As a future educator and continuous learner, I have been given an opportunity to gain experience in my future career before setting foot inside my very own classroom.  Through different schools and different grades, I have learned valuable tools and lessons from working with current teachers and students.  The following sections offer insight as to what I have learned during my field experience.

VE Johnson Elementary
Third Grade
20 hours

During my 20 hours at VE Johnson Elementary School in a third grade classroom, I have learned more than I have in any other semester. I have prepared and delivered two read-alouds and reader-response activities and listened to students read and summarize literary elements. I have also played math games with students or gave them math problems to complete, and I now understand more fully the challenges of teaching math so that students truly understand. I have also interviewed students and my mentor teacher about science, asking what they've enjoyed, the science requirements for their school in their grade, etc. It has been a slightly more challenging, rewarding semester in the classroom for me, and also very worthwhile. Since third grade is a very reading-centered grade, it was a great grade for me to be in during my Children's Literature course. As I read-aloud, it was apparent that students were effectively developing skills in recognizing characters, plots and themes. I recognized that they had a firm grasp on those concepts as I asked questions before, during and after read-alouds because I never caught them off guard, they always knew what was going on! During this experience at Johnson Elementary, I was also taking Math for Elementary Teachers courses, so I had the opportunity to work with students in groups on math problems relating to addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. It was during this time that I became familiar with the new term "regrouping". Some students had a difficult time with this step in subtraction, and at times it was up to me to try and help them understand it, which was not always the easiest task. However, this particular experience taught me a valuable lesson: to become more familiar with effective methods for teaching math. My experience at Johnson Elementary has been a great experience and will always be one I remember since I had so many valuable firsts while there.

Mentor Teacher's Comments: "Rachel has a very positive attitude. All my students wanted to work with her."

Dr. Seuss Birthday Event
3.0 hours

Since Dr. Seuss has been a one of the most popular, beloved children's author/illustrator for decades, it is understandable that our Children's Literature course would host a party for him and invite students! Our class broke up into groups and planned a read-aloud and activity for students from Humphrey Elementary, centered around one of our favorite Dr. Seuss books. Our group chose Thidwick the Big Hearted Moose. The students really seemed to enjoy this story and were very amused by the animals that accumulate on Thidwick's horns throughout the story. After we finished the read-aloud students created their own drawing of Thickwick, putting whatever animals (and even people), they wanted on his horns. As the event was wrapping up, we gave students goodie bags and of course a piece of Dr. Seuss birthday cake!

BLAST Event
5.0 hours

BLAST (Biology Lessons Applied by Student Teachers) was one of the greatest service learning events I have participated in so far. Before the actual event, our biology class broke up into groups of four. In our group we planned a lesson centered around the animal cell. We came up with several activites to keep our 6th graders busy, entertained, and learning. We started off by having the students play a "Simon Says" game with us. We explained to students what parts of our bodies would represent which parts of the animal cell and then went about the game like this; "Simon Says touch your Nucleus!" (Students would then touch their heads). The students really enjoyed this activity and it allowed them to understand the functions of each parts of the cell easily. We then gave them notecards, pictures of cell parts, and definitions of each cell part, so they could create their own notecards to use throughout the day and take home. Our next activity was a favorite of the students, we had them create a model of a cell on butcher paper. They created it by using different foods such as Twizzlers, Red Hots, etc. After we all got back from lunch our students presented their cell models as a group. Our wrap up activites were having them make a button for themselves that they could put on their shirts or backpacks and a game of BINGO. After we were done, the students were sad to leave and told us how much they enjoyed themselves. I learned I actually do enjoy teaching 6th graders (which I had not had experience with before this event), and I learned a lot about how to go about instruction, organization, and preparation. Our group's (mild) stress and jitters were all worth it, this event was a great experience.

To view the lesson plan we created and executed, you may click the link below.

HISEF Judging
3.0 hours

During the Biology for education majors course, our class attended the HISEF Science Fair Judging held at Hamilton High School. We were split up into groups that would assist in helping us choose the 1 best project of the 6 we evaluated individually. The students were not in attendance so we all evaluated the projects by reading their boards. My group was "life science" so I evaluated projects that often were about plants, worms, etc. It was a very interesting experience being behind the scenes of a science fair, the students had very creative ideas. When it was time to pick the one project that stood out most of the 6 we evaluated, we picked the one we rated highest as well as one or two that were honorable mentions. Choosing one was a tough choice, but the whole event was an interesting experience.

