What is the most important thing you have learned during fieldwork observation? Why?
I think the most important thing I learned during fieldwork is how a classroom works, runs, and how to do it in an effective way. There are somethings I noticed that don't work as well as others. It was interesting being in two different classrooms and age groups and seeing how they function differently. I learned that the same thing doesn't work for all students. I also learned some ways to modify instruction for students with learning disabilities.
I didn't really know going into this the work that a teacher puts in. I know it is a lot of work but I didn't realize just how much work it is. Teachers spend hours outside of school making sure everything will work out. There were also times when the plan didn't work out or ran short and improvising was necessary. It was interesting to see how the different teachers worked around that. I noticed that if you look like you don't know what's going on then the students catch on to that and start to get crazy.
These are all important skills to have when I am running and managing my own classroom. I hope it is just as effective and well run as the classes that I have been in this semester. This fieldwork has helped me to know that I really do want to be a teacher. I know that this is the right place for me to be.
