Caitlyn Berry-Field Experience Reflection Paper

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Caitlyn Berry
Dr. Marian Ellis
EDU 2301
November 25th, 2019
Field Experience Reflection Paper
For my 16 hours of observation I observed Mrs. Julie Stephens, 1st grade, at W.L.
Higgins, North Lamar school district in Paris, Texas. Mrs. Stephens is a wonderful teacher and I
am grateful that I got to observe her and her teaching. She has been a teacher for 22 years, so I
feel like she was a perfect mentor for me to observe. I observed over the course of about 8-9
visits in an hour half to two hour increments and enjoyed every minute of it. In education 1301 I
observed second grade, but feel as though first grade will be my calling of age group as a
teacher.
I learned many teaching techniques from Mrs. Stephens and saw many different
interactions with her and her students that I could utilize to help me when I become a teacher.
There were both positive and negative interactions and I liked that I got to see both so that I
could learn from both aspects. An example of the positive interaction was for their reading time,
every day after PE she would read a book to them. She wouldn’t just read the book through and
be done with it. She would stop and ask questions about what was going on in the book, what
was the main purpose of the author’s story, who was the main character and so on. The kids were
always excited to answer the questions and I could tell that they enjoyed being able to talk about
the book while reading it, instead of just sitting there still throughout the book. One technique
that I saw during this time I liked and will use in my future classroom is that she would tell the
students to turn to their partner to discuss something about the book. Whether it be what it was
about, or a certain character, she would give them 3 minutes to discuss with each other (while
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listening to them) and then have them tell the class what their partner said. She did this as a
listening objective for the students. To make sure they were listening to her directions and to
their peers. The kids loved it and got excited each time. I feel like this was a teacher centered and
student centered lesson. The students were learning from her and what she was reading and also
from each other by listening to their classmate’s thoughts and ideas. A negative interaction I saw
that I think will really help me in my own classroom when I have this situation was dealing with
a student who would not do the work and kept goofing off. She told him multiple times one day
to pay attention, move his behavior clip, moved his seat, but he still kept acting goofy and
distracting the class. She finally had to loudly get on to him in front of everyone and move him
to sit right net her at her desk to complete his work. I think the embarrassment of him getting in
trouble in front of everyone and having to sit with her got him to cooperate and finish his work.
He did not any issues after that during the time of my observation. I spoke with her at the end of
the day that day and she gave me numerous tips and advice on what to do with a student who
was disruptive in class and wouldn’t participate in class.
Overall, my observation was a good experience and I’m honestly sad that they are over. It
made me that much more excited to become a teacher and have my own classroom. Towards the
end of my observation hours, the kids were used to me being there and would start calling me
Mrs. Berry and talking to me at the end of the day before dismissal. I love that age and their
creativity and imagination. They are so innocent and wanting to learn at that age. Observing first
grade definitely makes me still want to be a teacher. The advice she gave me on how to deal with
a difficult student will be something that I will implement in my future classroom. I will also
make sure to always include my students in lessons like she did, she keeps them engaged and in
my opinion the urge to want to learn and participate. I learned many things from just those 16
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hours. I learned to be a teacher, you need to be attentive, patient, understanding of all students
need and to approach each lesson and day with an enthusiastic attitude!

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What teaching techniques did the author observe?

How did the teacher deal with a disruptive student?

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was disruptive in class and wouldn’t participate in class.

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