My fieldwork Experience

A couple of days ago our class had finished our last day of fieldwork at Bishop Dunn Memorial School. This was such a great learning experience not just for me, but for my colleagues as well. We all learned so much as a class and I am sure we will carry this experience throughout our learning and even when we do become teachers. Even though we did finish our fieldwork, we did not finish our class and I am excited to see what else is in store for us going forward!

Lesson Plans 

During my time at fieldwork I got to see two types of lessons, a direct lesson and a inquiry lesson. Since we were split into groups of 3 or 4 I was able to see how each group did their lesson and the different ways of teaching the content with the lesson plans. Direct lesson is the direct teaching of the information. You are giving the students the information on the topic and then giving them guided practices to then challenge their knowledge on what was just taught. In inquiry lesson, you are providing the students with a problem to solve and they will go through the steps of inquiry to solve it. While watching my groups present, I was able to see how much the students progressed and how much they loved all of our lessons! 

Another part of this experience that I learned a lot from was creating the lessons. Each lesson has a different format. For direct, it is introduction, development, guided practice, closure, and then assessment. When creating a inquiry lesson, you use the format of the 5E's, which are engage, explore, explain, extend, and evaluate. After we would create our lessons Dr. Smirnova would give of feedback on what we should work on and how to improve our lessons for the future. I think that it was a great way for us to see where we need improvements on that way we can better ourselves as teachers. It also helped when actually teaching our lessons. 

Below is the link to my group's lesson plan for Direct and Inquiry lesson! 

Direct Lesson 

Inquiry Lesson 

Reflections & Feedback 

Not only did we create and actually teach our lessons to a classroom of students, we were observed by our fellow classmates. We were expected to watch each group and fill out a form and answer questions based on each groups teaching and lesson. We were also at the end of creating our lessons were exceptions to reflect and add questions for us, as a group, to reflect on at the end of teaching. I thought everyone did an amazing job teaching their lesson. Especially since, for most of us, it was our first time teaching in front of an actual classroom. Each group work extremely hard on their lessons and did the best they could! Below is a link to each of my observations on each group, including the reflection of my own group!

Group 1 (my group) 

Direct Lesson 

Inquiry Lesson 

Group 2

Direct Lesson 

Inquiry Lesson 

Group 3 

Direct Lesson 

Inquiry Lesson 

Group 4 

We were unable to see their direct lesson. 

Inquiry Lesson 

Music & Sleep!

This week our class participated in the BDMS science fair! I had to use my interests and conduct a science experiment. After conducting the experiment we had to create a poster board and send it in to BDMS. For my experiment, I looked at music and people's ability to sleep. I always used to sleep with music on, but as I got older I stopped. I always wondered how I was able to sleep without music after all this time while throughout my teenage years  I have been listening to music. 

      When starting to conduct my experiment, I had two participants. The first participant listens to music every night she falls asleep, whereas the other participant did not. Both participants were required each night to listen to different types of music and one night without any music. This helped determine what kind of music or if no music helped the individual sleep at night. After all the data was collect, I concluded that both participants slept better when listening to relaxing classical music. To collect the data I had my participants keep a journal. When they woke up the next day they were to record their feelings within that journal. There were certain questions that they were to address and those questions included: 

   1. How did you sleep? 

2. What type of music did you listen to? 

3. What type of music do you enjoy? Did you enjoy this one?

Then after the day is done they will write in their journal one more time to answer the following question: 

4. Were you exhausted throughout the day? 

5. Did you take a nap? 

      

      When collecting data and conducting this experiment I did not use any resources on the topic or any other websites for this project. For this experiment I knew what I was doing and my information on the topic I was focusing on. I used past experiences as well as my friends past experiences to further inform myself. If I were to elaborate more on this experiment I would have fully explained what I have done and the process. I also would have explain in depth more on my research as well. Below is a picture of my science fair project! 

       I thought this project was very enjoyable. I loved how I was able to do whatever experiment I found an interest in. I also enjoyed the process of the experiment and going through the scientific method.  I felt as if I was an actual scientist figuring out a problem. You can accommodate this kind of science fair project to meet the needs of different grade levels abilities. When doing it in a higher grade level you can go more in depth with the project by actually doing more research on an individuals brain and how it works to figure out exactly why it is we can sleep with or without music. For younger grades you can do what I have mainly done. Conduct the experiment based on past experience.
 

