Today I visited my elementry school and the children were just wild. I dont know if it was all the sugar from Easter, the beautiful weather outside, or just the fact that they did not want to be in school. Reguardless, my classroom was out of control, children were running around, arguments were errupting, and screeches and yelps were heard throughout. Even though this visit was very agrivating and frustrating I think that it was an important learning experience for me, and made me question myself if I was really cut out for teaching young children and if it was something that I could deal with everyday.
I think that overall, this experience is shaping my teacher identity into a well rounded and diverse teacher. I work with three students in my reading buddies group and they are all very different. The first student who is the only girl, seems to always be hyper and energetic. She is always asking questions about my life, and telling me about hers, she'll do almost anything to get out of doing the activities that have been assigned for the day. The second student is somewhat shy and keeps to himself. However, at the same time he wants attention, all the attention he can get and when it is not given to him during his turn while playing an activity, there is a problem. The last student that I'm with is the most well behaved one. He is very polite and considerate of the others while doing activities and listens very well. He is very smart and sometimes gets bored with the games and activities that we are doing because he is above the level of them and already knows the material. Working with such a diverse groups of children has taught me how to deal with and respond to different types of children and develop methods that help me to cater to each of their needs. For my Senior Project last year, I did my fieldwork in a first grade classroom in Barrington, which is a prodominantly white community. I feel lucky that this year I am able to do my service learning fieldwork in the complete opposite community because I think that it is helping me to become a more rounded and diverse teacher and I will know how to teach in various different situations in the future.
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Well said Kayla, I have to agree that the experiences that we are having this semester are really setting the ground work for us to become competent teachers in the future. The fact that you are able to find a level of understanding to reach each of your students is wonderful, and I am sure that they are receiving more knowledge from you than they lead you to believe. In an earlier post of yours you said that in your classroom you would make a huge effort to be culturally competent, I definitely see the same theme here regarding the individual identities of the students and the flexability of your approach.
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