Most important thing learned during field observation? Why?

I think the most important thing I learned during my field observation was that the attitude of the teacher affects the way that your classroom runs. On many occasions, Mrs. Ray told me that the days her class was out of control was because of the way her attitude was that day. She taught me many things about the different learning modalities in her classroom and she was fun to watch in the way she used so many different ways of teaching her students. They were always learning a different way.
Even though there were a few days that I came in and her class was a little rambunctious I always felt like she showed me how to effectively manage a classroom. She is a very good teacher and I hope that I can model my classroom after what I have seen in her classroom.

Classroom rules & how are they enforced?

Mrs. Ray's biggest classroom rule that I heard her tell the students' was they needed to ask 3 before me. If she gave directions the students were expected to listen and if they didn't they needed to ask 3 other students before they came to ask the teacher, then she knew they didn't understand not just coming to ask. She had a big stop sign on the wall with this statement in it to help remind the kids.
Some of the procedures she used to make things run smoothly were she was always prepared for the day with each lesson she was teaching as well. Sometimes things would get a little off and she would have to change it up a bit, but I never saw her get frustrated. Mrs. Ray always reminded the students the next step or activity that would be coming up in the day. She had a couple of kids with anxiety in her class so this helped them know what was coming. At the beginning of the day she went through that days schedule as well.
If students started misbehaving she had a Ray buck system in place and they would get a verbal warning and then if she had to talk to them again they would owe her a Ray buck. This helped keep kids on task because they did not want to owe her their Ray bucks. They also got rewarded with Ray bucks for turning in homework on time.

Engaged Learning in the classroom

This topic of the students being engaged in learning makes me excited! I was in a classroom with a fourth grade teacher who used this concept all the time. She was a very hands on learning teacher and used the concept of engaged learning constantly. A few examples that I saw in the classroom were as follows. One day the students were learning new vocabulary words and she had them get into groups to look at the word on the card she had given them. She let them discuss what the word meant and how they wanted to act out the word that was coming up in the next unit of reading they were doing. Each group got a turn to act out their word in front of the class as the class guessed what the word was. They had so much fun doing this activity.

Another day that I was in the classroom they were learning about arrays and after she taught the lesson she sat 7 papers around the room so the students could walk around the room to look at the pictures and do the problems around the room instead of sitting at their desks and just working on a worksheet about what they had just learned. She also used base ten blocks when she was teaching them about another section of math and each student had their own set of blocks to work with at their desk.

These students had worksheets, but they were using active and engaged learning most of the day in their classroom. I believe it helped them interact with each other and help them to learn the concepts better than just sitting down and doing worksheets all of the time.

What is the most important role a teacher plays? Why?

I feel that the most important role a teacher plays is being a "caregiver" and at the same time someone who is supposed to teach the children everything the need to learn for that year. I think this is also the most challenging role a teacher plays. In my own experience volunteering in classrooms and watching as teachers deal with students who are coming in with issues from home or crying and having bad days. The teacher so often takes on the role of "caregiver" but also to an extent has to keep themselves distanced from the problem at hand or they could never leave the job at night. 

I know sometimes when I have volunteered in classrooms and work with students below grade level, it drives me crazy to try and figure out how to help those students. I know that two of the teachers I have worked with have this issue with one particular student and the school system will not put her in special education, so this leaves it up to the teacher to do everything they can to get this student where they need to be while trying to teach 26 or 27 other kids at the same time. 

I know we can't be the caregiver and the teacher, but sometimes it is hard to watch these struggling students and know sometimes they just need a little extra TLC and that can go a long way in helping them learn when they know someone cares about them and the fact that they believe in them. 

Clerical and Preparation Responsibilities

I didn't get to do a lot of clerical and preparation work while I was in the classroom because the teacher I was doing my hours with was very organized and was usually always completely prepared for the day. On a few occasions she did let me check the homework off from the week before and write it in her score book. I corrected the students fast facts and scored them for her too.

The preparations I did were just making copies for the fast facts that the kids were working on and the spelling groups. The students were just starting to work on times tables and she had me copy the times table sheets that she wanted them to take home for homework after they did the fast facts in class to see what they understood and the areas they needed to work on.

This goes along with assessment in the classroom as well. She would teach a concept then give the students an assignment and when they were finished, she would have them check it as a class and discuss the assignment to make sure they understood the concept they had learned.

The thing I loved was it was not always by worksheets, she had the students assess their learning using the different learning modalities on more than one occasion I was there by working in groups, acting out definitions, using blocks for math and many other things.

Results of IDEA

I have been working one-on-one with a student who has many disabilities and and IEP in place. This is one of the many cases of the IDEA law in place at the school I am volunteering in. The particular student I am working with spends most of his day in the resource room because he has a hard time concentrating in the classroom. He does very well if someone is there to help keep him on task, but to do it himself is nearly impossible. 

After lunch he spends the rest of the day in his regular classroom with the other students. I know that he loves to be with other students and he is very social. There are several students that come into the resource room for extra help and then go back to their classrooms. This is following the IDEA law of trying to keep students in the Least Restrictive Environment. 

The student that I have been working with is actually being moved to a self-contained classroom next week because he is struggling too much in a regular classroom environment. I know that the teachers at this school have tried to do what they could to keep him in the school. Along with the parents they have decided the self-contained classroom is the best place for this student. 

One on One

In the classroom I am volunteering in for my hours, I am mostly working one on one with a student that needs a lot of extra help. He is very receptive to me helping him when I am there. I was told that when I am not there that he spends most of his day in the resource room. I don't know exactly what his disability is, but in my perceiving him,  I believe he has a bad case of ADHD and some other disability along with it. I have to constantly keep him on task. 

This particular student is very particular in his work. If something isn't exactly the way he wants it he will go back and fix it two or three times. He has a hard time finishing work and his teacher told me she doesn't grade his work at all. I noticed when we do assignments together sometimes he will grasp the concept and sometimes I have to explain the concept each time we move on to the next problem over again. It seems he has a hard time retaining the information. 

It is particularly rewarding when you come in and see this student's great big smile because he knows that you are there to work with him each day. It can be frustrating sometimes to know that he might not get it, but knowing that he doesn't have to spend the day in the resource room and he gets to spend most of the day with his peers because I am there makes it worth going in each day!