An Overview of My Fieldwork Experience

It would seem that 20 hours is quite a large amount of time, however, it hasn't been nearly long enough for me to fully understand what it is like to be a teacher.  One thing that I have come to realize through my field experience is that school is a very different experience when standing at the front of the classroom.

The most important thing I learned from my field experience is certainly up for debate.  One of the more important things I learned was that teaching is not nearly as simple as I thought it was when I was a child.  Because I wasn't generally the child that was causing trouble, I took the teacher's ability to control the class completely for granted.  I couldn't see the stress that seemed to pull at the teacher's brow.  It never seemed to cross my mind that the behavior of the class reflected on the teacher.  The quality of the teacher is determined by more than just her ability to "teach".  

Another very valuable thing I learned from my field experience was that if you want to be a truly fabulous teacher you've got to contribute beyond what is expected of you.  The truly fabulous teacher commits every fiber of his/her being to teaching his/her students.  This means spending countless hours outside of the classroom preparing lessons and researching information.  However, if a teacher does their job right then they can make a huge impact on a child's life.  Ultimately, if they are able to improve the life of one person that makes all of the work worth it. 

Running a Classroom.. Smoothly

If it hasn't been mentioned in one of the previous posts, let it be known that I believe classroom manager is one of the most difficult roles a teacher has to play.  The teachers ability to manage the behavior of the students could very well determine how much a student will learn over the course of the year.  If a teacher spends all their time chasing students around the classroom, this cuts into the precious instruction time.
Classroom management and motivation seem to work hand in hand.  A teacher must first define the expectations he/she has for class behavior or academic achievement.  Then the teacher must motivate the students to follow these expectations.
Mrs. Heaps has clearly stated that she expects her students to quickly and quietly find their desks right after lunch. She clearly states this everyday as the students come in from lunch.  This way there is absolutely no question as to what Mrs. Heaps expects.  She also motivates her students with table points.  Whichever of the three tables is able to get their assignments and pencils out first with their voices off earns a table point.  You would be amazed how quickly some of those kids are able to get everything out when given the proper motivation.
Mrs. Brown, on the other hand uses a "quiet" song everyday right before she leads her class out to the school bus.  Using a lyrical language reinforces the behaviors they already know are expected and it allows the students to interact in the instruction.  Also using music caters to the students who learn best through music (according to Gardener's theory). Direct instruction is also a very important tool in managing behavior.
Following through on discipline is also very important.  This is one area that I personally struggle with,however, it is important that teachers do because otherwise students may think that they can get away with many things that are not acceptable.

Active Engagement

The ability to engage students in the learning process is what separates the truly fabulous teachers from the teachers who really struggle to control their class.  This is not quite as simple as it sounds. The teacher has to take into account the dynamics and interests of the class, while covering a tremendous load of information.

I absolutely loved the techniques Mrs. Heaps' used to keep the class engaged. On one particular day, the class was studying addition and subtraction. Mrs. Heaps' called up 10 students to create a human number line.  Those darling little students were bouncing up and down in their seats with eagerness to be called up as part of the number line.  This encouraged the students to behave themselves, for Mrs. Heaps would only call on the students who sat quietly with their arms folded, and it personally engaged roughly 3/4th of the class.  To make the number line even more fun, Mrs. Heaps used her friend Mr. Frog to bounce from the heads of each number on the number line.  Even I ate up this delicious lesson. The children were absolutely thrilled! 

In Mrs. Brown's class, the children were always working in groups when I came into the class.  The activities they did were engaging, however, I noticed that without an adult figure constantly hovering over the activity a couple of the students were not engaged enough with the material to work on it on their own.  This happened when I was in elementary school as well.  Despite the fact that the worksheets were generally pretty fun (color this leaf, cut and paste the letters under the right umbrella, write your name on the whiteboard with different color markers, ect..), it is difficult to ensure that all of the students are working.  With a group this young, this group activity may be more about teaching the students how to work in groups and focus on their assignment.  Although many of the students did work rather well on their own. 

If there is one thing that is certain, engaging all of the students in a classroom, with different interests and abilities, is a very difficult task that every teacher must master. 

The Most Important Role of a Teacher

Teachers play numerous roles in their everyday life.  These roles include lecturer, caregiver, grader, entertainer, classroom manager, lesson planner, collaborator, housekeeper, cheerleader, protector, assessor, and researcher among many others.

Stepping into Mrs. Heaps' classroom, I have seen her perform a handful of these roles. The time when I move to Mrs. Heaps' class from Mrs. Brown's class, is the time when Mrs. Heaps shepherds her class into the room.  Next, she delivers a fantastically fun math lesson or helps personally coach a student through their writing exercise.  Meanwhile, she has to maintain control of the classroom environment.
I have also seen Mrs. Brown complete the majority of these tasks.  Generally, when I arrive at Mrs. Brown's class, the students are working in groups.  Mrs. Brown demonstrates her ability to assess the reading skills of the students and manage the class. After they finish their group work, Mrs. Brown assists the students in cleaning the room while providing words of praise to her students. However, these are only a list of the roles that I saw.  Many more of these roles go unseen.
The question remains, what is the most important role a teacher plays? This is a question that is certainly a matter of opinion. I personally believe that it is a combination of all the roles that make a teacher's job so important. The role of teaching/lecturing is certainly one of the more important roles, however, I feel the most important role a teacher plays is the role of caregiver. I feel it is important that students are given the confidence and love needed to see that they can succeed in life. With that said, it is vital that a teacher performs of all of the above mentioned roles.