Field Experience Week 3

This week in field was great!  The more I'm in the classroom the more I love it, and can't wait to be a teacher and have a class of my own.  We were able to teach several times this week (only for small increments, but it was still a great experience), and really find several ways of teaching the students about the American Revolution.  

To help the students learn more about the different Acts in the American Revolution (Sugar Act, Stamp Act, Townshend Act, Tea Act, Intolerable Acts, etc.), we divided the students into groups of 4 and then assigned each group a different Act.  We then told them 4 things they needed to look for when researching their Act.  We also told each student that we would be going to the computer lab and they would be able to look up information about their Act.  We directed them to a reliable website and showed them where they could find information about their act.  The students really enjoyed being able to work on the computers and find research for themselves.  

Another thing we did to help the students learn about the American Revolution was make a timeline and a study guide about different events and people during this time.  We then proceeded to tell the students that we would be playing Jeopardy and taking a quiz in class.  They absolutely LOVED Jeopardy!  The students really enjoyed the competitive spirit about Jeopardy and got very into the game.  Informing the students that there would a Jeopardy game also got them to study their material.  This activity was technology-integrated as well because we did the Jeopardy game on the computer, which is so much fun.  We had the real Jeopardy background and music, it was great.  

Using technology in class really excited the students and gets them more involved about the material!

Field Experience #2

This past week has been another really great week in field.  My partner (Aubrey) and I have started teaching and have already taught 3 times.  The subject we have been given is the Stamp Act and the Boston Tea Party, and then everything in between as well.  I've never been a huge Social Studies fan, but teaching 5th graders is really fun.  They don't care to knowevery detail, and the information is explained very basically.  I think if high school students were taught the same way as elementary students (in Social Studies) then our high school graduating classes would know more about our countries history (and other countries histories).  

One of our lessons that we did was we gave each student 15 tootsie rolls. Then we told them that they were the colonists and we were the British Parliament-we would be taxing them on certain things.  We taxed them on what color hair they had, what they were wearing, what gender they were, etc.  The students got really into this lesson and got very upset.  We explained to them that this is what the colonists felt like.  They were being taxed on things that they didn't feel were right.  They were being treated unfairly and poorly.  

I've really enjoyed teaching the 5th graders in my class and have learned so much from them and from teaching them.

Field Experience Week 1

These past 4 days have been great. I feel like I learn SO much more being in field than I do when I'm in class (no offense to any teachers). I just feel that I learn by doing, not by listening to teachers lecture or show power points.
My field teacher is Mrs. Bishop and she teaches 5th grade at Edgemont Elementary in Provo School District. She's a fabulous teacher and really has a passion for teaching and for her students. Her students respect her and like to be in her class.
At Edgemont there is a lot of technology available. Mrs. Bishop has a SmartBoard, access to a mobile computer lab, printing/copying available, etc. However, even though there is a SmartBoard in the classroom, the teacher does not use it. She says she's not very good with technology but it is her goal to learn how to use it because she knows it'll be very convenient for teaching subjects such as math. Mrs. Bishop's class does use computers on a weekly basis, sometimes a couple or a few times a week. There is an actual computer lab, and a mobile lab that teachers can check out. These are great resources and my field partner and myself hope to take advantage of being able to have computers brought to the classroom.
I look forward to implementing technology into the classroom and teaching my teacher more about technology.