DRAFT: This module has unpublished changes.

Field Experience Report

           Early Field experience Shadowing Professionals EDUC 501 is a co-requisite of one of my education foundation courses, Introductory to the World of the Learner EDUC102 WID2. In order to fulfill the required six hours, I had to attend two schools on my own because of bad weather and a conflict with my other courses. Normally the field experience part is done with a professor for the first three hours and the next three is your responsibility to complete. The purpose of this field experience is to provide teachers in training with an understanding of the role and responsibilities of teachers in a local school setting. This gives a teacher trainee an opportunity to observe teachers as they plan and deliver instruction, as they interact with students and as they engage in the school community.

          I made arrangements to visit two schools one public school 268 Emma Lazarus School located in Brooklyn and the other public school 149 Danny Kaye School in Brooklyn. I arrived at P.S. 268 promptly at 8:25 a.m. because classes started at 8:30 a.m. I was greeted by the security personnel and pointed to the direction of the main office. I explained why I was here to the secretary. The principal greeted me and asked me if I would like to stay all day which I agreed to. She informed the teachers of the classroom where I would be doing my observations and thanked them for having me. The parent coordinator escorted me to the classroom and I introduced myself to the teachers who welcomed me. They in turned introduced me to the students I was appointed to an inclusive classroom that is a classroom that has both students of the general education population and students with special needs that is a student with an Individual Education Plan known as an IEP. It was a third grade classroom because it was an inclusive classroom there were two teachers a general education and a special education teacher. I visited the school during poetry month and the students were very enthusiastic about learning different poetry styles. The teachers gave me an opportunity to assist them during the instructional time. The class room was designed in a u-shape which allowed the teachers to interact with the students. The lessons were differentiated to suit the needs of each student. The teachers managed the classroom and their time on task was well organized. There was assessment at the end of a lesson to ensure the students understood what was being taught. The use of technology was present throughout the classroom. There were computers and a smart board which the students and the teachers used to teacher lessons. During my visit, they allowed me to sit in on a meeting with the other third grade teachers. These meetings were held once a month at their prep time to discuss how they could improve their instructions and to see how far apart they were from each other according to the third grade curriculum. There were two differences at the other school P.S. 149 one the classroom did not have a smart board and it was a general education classroom. I was amazed because here I was in a different school but yet the students were learning the same things in Mathematics and English and different poetry styles. I asked the teacher was this a coincidence and she informed me that it is the law so if a student leaves one school he or she would be able to pick up where they left off at the previous school.

          After visiting these two schools there was no doubt in my mind that I made the right choice in my career. The students were very loving and respectful in third grade I said to one of the teachers I could see myself doing this and finding fulfillment in it for a very long time. I could say that everything that I have been taught so far as an aspiring teacher was being practiced at the two schools I visited.

 

 

DRAFT: This module has unpublished changes.