Field Experience Reflection

The coursework and field experience this semester made me realize how important it is to know my students and how to engage them. I experimented with different ways to engage my students over the course of the semester. The experience taught me that the students were more focused and that I grabbed their attention when I actively engaged them in the process of learning. During the first couple of lessons, I read and they answered questions. After the first two lessons, I started engaging them more by allowing them to read, write, draw pictures, and pretend to be the characters from the books. I started to realize the more that I gave them; the more they wanted. I also realized that knowing my students helped me decide what types of activities I chose. Some activities I chose at first I decided to change because after I thought about my students and their interests I decided that it would not work for my students. The lessons are
It is hard at first to give up control in the classroom because when I went to school the classroom was always teacher centered. The teacher was the dispenser of all information and we were little vessels that needed to be filled up with that dispensed knowledge. My goal is to almost have the flip of that model of teaching. I want to serve as a guide for my students. I want to give them the strategies and tools to be able to think critically and develop an understanding of the material instead of telling them what I want them to know. Authentic learning by students is better than them just memorizing a list of facts. When students are at the center of their learning, they are more engaged and receptive to the material in my experience with students. I learned in Reading Achievers that the students wanted to do more than just answer questions. They asked to write after the first week, and I finally gave them more control after the second lesson; therefore, they were more