Download Field experience I: Final Narrative Paper - Final Reflection | EDU 202 and more Papers History of Education in PDF only on Docsity!
Karoline Engel Tracy Wilson Edu. 202 5/8/ Field Experience I: Final Narrative Paper Part I: Final Reflection During my time observing Amy Powers’ Advanced Placement English Language and Composition class at R.J. Reynolds High School this past semester, I have had the most positive experience and have truly learned what it means to be a teacher. Although I only taught one lesson myself, my perception of the profession has completely changed. I have always known that teaching is something that I would like, as I enjoy sharing my love of language and literature with others and I feel that I relate to secondary-level students well, but I tried to convince myself that I would benefit in a “higher profile” profession where I could work with adults and make more money. I am still not positive that teaching will be my lifelong career, but since I now realize the challenges and rewards that are attached to this job, I am excited to pursue it for at least a few years of my life. Amy Powers brings such a positive energy to her classroom and maintains great relationships with her students, which are qualities that I hope to find in myself as a teacher. Much of what I have learned from my observations of Mrs. Powers, such as the importance in creating a stimulating but comfortable learning environment and fostering a mutual teacher-student level of trust, are principles that I seek to integrate into my own teaching philosophy.
In reflecting on my field experience this semester, I feel that it is most effective to address the components of the WFU Education Department Conceptual Framework, as each component is integral to a teacher’s classroom management and personal development in teaching methods. These factors are content, pedagogy, leadership, caring, diversity, reflection, and technology. The first attribute is content, which I found to differ in terms of standards between tracking levels at the secondary level. I was able to attend a few of Amy Powers’ Honors English III classes in addition to the AP classes, and learned that the content of the broad curriculum is much more flexible at the honors level. The AP program’s rigid content structure can be attributed to the AP test in May, which is the same for all students in the country, meaning that similar material must be covered across the board in order to prevent unfair advantages. While Mrs. Powers manages her classroom, not matter what the level, with the same energy and attitude, it was evident that she had to pay careful attention to the amount of time she spent on certain material in her AP class. Although I appreciate structure and direction to a certain extent, I learned that I should not focus on only teaching AP in the future, for teaching an honors or basic level class with less content guidelines might allow me to utilize my own creativity more effectively. Amy Powers’ pedagogy, which seems to focus on being aware of the students’ interests and needs and catering to them through an open teaching style, reflects the way in which I would teach in my own classroom. Mrs. Powers has great communication skills and allows her students to build relationships with each other through teamwork, which helps to instill a love of learning. She also encourages them to present their ideas creatively, which is a tenant that I will employ in my own classroom. It was especially beneficial to me that Mrs. Powers is energetic, talkative, and animated, which are traits that I see in myself. Because of this, I could not help
students and finds enjoyment in getting to know them outside of class. This was especially reflected in her former students’ tendency to stop by her classroom before or after class to chat with her. The importance of caring that Mrs. Powers advocates allowed me to realize that the classroom is truly a positive environment for me. I learned that I will find much more fulfillment in caring for my students and helping them to develop as English scholars than I would in working under a boss in an office setting, where I would just be another co-worker. I want to care for my students in order to encourage them, so that they will be confident in their own abilities and grow both personally and academically. I feel fortunate that I was able to observe at Reynolds High School since it is so diverse— my own high school experience was very different in that it was predominantly white and I was not exposed to a multitude of ethnic or socioeconomic backgrounds. The negative aspect of a diverse school is that the socioeconomic gaps separate the students through the tracking system, so the upper level classes typically remain all white, for the most part. However, I hope that with an improved effort of the federal government and the educational system to “close the gap,” diverse schools will soon consist of diverse classrooms. Before observing at Reynolds, I had never been exposed to a great deal of diversity, and it helped me to realize that diversity is integral to the learning environment. I saw that Mrs. Powers treated all of her students equally by respecting the influences of their backgrounds, which inspired me to seek out a diverse school and learn from these students while they learn from each other. Before my field experience, I viewed teaching as many other people do—a profession that is not especially challenging since it is essentially the same year after year; once you create the lesson plans for the first year, the hard work is done. In observing Mrs. Powers’ AP class and her Honors class on occasion, I discovered that this is not true at all! All classes are different
and teachers must always change their methods to grow and improve. The power of reflection is that teachers can constantly update their lessons with new technology, current events, and activities to engage the student. Unfortunately, I was not able to see Mrs. Powers’ collaboration with other teachers, but she informed me that she often meets with US history teachers since the American literature she teaches often parallels the material in that class. From this, I learned that it is important to collaborate with teachers of other disciplines in addition to my own, so that students can relate what they have learned in other classes to my class, and vice versa. This will create a framework of ideas for students and will ideally encourage them to engage in all subject areas. In terms of technology in the classroom, I do not feel that I saw enough used. Surely, it is difficult to use technology in an English classroom since course objectives focus on reading, analyzing, and writing, but I would like to incorporate it into my classroom. I do not have a great knowledge of classroom technological tools at this point in the education program, but I envision my students using technology in projects and presentations. At Reynolds, I got to see a Smart Board, and I hope to learn more about this tool and one day use it in my classroom. I believe that it is important to take advantage of technology in today’s society because it is important to have the knowledge of the 21st^ century in relating to the students and their interests. Part II: Philosophy of Teaching Statement My conception of learning is that students learn most effectively when they are engaged in the material and are given a framework within which they can apply their own experiences. Students must see the content of the subject in the context of their own world, which is governed by family background, personal interests, current events, and popular culture. While students
informative rather than discussion-based. However, my classroom will be free in that I will encourage students to speak their minds and have discussion amongst themselves, always open the class for discussion, and allow lessons to digress if the new subject is applicable. Overall, I want my students to feel confident in their own skills and communicative abilities, which will be fostered through a positive learning environment and a trusting and respectful teacher-student relationship.
