Fieldwork Experience

This fieldwork experience was quiet different then what I have been exposed throughout my time at Mount Saint Mary College. If I am being completely honest, I did not find it to be extremely effective for us future teachers. There were more expectations than I feel any of us were prepared for, and we were made aware of the expectations that were not met through feedback at the end of class. As for teaching science, I felt the groups adapted and remained professional throughout each lesson to ultimately conduct effective and education lessons for grades 2-6. Students were provided an array of resources and materials over the course of the program that they will hopefully take with them throughout their academic careers. It was interesting to observe the students who gravitated more towards books / hands on materials compared to those who enjoyed technology and navigating through different activities on the computer. I really was able to see the importance of technology being integrated throughout lessons, and the impact it had on students learning throughout this experience in both direct and inquiry lessons. Due to technology my group was able to check for understanding, pre-assess, and draw conclusions based off students work throughout different activities on the computer. Working within groups allowed us to share different ideas, likes and dislikes to ultimately create well executed lesson plans. Whether I fully agree with it or not, technology has become a huge part of students everyday lives and it is a key component to how students learn today and makes for high engagement. I speak for myself when I say I learned something new from each of my peers as they presented both lessons. I furthermore will be using the different resources groups used throughout my future endeavors educating students.