information can be provided to the class. Through fieldwork, I learned that it is a great idea to provide the students with links, books, articles, etc. for the student's inquiry lesson plans. I wasn't sure what a direct or inquiry lesson plan exactly was prior to fieldwork but now I feel like I understand more about this. I was able to watch different groups approach these lesson plans in several ways which was beneficial for my understanding of teaching. I also learned what I needed to work on personally. I knew it would be difficult to control a class but now I realized it is something that is very important in order to teach. I also realized I need to work on speaking louder and with more confidence because it truly does make a difference. I'm happy that I was able to teach in front of a full class and watch how others teach as well. Being the first group to teach was a little unsettling because I didn't know what was really expected of me, but I learned a lot through this experience. I'm excited for next semester when I get another chance to teach again in front of a full class! Now I feel like I will be more prepared and will know my expectations next time around. I cannot wait to learn more about teaching and myself!