     I think science fairs are a great part in student's education. It helps them become creative and help

them understand the scientific method better. Throughout the project you are going through the scientific method. You will formulate the question, which is do individual sleep better with music or without. Then you will do research on the topic based on grade level. You could look at the human bodies brain and figure out why this is happening or look through the past and look at people's past sleeping habitats and how that can be incorporated to this experiment. The next would be to figure out a hypothesis. What way do you this people can sleep better in? Do you think the person who listens to music sleeps better or the one without music? You would then conduct your experiment. I mentioned above how I conducted the experiment and thats who you would go through that section of the scientific method. Then collect the data and draw conclusions through what you have found. Did the participants sleep better with the music? Then you would report. Was your hypothesis correct? These are the steps I followed throughout my science fair project. I throughly and carefully made sure I completed each aspect of this method to get the full results. 

When I become a teacher I hope that my school has science fairs and if they do I will definitely encourage my students to participate in them. If they don't I would try and have my class have their own mini science fair. This way they would get a chance to participate in one just like it and get that experience! 

Attention! Attention!

     As a teacher you need to make sure your class is focused and on task with the assignment. Whether the assignment is something the students are doing as a class or individually you want to make sure your class is doing it. In our class we have learned and put to use a thing we call, Signals for Attention! These signals for attention help teachers gain their students attention as well as keeping them focused. They can be called attention grabbers or response signals within a classroom as well. Below is a picture with a couple of attention signals that can be used.

Here is a link to a video that will help you learn more about attention signals and what types are more effective then others! 

     While in fieldwork I have noticed my colleagues using many different signals for attention. It is a good idea for teachers not to use the same signal for a significant amount of time because then the students will not respond to it as quickly then the first couple of times. They will start to get bored of it and choose not to listen. This will cause the teacher to have more trouble gaining control of her class.  Some of the different ones I have noticed my fellow colleagues have used were: 

• " One, two, three" "Eyes on you!"

• "Hocus Pocus" "Everybody Focus!" 

• "Ready to Rock" "Ready to Roll!" 

         However, there are four different types of attention signals. Like the ones listed above, those are called, call and response attentions signals. The other three are turn off lights, rising hands, and echo clapping. Throughout my time in school I have always found that my teachers would always use the last three methods, turning off lights, rising hands, and echo clapping. I think that it is good to use all four within a classroom and keep it as a variety of different attention signals. 

Online Class!

    Today was a very different day for our class! Instead of physically going to class we did an online class using microphones and webcams. It was definitely something I have never done before, but I really enjoyed it. At first when I logged on I thought to myself, "This is silly. I'm not going to learn anything. I'm going to be so distracted." I always thought I had to be in a physical classroom to learn and that I would not be able to learn anywhere else. This proved me wrong. I learned so much from this virtual classroom experience.
    As we were learning from Dr. Smirnova through webcam, I realized this is just one of the many ways techonolgy has changed education and the way teachers teach. Technology has definitely improved things in a positive way. Technology has made virtual classrooms possible, to do things from home for people who can not physically go to school. This was absolutely an experience I would like to experience again!

Assessments

Last week we learned about assessments and all the different kinds of assessments that you can give to your students. After reading and looking through all the different resources that have been provided, I have learned a lot about assessments. They are a very important part of learning. They help review, challenge the students knowledge, and give them a better understanding of what they truly know. They also help teachers find out what the students know, don't know, or are struggling with. The three types of assessments: Diagnostic, Formative, and Summative are the main parts to which teachers get that information. There are many ways to act out those three types of assessments to fit the needs of all different types of learners. I for one am excited to put them in action and use them in the field. Below I attached my graphic organizer which will help people get a better understanding of the assessments. 
Here is a link to my graphic organizer!

First day of Fieldwork!

 Today our class started our first day of fieldwork! In groups we will teach our lessons to a 5th grade class. I was in group one so today was our turn! To say I was a little bit nervous would be a huge understatement. I have never taught in front of an entire class before. When I first started my education classes here at MSMC my fieldwork consisted of observations and one on one instruction. Since we were the first group to go and it was our first time I think we did ok. There was without a doubt room for improvement but we did good.
     We did not get to finish part of our lesson due to the limited time that we were not aware of but we know for next time that we have to work on our time management. Time management is the key to teaching. We also could do better when presenting the information to the class. I know I have trouble with not reading off the slides from a presentation and not fully making eye contact. We are teaching again next class session so we are going to make sure that we are more prepared then before. I'm still a little nervous but hopefully since this is my second time I can go in more confident and be better.

Science and Me!

      Everyone has different experiences in science. Some love it, some hate it, and some don't really care and just get it over with.  When kids start school they are interested in what they are going to do. The students love to learn and love to be interactive with everything they do. Teachers help that process and help children learn. They shape kids minds. The way teachers teach is how kids will feel about the subjects. Some of my teachers were great and some not so great in that department.
       When I am a teacher I plan to do better then my teachers and help make sure everyone loves all the subjects. I will make everything more interesting and more engaging. I will do less notes and tests and more hands-on and interactive projects and activities.

Here is a link to my Scientific Me, which talks about my experiences with science.