Final Field Experience Summative Report - Essay Example

Final Field Experience Summative Report A. Introduction The field placement involved an activity beyond confines which required 6th grade students from Barberton City Schools to observe the activities around them. The school is located within Summit County in Ohio. Being within Ohio, the Ohio department is in charge of regulating the education standards within the State. Barberton City School strives to provide the best attention to students as they believe this is the only way to ensure students leap the most from their instructors. This is well illustrated by their motto, i.e. “to serve every child by challenging him/her to continuously learn, achieve, and act with purpose and compassion”. (Barberton City Schools, 2011). Barberton City Schools have eight departments, including the food service department, curriculum and instruction department, personnel department, student services department, superintendent department, transportation department, treasures department and construction department. The school has a supportive environment with Barberton City which provides a neat infrastructure and supports the school’s administration. This is helpful to the school as the administration is able to adequately receive support from the city managers. This comes in handy when the school has field education trips or requires infrastructural developments. This link between the school and the City is apparent on the school’s participation in Mayoral elections where the school Superintendent takes an active position. The City on the other hand requires the school to continuously record improved results. In the recent past, the school has had to contend with union grievances mainly resulting from their efforts to downsize and consolidate the school administration. These efforts according to the school’s administration are aimed at bolstering the school’s financial position by ensuring adequate savings. The result of this healthy relationship has not only caused improvement in the schools’ infrastructure but also in their performance. The Ohio Department has commended the teacher to teacher walk through the curriculum, classroom management and delivery issues. For the purposes of this study, the observations for the first four days were made. The first day offered education and training in making the apple crisp, the second day’s lecture was upon the food and food safety with some Nutrition activity (Puzzles). Third day involved sewing the 2 hall button and preparing to make pillows while the fourth day involved sewing. B. Description of instruction observed On the first day, the students were asked to make the apple crisp. To make sure that all students participated in the activity, the teacher arranged all students in the groups. Roles assigned to the members of the group included measuring oats, mixing margarine and cleaning apples. As the students performed these tasks, the teacher kept a close eye upon the students to ensure complete participation and cooperation by the students. The second day’s lesson was more theoretical than the first day’s lesson. On the second day, the teacher delivered lecture on food and food safety. He required the students to make notes so that they would pay attention throughout the lesson. The teacher did not permit any discussions among the students in this lecture. The teacher made the students pay attention towards the lectures by asking them questions randomly or asking them to repeat what he had just said. Students that would not be able to do that felt embarrassed. Thus, the teacher controlled the students psychologically. No student wanted to become prominent as a bad student, so everybody paid attention. C. Teacher transitions A teacher uses transitions to build up the students’ concepts and help them identify the links among the various lessons. Once the teacher starts the lesson there maybe need to transition either between topics or different subjects. To make the transition smooth from one lesson to another, the teacher first gave a recap of the previous lesson. This way the students remembered what the last lesson entailed and were able to link that to the following lesson. The teacher quickly went through the important points of the last lesson by flashing them onto the projector screen. Once the prior knowledge is revived in the students’ minds, they are able to anticipate the upcoming topics and enhance their tendency to learn. At the end of the lecture, the teacher summarized the content and flashed the topics and subtopics that would be discussed the following day. This enabled the students to conduct some preliminary research about the upcoming topics so as to brainstorm themselves. After the apple crisp making activity was over, the teacher summarized the method and told us that the next lesson would be on food safety. The same technique was repeated till the fourth day for the respective lessons. D. Classroom management (Rules, procedures, and other management practices) “Teachers must have both a deep understanding of the powerful principles of teaching as they apply to effective teaching and a clear sense of how these principles can be applied to the classroom” (Moore, 2005, p. xv). In order to facilitate the learning and make the lessons effective, the teacher made certain rules. The first rule required all students to start looking at the projector before the direction came from the teacher. The teacher made this rule to maintain discipline in the class while he was busy in certain tasks that have to be done before the start of the lecture like arranging the content and taking the attendance. Another rule required the students to have their personal tasks completed before the class so that they may not be preoccupied and be pay maximal attention to the lecture (Roubidoux, 2008). The teacher made use of certain procedures to acquaint all students with the course material. The teacher used the email service to distribute the notes and relevant material to the students. He had already acquired the email addresses of all students. The teacher also printed the course material beforehand and distributed it to the students during the lecture (Walberg, 2010). The students were in turn required to forward their assignments to the teacher using the email service. The teacher also had certain procedures to ensure the students’ involvement in the lectures and the activities. First, the teacher made the instructions very simple as he knew that intricate instructions bore the students. Knowing that the students require break in between the long theoretical sessions, the teacher incorporated several physical activities related to the subject of discussion. This not only helped energize the students, but also supplemented the theory with practice to give the students an objective understanding