Author Archives: solisbm21

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May 4, 2020

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Partner Inquiry

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Final Reflection

As my time in Fieldwork comes to an end, I realize that I learned significantly more than I had originally anticipated. My time with Ms. Donahue’s Environmental Science class showed me a lot about how students learn with such unique goals. It was interesting to be with a class that went out in to the field, like Brad and I, to not only collect data, but to learn outside of the classroom. I can genuinely say that I have developed as a student because I have seen from a new perspective what it is like for a teacher to try to teach a class that isn’t completely motivated, and it has made me strive to be a better listener in my own classes.

I was initially extremely nervous to step into the high school class, considering I was a high school student not too long ago, and I would have most likely been too ignorant to listen to what a couple college students a few years older than me had to say. This was not the case, however, when I did enter the classroom. The respect the students had for my partner and I granted me a big confidence boost, and I was more eager to do whatever I could to help, even if that meant being persistent to the point of annoyance.

I was truly disappointed when we moved to an online learning environment because Brad and I were really looking forward to the opportunity to give our own lesson. Our plan was to give a lesson on public speaking, then watch them utilize what we had taught in their debate activity. I felt that I had a lot to offer for this lesson, as I have taken two public speaking classes at VMI. My experience with conducting a virtual lesson was certainly interesting, but it was not at all a waste. Technology is rapidly making its way into the high school learning environment, so I think that having the students learn virtually can somewhat be seen as a benefit.

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March 5, 2020

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Classroom Participation

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Classroom Leadership Experience and Learning Activity Proposal

During my third participatory classroom visit, the students were tasked with compiling all of their data from their research experiment at the middle school. Specifically, they were working on putting their data onto a poster using two different types of graphs. Mrs. Donahue informed us that the students were having trouble concentrating, which was obvious as soon as we stepped in the class. To help with this, my partner, Brad, and I roamed around the classroom helping the students with their work. My partner and I had a strong leadership role in doing this because the students turned to us for help when they encountered difficulties. Additionally, there was one group of three students that spent the majority of their time talking and joking rather than doing their work. Brad and I stepped in and practically annoyed them to the point where the only way they could get us to leave was to do their work. Overall, this classroom activity exemplified the EL principle Student-Engaged Assessment, because the students were doing their own research and data compilations, and they had to become the leaders of their own learning.

My invented idea for a learning activity for the class is a group presentation on a selected environmental issue. Students will be split into groups of two, and they will then choose an issue such as single use plastics to discuss. This will be an effective activity because they will have to conduct their own research on their selected environmental topic, and they will have to present possible solutions to the class. This activity incorporates the EL principle Collaboration and Competition because students will be working in groups to conduct their research and do their presentations. This activity will also be useful because Mrs. Donahue wants Brad and I to give a brief lesson about public speaking, so they will have to incorporate what we teach them into their presentations.

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February 17, 2020

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Classroom Observation

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Observations From My First Classroom visit

When I first entered Ms. Donahue’s class, the first thing I noticed was that the students were seated in a circle to encourage more discussion, rather than facing the front for a lecture styled class. My partner, Brad, and I didn’t know what the conversation was about at first, but we later learned that the class was discussing their plans to go to the local middle school to try and figure out how to reduce waste from lunch food. They developed an elaborate system to figure out which foods the students were not eating, so that they could pass along the data to the school board to stop serving those foods. I was very impressed with the participation that was coming from most of the students, and the students that weren’t speaking up were encouraged to by Ms. Donahue.

Another thing I noticed was that the teaching assistant was walking around the classroom collecting trash from the students. This could have been done in an effort to instill good habits about recycling or trash disposal, since the current class goal was to figure out how to reduce waste. However, I think the students would learn this better if the students were told to dispose of their trash on their own, rather than have someone else do it.

One thing I truly respected about Ms. Donahue was that she did not tolerate the use of cell phones from her students. She warned them that if she saw anyone using their phone, she would take it from them and give it to the front office. She eventually did so when she caught one girl on her phone.

