Monday, January 16, 2017

FieldBlog6: The Last Day

Wednesday and Thursday at OHS are block schedules. That means you only have half of our classes on Wednesday, and the other half on Thursday. The only change is that your classes are 90 minutes instead of 50. This Wednesday, I sat in on a Global Citizen class, an American Century class, and half of a World History class. In Global Citizenship, Mrs. Cirino started the class with a current event asking the students to writing about what they saw in a picture projected on the whiteboard. At first glance it  looks like two girls looking out to a pasture with a barbed wire fence between them. After the students shared what they wrote, Mrs. Cirino revealed that it was two Native American girls looking at what use to be part of their reservation. Because of the Decoda pipeline, land that used to belong to them has been taken away without their consent. As she informs the students about the protest that are happening, Mrs. Cirino keeps her opinions hidden. She gives the student two articles that support both sides of the argument and have an open discussion with the class to hear their opinions. Following the current event, Mrs. Cirino separated the class into their groups. The homework for the day was to bring in a object that represented your identity. Students were told to show their object while the rest of the group play 20 questions to figure out what the object meant to them.  As the room began talking, Mrs. Cirino walked around to each group and made sure she heard what everyone's object was. I notice that her questions to each student where out of her own interest, but at the same time move the groups in the right direction. She genuinely wanted to know what these objects meant to the students, and when she got closer to the answer a smile came to her face.

After reviewing all of my observations, I was overwhelmed with excitement. Seeing what I had been a part of for so many years, but from a new perspective opened my eyes to all the little details it takes to be a good teacher. Having read different pieces of work on education, and then having the opportunity to observe those different ideas filled me with so much joy. I was blessed to of been able to have such wonderful teachers in my life. Now that it is my turn to move on in the world, I see what it takes to be a good teacher. Everything from time management in lessons, to the tone of your voice when talking to a student, to the way the room is organized plays a role in how the material reaches the student. Teaching is more than explaining material, building relationships and the delivery of the lesson are factors that I will be focusing in on in my career.

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