What did I learn from my Field Experience?

What did I learn from my Field Experience?

I know in order to be a good teacher it means always becoming a better teacher. One of the most powerful ways to do this is to observe other teachers. Learning from experienced teachers and also learning from teachers with less-than-perfect practice, and from other new teachers. I learned something from each and every classroom I visited during this Field Experience assignment.

I was surprised at how easy it was to schedule these observations. I just made a couple of calls and it was set. I was also relieved to see how happy and welcoming all the teachers were to pass on their knowledge and experience of teaching. Most of them already had a Lesson Plan waiting for me when I arrived, the other two teachers I asked and they emailed one to me within a couple of days.

I used this practice of observation to learn more about particular instructional styles, class types and students. I found examples of lessons with group work. I was able to observe students ranging from problem trouble makers to accelerated eager learners. There was even one example of dealing with problems outside of the classroom, a.k.a. the death of the elementary school teacher.

I am new teaching and have no real classroom experience so the most benefit of this for me was helping to relieve some of my fear. Its one thing to read about classroom lessons in books and it is another to experience them first hand.

Overall, I benefited tremendously from these teachers insight and their examples into how to employ solid classroom management, all the while being able to track actively the progress of every student. For this, I am deeply thankful.