Learning Through Fieldwork Observation

During my time in Mrs. Paynter's classroom, I have not only learned a lot about how a classroom works, but how I work in a classroom. I didn't spend a whole lot of time working with the children, but I learned how I reacted with the students, and how I conducted myself in a classroom setting. I learned the best ways to address the students and different ways to cover different topics, such as math, so that the students were able to understand. I learned some really effective ways to get the attention of students without distracting from the lesson. It was great to see how I felt when in the classroom setting, and Mrs. Paynter did a great job at helping me see everything about how a classroom is run, as well as made me feel very comfortable in her classroom.

Mrs. Paynter is a fantastic teacher that taught me and showed me how a successful classroom is run and what to expect when I become a teacher. I learned that teaching takes a lot of patience. I was amazed at how calmly Mrs. Paynter dealt with her students no matter how chaotic the situation was. I also learned how much time is involved in being a teacher. I know that it is a very time consuming occupation, but I didn't realize how much time she had to spend grading papers and preparing for future class periods, and that is just what I observed in the classroom. I'm sure she spends much more time at home preparing for work as well. Mrs. Paynter did a great job at being creative in her lesson plans. She continually approached ideas in her lessons from different points of view to help her students get a more rounded idea of what she was teaching.

Mrs. Paynter is an amazing teacher who taught me so much about being a teacher. She showed me many of the roles a teacher plays and how to use her skills to run a successful classroom. I can now honestly say how truly excited I am to be a teacher in the future.

Procedures in the Classroom

During my time observing Mrs. Paynter's classroom, I have noticed a few different procedures she implements to keep her classroom moving smoothly. The first thing I noticed was a math journal that every student had. Every day during math time, Mrs. Paynter has her students pull out their journals and take detailed notes on what they are covering that day in class. She goes through what she wants her students to write in their journals. Then, once they are working on their assignments, if they have questions, she directs them to their journals first to see if they can figure out their question on their own before asking for help. That way, Mrs. Paynter helps her students help themselves, therefore helping them use their time more wisely and not wasting her time with questions they can figure out themselves.

Another procedure I noticed in the classroom is their morning routines. Every student knows exactly what they need to do at the beginning of each class to get ready for a day of learning. Each student comes in and hangs up their backpacks, grabs their homework and packets out of their folders by the door, and goes to their desk. Once they are sitting down, the students are to work on their homework from the night before, or get caught up on their reading. This procedure keeps students working at all times and not disrupting others. 

Last week when I did my hours in her classroom the students were working on a math rotation going to different table and completing the questions on the table. Before the activity, Mrs. Paynter goes through the steps of the activity, and what to do if they have questions. Therefore, each student is completely informed when the activity starts. The students are completely aware of the steps and the procedure for the whole class period, and everything runs smoothly. 

Mrs. Paynter does a great job at keeping her students on task at all time, and making sure they know what they should be doing at all times. She is very clear in her instructions and her class runs very smoothly.