Field Experience Reflection

I visited Bicentennial Elementary School in Nashua, NH. That was my elementary school when I was a child. The fifth grade teacher I had in fifth grade, Mrs. A, was the teacher I chose to interview. When I visited her classroom, she was teaching a math lesson but throughout the day she teaches all of the subjects.

I observed her classroom and found it enjoyable. I was only there for a short period of time but when I was there, I noticed how the students respected her. I remember having her as a student and loving her. She has a sense of humor and way of speaking that puts her on a level similar to the children’s. She doesn’t make herself seem superior or higher than they are.

When I observed, Mrs. A was teaching a math lesson. She uses a projector for the lessons usually, she said. I was a bit sad to see her room was disheveled because she was reorganizing, so the projector was not set up. That didn’t seem to bother any of the children, though. They used a white board and was able to learn just as well.

Mrs. A had the students answer questions and she would write or draw what was needed on the board. At times, she had the students come to the board themselves. For a lot of the questions, the students were using white boards and put it in the air when the answers were written down. I was looking on with the paraprofessional in the room when she was teaching. Mrs. A was using Common Core and had a paper that she was teaching from. I found it interesting because the sheet was very detailed and strict with that she was to teach. It had a lesson and what she was to say to teach the lesson. It then gave examples and a number of minutes she was to talk about each area. She gave her own examples and took extra time when needed but followed the sheet pretty well.

 On page 245 in our textbook, it talks about visual learning. Mrs. A uses her projector a lot and is able to help students learn that way. I can see Mrs. A as a constructivist teacher. One element of constructivism is letting students participate in activities that help them to gain the knowledge they are supposed to be learning. I saw Mrs. A doing that when she was teaching a math lesson. She had the children use white boards to show their answers and how they came across those answers. The students were able to work on their own but still participate as a class. Some could have seen it as a game, an activity to help them understand what they were learning.

 I loved observing Mrs. A’s classroom. I enjoyed seeing a teacher of a grade (fifth) I was not used to. It was also one of the first classrooms with technology open and in the hands of all of the students. I liked seeing it. I wished I had seen it used more but cannot imagine the fun they are having and the learning experiences that are coming out of using them.

My Hero Project

I chose to do this project on my grandpa, Charles Boghigian. He died in December due to Alzheimer's Disease. He was 96 years old with the advanced stages of Alzheimer's. He is greatly missed and will always be remembered.