Patterson Elementary School
Pull-out Resource
24 hours

At Patterson Elementary School, I had the opportunity of working with an excellent teacher in a pull-out resource classroom (a classroom for exceptional learners to come to for certain subjects they need help in throughout the day.)  The students in the class were very enjoyable to be around and they had great work ethic.  It was interesting to observe the techniques my teacher and her assistants used to help the children better understand the subjects they were struggling with.  My mentor teacher was very professional, encouraging and was clearly dedicated to helping her students.  I had the chance to play phoneme games with students, as well as attend an IEP (Individualized Education Plan) and RTI (Response to Intervention) meeting.  These meetings made me realize just how much work and effort special educators (and other IEP team members,) put into helping students get the best education possible.  These students taught me that even when students have disabilites, they still want all the same things that students without disabilities want; to be accepted, to do well in class, and to feel smart. 

YMCA Preschool
20.5 hours

My service learning experience at the YMCA Preschool taught me many valuable lessons about 3-5 year old children.  I have never worked in a classroom setting with this age group before, so needless to say, I learned more than I had even anticipated.  The students and my mentors assisted me in learning what the children are and are not ready to learn, patience, and how to approach social and behavioral issues.  I read, painted, and had conversations with the students in my service learning classroom, as well as leading a simple ball activity.  I have come to understand that play is a vital part of preschool.  It is the way preschool children learn, take on different roles, and interact with one another, while achieving their number one goal; having a great time!

Lincoln Elementary School
Kindergarten
20 hours

At Lincoln Elementary, I experienced teaching to a whole class by myself for the first time!  I was placed in a Kindergarten class that was at times challenging but also turned out to be one of my favorite classrooms in which I have had field experience.  It was very exciting to me that my mentor teacher allowed me to teach almost every time I came into her classroom.  She would have reading and math materials ready for me to use while teaching.  The lessons were usually followed by a worksheet that I would give directions on and then walk around the class and assist the students.  She made me feel very comfortable to get involved and jump in.  This class has taught me how much patience kindergarten takes, and how quickly they learn.  Through this experience I've discovered that I have become very interested in getting an ESL (English as a Second Language,) endorsement.  My mentor teacher has this endorsement, so she is able to teach students English that in the beginning of the year knew little to none.  Although it can be a challenge to teach English to students who do not speak it fluently, students continually show improvement and ESL endorsed teachers accommodate for their needs in many ways.  My mentor teacher would often use visuals, repetition and grouping. These accommodations have very positive effects on their achievement.  I saw students improve from the day I started my service learning at Lincoln Elementary, up until the very last day. 

Neely Traditional Campus
First Grade
30 hours

During my service learning at Neely Traditional Campus, I completed thirty hours in the classroom and became more familiar with this type of school known for its back to basics methods and excelling readers.  I spent a significant amount of time reading Accelerated Reader books and quizzing the students on them.  I also graded, became familiar with how to use a grade-book, and filed papers for the students’ folders that they take home on Fridays so that their parents may look through them.  One thing I have learned at Neely is how much parents love to be involved in their child’s education; and at Neely Campus, they are very included, informed, and are allowed to come into the class and work with students and the teacher.  My teacher at Neely was very positive and always had something for me and the visiting parents to do.  She wanted me to try new things and not be afraid to fail, because in her mind, I had a least tried and I would learn.  Granted, I did not have too difficult of tasks, but attempting seems to be a large part of her philosophy.  The children obviously knew this as well because they would always try.  If they made mistakes, she would have them correct themselves and learn to do it better.  I enjoyed my experience at Neely Campus and it was refreshing to see such hard-working children, an encouraging teacher, and parents so joyfully involved in their student’s education.

Islands Elementary School
Fourth Grade
30 hours

Islands Elementary School was my first experience with teachers and children inside the classroom.  I completed thirty hours at Islands my senior year of highschool.  I have always desired to be a teacher and was excited to begin my journey to become one.  My service learning teacher had been a teacher for four years.  She admitted that the first two years were very difficult but that after those couple years she grew to love and understand her career.  She was an excellent choice for my first experience, she was encouraging, intelligent, kind, and introduced me to the teaching world which I was just beginning to be a part of.  I had several great opportunities to ask my mentor teacher questions about what it is like to be a new teacher, and her answers made me a little less nervous.  Because of this, I believe Islands was a satisfying first experience in the classroom.

Personal Collection

Class Collection

http://www.cartage.org.lb/en/themes/Sciences/Zoology/AnimalPhysiology/Anatomy/Anatomy/animalcell.jpg

Microsoft ClipArt 

ClickArt Software

"YMCA" Flaming Text created at: http://www3.flamingtext.com/

http://www.coolarchive.com/clipart.php?p=education

Personal Collection

http://www.gilbert.k12.az.us/info/schools/islands/islands.html