Author Archives: kempfaj21

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May 4, 2020

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Partner Inquiry

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Final Reflection Kempf

Are we already at the end of the semester? After a remarkable and eye opening journey I’ve had the opportunity to embark on, it brings me joy that I’ve been able to learn the importance of education, and sadness that I won’t be able to be seated with the same fine cadets that I was able to embark on this journey with! As a leader, partner, and student, expeditionary learning consistently drove me to be the best version of me. Educational standards are only increasing and the need to prepare young students for academic hurdles to come is ever expanding. To bring anything less than my best for my classmates and the students of Mrs. Holton’s 9th grade class would have been a disservice to everyone involved. Major Hodde set the bar high and my dear partner Mr. Marchant was always there to hold me accountable in times of challenge. My greatest takeaway will be the civic responsibility I have taken on to be an inspiration to the youth of this country. As I saw the passion and eagerness within the eyes of the students I was blessed to interact with, my breath was taken away at the idea that it was me that they were feeding off of! Passion for education is contagious and if I am able to walk in and show students that as someone closely removed from the situation they are in I care about their success, they are more likely to apply themselves to succeed! One of the beautiful aspects of Fieldwork 411 is that Covid-19 didn’t change a thing about the class. As hard as it tried, education is a constant, thus a class based upon it wasn’t going to budge! Consistent class meetings, sending assignments to our collaboration teacher, and documenting our journey were all elements that remained the same while we continued to thrive at home. Regarding course reading material, I always felt that I understood the readings best when we had the opportunity to apply what we’d read shortly there after. An article that stook out to me was one we read early in the semester addressing that no two students learn in the same manner. It is the life experiences of students that shape how they receive instruction and learn, so a teacher that is aware of this is going to thrive. This is why Casey and I took it upon ourselves to set up a curriculum with a multitude of teaching strategies to include visual, audio, and class discussion. This contributes to the shepherd mentality that I know posses regarding education. I see each student as a sheep who are there to absorb knowledge and progress on their journey of becoming equipped citizens of the real world. If I leave one behind, I’ve failed, so I now take it upon myself to do everything I can do to place students I interact with in a position to succeed. Before class I had not always had this perspective, and that is one of the larger lessons I’d attribute to my time spent within Fieldwork 411.

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April 2, 2020

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Learning Philosophies

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Investigation into a Second Attempt at the Re-introduction of Tablets

Aaron J Kempf
Fieldwork 411
Major Hodde
Due April 2nd

Investigation into a Second Attempt at the Re-introduction of Tablets

Good morning Casey! After you reached out inquiring about some advice regarding teaching inspiration, I took it upon myself to find some scholarly sources that you’d be able to utilize. After some research, I found an incredible article regarding the re-introduction of tablets within an educational environment. What I found unique about the article is that it was not the students performances being measured within the article. Rather, it was the teachers opinions of the tablets use that were gauged to measure how important tablet use was. The methods used for conducting the research were the qualitative method with quantitative insight. By the end of the research, the findings produced results conveying the idea that tablets themselves are not what stipulates learning within a classroom. It is the teacher’s knowledge of how to utilize the tablets that brought about the most effective learning for students.The study was conducted in 1st and 2nd grade classrooms and was implemented because of today’s 21st century need for employees well rounded in all educational areas, specifically technology. many of the skills that employers search for are as listed – students need to have seven survival skills namely: critical thinking and problem solving, collaboration and leadership, agility and adaptability, initiative and entrepreneurialism, effective oral and written communication, accessing and analyzing information, and finally curiosity and imagination. Within the eyes of researchers, the implementation of tablets incapsulate many of these skills and are able to give a well rounded idea as to whether students are maximizing each of these traits. Unfortunately I did find one flaw within the testing, and this would be the fact that out of the 23 patrons surveyed within the research, an astounding 96% were female. Overall, the results showed that of 23 surveyed teachers, only 1 found that the tablets were “trouble” being that students had trouble following directions. Being a class full of 1st and 2nd graders, I like these odds! I enjoyed reading about this experiment and think that there is a lot we can take and apply to our teaching at the local highschool. I hope this was helpful!

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March 6, 2020

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Classroom Participation, Classroom Teaching

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All Hands on Deck! – Blog Post 4

All Hands on Deck! – Blog Post 4

Game changing. This is the term I’d use to describe visit 4 with Mrs. Holton’s 9th grade honors English class. Being in the observational seat is neat for a moment, but the tectonic shift of being boots on the ground and having the opportunity to interact with students one on one is when the boys become men! The day of the visit, the class was acting out scenes from Romeo and Juliet and Casey and I had the humbling opportunity to mentor them regarding how to make each scene more interesting. The students could have easily blown us off and said “they come 4 times the whole semester… why would I listen to them?”. However, they looked at us being older as a tool they could utilize and applied each piece of wisdom we threw their way. This included making boring scenes more fun with voice changes, Over the top body language, and passion during all times of the performance. Regarding Boss’s view on classroom culture that can be “waiting for instruction or leadership”, the students are always well led and instructed, but they looked for advice and by utilizing Casey and I, they found that and more! In chapter 7 boss talks about being able to engage and coach, and being the first time that Casey and I were allowed to interact, we took advantage and applied both. We first engaged the students by introducing ourselves, and then when they knew more about us, we were able to coach them with ideas that we thought would make their rehearsals more exciting than before. What is essential here is that before we coached, we were sure to build that relationship between ourselves and the students. Regarding lesson plans for the future, this visit was the icing on the cake and showed Casey and I that our idea of creating an interactive activity was by far the best thing we could do with the students of Mrs. Holton’s class. By trusting students to work on groups without being specifically told what to do, the creativity was out of this world and I’m eager to see what they produce in the next few weeks. In closing, my Role in the classroom is someone who couldn’t be happier to share my learning experiences with the students to inspire them to be better than myself. My Rapport is someone who is approachable and passionate about helping the next generation thrive. The Routines I put into action are being someone that is consistently humbled by the opportunity to be there and along with this sharing my positive energy like the strongest of forest fires! Very, very excited for what awaits Mrs. Holton’s class.

