After completing one week of field experience in a junior high school, I have already seen and learned so much. I am observing two teachers as of right now, Ms. R and Mr. B, and I have been given the opportunity to observe both of their teaching styles for Physical Education.
Before beginning my field experience, I was very nervous because I have always had my heart on teaching high school and being in a setting with younger students I personally get very uneasy about. I always am both nervous and excited about meeting my cooperating teacher because knowing this person was in my shoes before creates some sort of relief.
Ms. R teaches both Physical Education and Science. For my time being at the school, I am only able to see one of her P.E. classes and was asked if I would like to either observe her two Sciences classes or two of Mr. B's P.E. classes. Both of these teachers are excellent. I love to see how they get the students involved. Recently, they have been playing the game of Pickleball, which personally is one of my favorite games. After watching Ms. R teach I notice that she is gives her students the freedom to do their warm ups on their own and begin the lesson without being told. The only thing she does is tell them who is playing where but, I do notice the students connect more with her than Mr. B. Mr. B teaches his classes in a more structured manner. He times everything perfectly and is very organized. One thing that stood out the most to me about Mr. B that I want to do as a Physical Education teacher is participate with my students in the lesson. He told me about how once or twice every lesson he tries to play against the students to see if the students can score a point against him. That is one thing that I would like to do with my own students.
One thing that connects Education 203 to my field experience is I can see how much of an impact prior teachers have on educators lives. During class, we have talked about why we would like to be a teacher and many of us said that someone in our lives have influenced us and see this in a classroom setting outside of college students shows how true it really is.
The students were confused as why I was there at first. They thought that I was a substitute teacher. Once my cooperating teachers explained why I was there to the students they felt more comfortable knowing I was a student as well. They would come to me with questions and when I asked them for their scores they did not hesitate to tell me when they won.
Overall, my experience so far with Ms. R and Mr. B in a junior high school has been great and I am looking forward to working with them and their students for the rest of the semester.
