Top Ten Moments from Methods 2 Field Experience
10. A Tour of Stony Brook UniversityTowards the beginning of the semester, our Methods 2 class was able support a sub-group that had been guest-teaching at a high school by leading their students on a tour of Stony Brook University. The students were fun and having fun, and that made the whole experience enjoyable. The planned activities didn't work out as perfectly as we had hoped or planned, but that in and of itself is valuable experience for teaching and life.
9. Finishing Field Experience
As much as I enjoy observing in classrooms and how it contextualizes the practice behind the theory we study in class, I was elated when I realized I had accumulated enough hours of field experience. I will miss the students I worked with, but time is a precious commodity.
8. The GIR Room
In my observations at Chingachgook High School, the main classroom I observed in was a mini-lecture hall. It was fascinating to see how this worked with normal general education English classes with 20-30 students. The room had stadium seating and plenty of space to spread out and work. Surprisingly the large space and the subsequent wide spread of student placement worked rather well. It encouraged a performance atmosphere, especially when working in groups and on activities.
7. Haiku Chains
In one class, the teacher had what seemed to be a fun and inventive way to get students to engage poetry in motion by having them create haiku chains. 5-6 poster boards were spread throughout the large classroom, and groups of students would cycle through the poster boards and add a line to a haiku. The activity should have been simple, fun, and effective. But the most important thing I learned here was that the most well-intentioned and thought out lessons can fall flat if the students simply aren't having any of it. While many of the students took the lesson seriously and created fun and appropriate haiku chains, some of the students created epicly snarky and inappropriate lines. And, yet, the teacher was a true professional and did not let the jerky students ruin her day or plan.
6. Getting to be an active participant in the class
For much of my Methods 1 &2 field experience, most teachers were happy to have me but seemed to prefer observers sit quietly and just observe. But in my observations at Chingachgook High School, the teacher was excited to have me be an active participant in the teaching process. When the class began working on college application essays, I told the teacher that I have quite a bit of experience helping students with these. She was more than willing to let me work with her students on their essays, and I was extremely happy to get more experience and work with these students.
5. Having those students come back for more help and seeing their progress
It took a little while for the students to warm up to this strange hairy guy visiting their class and offering to help with their personal writing, but I will explain more about that later. Having students I worked with on essays come back to show me what they had done in response to our work together and having them eager to continue working was wonderful.
4. Being told the students were asking about me when I was out for a day
One week I missed the normal day that I observed. And, when I returned the following week, both the teachers and the students noted that they were happy I was back... That really hit me in the feels.
3. Building rapport with the teacher and co-teacher
Often as a pre-service teacher and observer, it is easy to feel like an amateur or an outsider. Even when invited and made to feel welcome, there is a divide of experience that separates those practicing the art of teaching and those studying the theory of teaching. But, after getting to work with the students and receiving good feedback, I feel like I was able to prove myself a little bit. On subsequent observations, I realized the two co-teachers and I were having rich and thoughtful conversations while the students worked quietly. I really feel like they saw me as a soon-to-be peer rather than some upstart inruder.
2. Getting students to open up through their writing
While working with students on their college application essays, I was able to see their writing transition from overly general fulfillment of perceived expectations to genuine and interesting explorations of self and expression. By slyly weaseling my way into the thoughts of the students through our conversations, I saw them manifest what they felt was important to say into their writing.
1. The Goat
When the teacher explained to her class that I was available to help them with their college essays, I knew the students would likely be hesitant to work with a stranger. After I explained who I was and my basic credentials, I was hoping that at least some would take advantage. For a while, no one wanted to take the chance. But, then a student named Giancarlo went up to his teacher and asked if he should have me take a look, to which the teacher enthusiastically replied, "Yes!" We worked together for about twenty minutes until he was ready to create a revision draft on his own. As he got up from where we were seated, he yelled out to the rest of the class, "This guy is the GOAT!!!" (meaning Greatest of All Time). From that point on, with Giancarlo's apparently weighty approval, I was accepted by the class and able to help a number of students with their writing.