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February 17, 2020

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Classroom Observation

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A Return Back, but Far Too Soon – 1st Adventure to Mrs. Holton’s Class

Aaron Josef Kempf
Blog Post 3
Fieldwork – 411

A Return Back, but Far too Soon – 1st Visit to Mrs. Hotlon’s Class
Within my previous blog post I had the opportunity to detail my fears regarding visit 1 to the Mary Holton’s 9th grade English class. After my visit I can confidently confess that of all the times I’ve been wrong, this ranks in the upper tier. The visit was so enlightening and motivating that for a split second, I envisioned myself as a high school teacher after I graduate VMI. Within Journey’s Through Our Classrooms we had the opportunity to read through the educational journeys of both Laura and Alfredo who each learned very differently from one another. I mention this to say that just as these two students have different ways of being motivated and connected with, the students attending the local high school were the same way! No two students learn the same way, and luckily for my partner Casey Marchant and I, we have the opportunity to work with a teacher who not only recognizes this but makes it a priority. A handful of observations I was able to make brought me back to the ideas of Elise when she spoke on educational standards in Virginia. For the sake of blog size, I will share 2 key observations I made and explain their significance to classroom interaction moving forward. Firstly, was the approach of the teacher. Mrs. Holton makes it a focal point of her teaching to engage all students, so regarding the educational approach she used PowerPoint presentation, group work, and videos. This way, if a student doesn’t enjoy one, they are more likely to learn from one of the other avenues. Luckily through all 3 avenues of teaching, all students were consistently engaged and responsive to her lesson. This element of teaching relates to page 82 of Project Based Teaching which explains the importance of “making the most of teamwork” within a classroom. Lastly, I was fascinated that for the entirety of the class time, not one student left the room for any reason. According to reports I’ve heard, the average attention span for a typical student is50 minutes. That means that generally, students will be engaged in a class for no re than an hour! This was not the case at all, as all students remained attentive to the instruction of Mrs. Holton.

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February 5, 2020

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Expectations and Inspirations

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Tomorrow, Aaron Kempf Becomes a Teacher…

Kempf, Aaron
Fieldwork 411
Blog Post 2

Expectations for Teaching in Fieldwork 411
Tomorrow marks the first day that my partner Casey Marchant and I will be traveling to our local Lexington high school to begin our interaction with 17-18-year-old English students. Being a student of English myself (college level), it is reasonable to understand that while excited, there are some aspects of this challenge that have crossed my mind. Atop this list of questions I have is whether or not students only 3-4 years younger than myself will treat me with respect as I try to stimulate their learning experiences. As seen in the video showed within class, in order for students to be engaged and interested in subject material, they first need to become comfortable about speaking and establishing a healthy relationship with their teacher. While I have every intention of treating students with respect and dignity, seeing them only 5 times through the semester adds pressure that every experience I have with them, I need to bring my A game. One bad day or slip up (such as not looking engaged if a student takes the time to ask me a question) can alter how the students view me for the rest of the semester. Within project-based teaching, I was able to learn the importance of reading student’s emotions as individuals rather than as a whole. For example, we learned that Alfredo had trouble being comfortable in the classroom because of negative home experiences. Personally, I want to be able to learn what makes each student engaged and if they aren’t engaged, I want to learn what role I can play to better equip them for learning. As talked about with Ms. Elise, students in public schools are often pushed through their 4 years of school and viewed as a statistic. Any role I can play in making a student feel like a star in their own right is a win in my book. I look forward to developing these ideas and getting to know the students of the Lexington community! blog post 2

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January 23, 2020

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Learning Philosophies

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My Learning Experience

Aaron Kempf
Response 2
John Dewey

John Dewey – Genius or Madman?

Born 1859 in Vermont, John Dewey led a life in which social justice was nothing short of a priority. With many pieces of writings detailing his life and aspirations “much of it treats him either as a saint or a villain.” Dewey addresses schools as a social institution that is set in place to serve as a community for its students. Education was viewed by Dewey as a “process of living and not a preparation for future living. In relation to my personal experience, this has not remotely been the case. Mr. Dewey would roll over in his grave if he were to glance at the highschool environment I was raised within, as during my time in school, the lone intention of the school administration was to get us out of school and onto future milestones. There was no time to enjoy the process of living and developing as Dewey speaks of in part 2, as bringing in and pushing out students became more of a chore than a job for educators. Thus, when dewey asserts that “much of present education fails because it neglects this fundamental principle of the school as a form of community life”, based on my life experiences, I have no choice but to wholeheartedly agree. Out of the many remarks Dewey makes regarding the subject matter of education, his assertion that “we violate the child’s nature and render difficult the best ethical results by introducing the child too abruptly to a number of special studies”, stands out, as it brings back vivid memories of my own personal learning past. A large part of Dewey’s argument revolves around the idea that learning needs to be centered around a students life experiences. Within my time of preparing for highschool education this wasn’t a focus at all, as students were selected by teachers which classes they were to take, and there was little to no wiggle room once a decision had been made. Rich, poor, educated, or disinterested, the life experiences of students played no role in which category we were bunched into. Thus, Dewey would be furious to learn that educationally interested students are today held back by class clowns, and students with lower learning ceilings are limited by being overshadowed by future valedictorians.