488 Observation 1

Field Observation 1

Today my partner and I went to meet the teacher of our new third grade at Agnor- Hurt Elementary school. It was great to finally meet her because we had been emailing so frequently back and forth. Interestingly, I knew her from an after-school program and she recognized me also. She sat my partner and I down, outside of the classroom, and we discussed dates and possible lesson ideas. She told us that she had a pretty well-behaved class, but there are two girls who like to cry---often. She said to not let them distract us from the rest of the class because they are very demanding of individual attention. She also told us that there is one ESL student in the class. She explained to us that the class was yet to go in depth with Simple Machines, and that this would be a great unit to for us to teach them. We agreed on simple machines. We did not really get to meet all the students in the class, but we had a very great and useful meeting with our teacher.

Teaching Is Like...A Relay Race...

The purpose of a Relay race is to have individuals collaborate for a common goal – to finish the race. A relay race can not be won by one person, but rather each individual person must be an active part of a circuit in order to mobilize the team. A baton is passed from one member of the team to the next until the race is completed. I believe that teaching is analogous to a relay race because its purpose is not only to pass on information, but to do so for a greater reward. Teaching by definition is not an individual activity, but rather it requires the collaboration of people in order to be self fulfilling, just like a relay can not be such with only one person. In order for one person to be effective and successful, there has to be active engagement with others.

As a future teacher, I see myself as someone who is giving back to others. In order for people to learn, they must be taught and this is a cyclical process. What I ultimately want from my students is for them to take the baton of information that I give them, and use it finish strong so that they too are able to begin a relay race of their own and pass what they have learned on to the next.