When we returned to the class on the second day, the students were conducting a simulation of their project at the middle school. My partner and I posed as middle school students at lunch, and we brought our “food” to a table where several students asked us which foods we did not eat and why. We then disposed of our “food” into one of several buckets, where the buckets would later be weighed to see how much of the food was going to waste.

 

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February 5, 2020

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Expectations and Inspirations

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My Teaching Strategies

Blog 2

It is difficult for me to imagine how I will be able to go into a class of high school aged students and expect them to automatically listen and respect what I have to say. I know this because I was a high school student once, and it was easy for my classmates and I to disregard what a substitute teacher or guest speaker had to say. I have always believed in the saying that respect is earned, not given, and I believe that this applies to academia not just for respect, but for attention as well. If I am going to walk into a class and get these students to listen to me, I will have to look back at my high school days to remember what made a teacher successful, as well as rely on the readings we’ve done in class so far. I have worked with elementary school students, but they were intrigued to see a high school student come into their class and read them stories. For high school students, they won’t be as easily stimulated by someone only a few years older than them. I will have to make this acknowledgment, let them know that even though I am not much older than them, I have experienced a completely different academic environment as a college junior. After establishing a solid ethos with them, I should try to connect with their interests and general attitudes so they are more likely to listen to and respect what I have to offer.

One lesson that I really connected with from Journeys Through Our Classroom was the fact that students may be struggling without the teachers even knowing about it. Alfredo and Hannah were struggling because they were mixed in with students completely different from them. This makes me realize that not all students are the same, therefore they cannot all be treated the same when it comes to academic instruction. Some require more care and attention to be successful, and there is nothing wrong with that, and they should realize there is nothing wrong with that. That is one major thing that I will strive to achieve when I enter the classroom.

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January 23, 2020

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Learning Philosophies

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What I’ve Learned

The EL principle of the primacy of self-discovery intrigued me because it makes me think about an assignment I had in my ethics class that took a lot of self-reflection to complete. I read over David Hume’s Of Suicide where he attempts to justify the act of suicide, and I had to agree or disagree with his assertions. I have always held that suicide is wrong no matter what, but Hume’s arguments were completely logical, which made the assignment difficult for me. This forced me to do research on suicide as told from both points of view, and I dug into my bible to find what the Christian faith said about it. “Learning happens best with emotion, challenge, and the requisite support.” Defending my assertions for why suicide is wrong was certainly a challenge because I had never considered the arguments that Hume made, but this definitely inspired me to learn. I learned a lot during the course of this assignment, but what I truly remember was being intrigued by all the different ideas presented, and how logical some of the arguments that justified suicide were.

I believe that I have a lot of potential for fieldwork in community schools. Passing on my knowledge to others for their benefit is something I have done in different ways, and I truly enjoy it. Seeing others benefit from what I teach them is a really rewarding feeling, and since I have this desire to pass on my knowledge in the academic community, I think I have great potential. I have a good amount of experience working with the youth in community schools, especially elementary schools. When I was a senior in high school, I, along with two of my friends, were given the opportunity to volunteer in the P.E. department at our local elementary school. Most of our volunteer work consisted of playing games with the children during their P.E. classes, but we were also granted the opportunity to come into some of the classrooms and read to them and do other activities. Going into the classrooms and actually help teach the kids was something I enjoyed more than simply playing games with them, because I could see that some of the content they were learning sparked interest in them. Reading books to them was also enjoyable, as I would look out at them all sitting down staring at me either laughing at the book I was reading or simply lost in the story.

John Dewey says that “education, therefore, is a process of living and not a preparation for future living” (Dewey, 94). In order to be an effective teacher, it is certainly necessary for kids to understand and feel like their education experience is not simply an item on checklist to prepare them for their future. Rather they should understand that education is an experience that they should thrive in and get the most out of. When I was volunteering in the elementary school, My friends and I tried our hardest to make our time with the kids stimulating and enjoyable so that coming to school was something for them to look forward to.