of the subject. During these activities and after the end of the lecture, the teacher provided the students with an opportunity to interact and discuss the grey areas so as to learn from one another. These interactive sessions enabled the students to clear their doubts. The students also put forth any queries that they had in the very sessions. E. Descriptions of some lessons taught and goals In these four days, I learnt how to make the apple crisp. To make the apple crisp, we have to wash and clean the apples, peel the skins off and chop them into cubes. The cubes are stir fired in margarine into which oats are added. One may add sugar to taste. It may be served hot or chilled, as per the desire of an individual. I learnt the importance of food safety. Washing the hands before cooking saves us from a lot of diseases. The cooking utensils as well as the fruits, meat and vegetables must be washed well. Once defrosted, nothing should be returned to the freezer as it may cause the cultivation of bacteria and fungi. I found the sewing a very enjoyable art. Having learnt the sewing, I am able to make the patterns of my choice and play with the color combinations. The ultimate goal in all kinds of tasks is to make a high quality product with least inconvenience, budget and time and keeping safe as well. F. Description of student learning (what went well, challenges) On the first day, students found it difficult to make the groups. Students that were friends wanted to be in one group. This made it difficult for the poor performing students to integrate into the groups. Hence, the teacher was required to intervene every now and then. Group think and interpersonal conflicts occasionally hindered the students’ tendency to learn from and participate in the group activities. However, the teacher’s close supervision and monitoring kept several conflicts from aggravating and in the end, everything went smoothly. The apple crisp making activity was very enjoyable as everybody had something to eat by the end. The second day’s lecture was routine-like. The third and the fourth day’s activities were a bit tough as some students got their fingers pricked with the needles while sewing. However, the teacher had arranged first aid to ensure the safety and timely care. G. Monitoring student behavior The teacher used certain strategies to monitor the students’ behavior. To monitor the students’ behavior on the first two days, the teacher formed groups in the class depending upon the average performance of each student in the last three tests. The vision of the teacher was to have students of all potentials in each group so that the weak students would benefit from the company of the more capable students. Thus, each group had some high performers, some average and some poor performers. This helped the teacher raise the overall performance of the whole class. The teacher required the students to be very honest in all sorts of activities including the tests, assignments and quizzes (Roubidoux, 2008). While the students are seated, the teacher wanders around the class to have a look at the assignments and asks the students questions far and between. This increased his interaction with the individual students and enabled him to identify the strengths and weaknesses of individual students. The teacher also interacted with the students virtually in a virtual room. The students were also required to submit the take-away tests to help the teacher supervise their performance outside the school. The teacher seldom required the students to have some forms filled by their parents to have their feedback about the students’ conduct at home. On the third and the fourth day, the teacher altered the seating arrangement to have accurate assessment of the comprehension of each student. This was achieved by providing each student with a two feet square area so that the students may not be able to copy one another. To make sure that the students used the equipment responsibly and safely on the first, third and the fourth day, the teacher demonstrated the students how to use the different kinds of equipment. Such a demonstration reduces the students’ likelihood of damaging the equipment and enhances their tendency to make right use of the equipment including its storing and distribution (Lovat et al, 2010). The teacher called the students either by name or by their roll numbers when he had to ask the questions from specific students. The students used two main signals to gain the teacher’s attention when they had some question or wanted to clarify some concept. The students either stood up or raised their hands. The seating arrangement was altered at different points in time from two feet square to one foot square depending upon the need of the hour. The teacher used an award system on the third and the fourth day to reward the best behaved students. Also, the students behaving badly were punished (Lancaster et al, 2008). The first time a student misbehaved, he/she was given a warning. The second time he/she misbehaved, he/she was made to stand up while the rest were seated. The third time he/she misbehaved, he/she would be sent out from the class. In extreme circumstances, the teacher required the parents’ intervention by asking the student to go back home and bring a parent or both parents along. Thus, the punishments varied depending upon the level of misbehavior shown by the student. These were some of the ways in which the teacher monitored the students’ behavior. H. Conclusion This paper sums up my reflection upon the four days of learning at the Barberton City School. On the first day, we made the apple crisp. On the second day, we learnt about the food safety. The third and the fourth days were about sewing. In these days, I learnt working in group. The teacher adopted different strategies to monitor the students’ behavior, increase their tendency to learn and make the mentorship effective. It was a very informative and beneficial session. References: Barberton City Schools. (2011). Mission Statement. Retrieved from http://www.barbertonschools.org/about.aspx. Lancaster, J. M., Waryold, D. M., & Timm, L. (2008). Student Conduct Practice: The Complete Guide for Student Affairs Professionals. New York: Stylus Publishing . Lovat, T., Toomey, R., & Clement, N. (2010). International Research Handbook on Values Education and Student Wellbeing. New York: Springer. Moore, K. D. (2005). Effective instructional strategies: From theory to practice. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. Roubidoux, S. (2008). 101 Ways to Make Studying Easier and Faster for College Students: What Every Student Needs to Know Explained Simply. New York: Atlantic Publishing Company. Walberg, H. J. (2010). Improving Student Learning: Action Principles for Families, Classrooms, Schools, Districts, and States. New York: IAP. Read More