Blog 6

     The teacher that I observe does an excellent job at actively engaging students.  He has the desks set up in tables so the children can collaborate with each other about answers and share ideas with each other.  He often uses the think pair share strategy allowing each child to have an opportunity to think about and elaborate on his or her answers.  He then puts them in pairs and lets them share their findings or ideas.  Another thing he does is bring all of the students together sitting on the carpet.  He says this gets them more engaged in the learning rather than sitting in their desks with distractions. 
      I noticed some of the vocabulary we learned are words he has taught me about.  One that he uses most is wait time.  He will ask a question and will not let students raise their hand until everyone has had a chance to think.  He says when students raise their hands right after a question is given it makes the other children not want to try to think because they will let someone else answer.  It also gives them an opportunity to put all of their ideas together in an effective answer.
      Aside from wait time he uses many other of the vocabulary words we learned.  He never says them but constantly portrays them.  I see him using scaffolding many times when he is helping a student one on one with a question.  He is also very good at overlapping.  He uses many of these strategies and he is a very effective teacher.

Blog 5

      During my field work experience I have learned so much and I have noticed many various roles of the teacher.  They have to be good at a lot of different things.  They have to be artistic, understanding, trustworthy, kind, patient and hold many other qualities of a good teacher.  Aside from these mentioned characteristics a teacher must be able to teach the many diverse students in her classroom.  The teacher I observe is very well at controlling his emotions, patient, funny, and he has obviously gained the students trust because they just adore him.
      I would think that the most important role that a teacher plays is simply being a good teacher.  It is their responsibility to teach their students.  To be a good teacher you must hold many qualities to reach out to each student.  I have noticed that preparing different and unique lesson plans to satisfy every student is very beneficial.  In the class I observe the teacher does exactly this.  Every time I visit the classroom he uses different techniques to teach the children.  One technique to get the students to think is when he asks a question he doesn't let them raise their hands for two minutes.  He told me that this gives the students an opportunity to figure out the question without distractions and without the other students just giving them the answer.  He calls this "wait time."  He does a very well job at teaching each individual student the lessons.
      I think the most difficult role for a teacher would be incorporating every student in the lessons even students with disabilities, careless attitudes, and different levels of cognitive development.  The teacher I observe does a very good job at teaching the material to each student.  He has them skip recess to catch up or join in a study group, he has separate time to give small group lessons, and he works one on one with students.  I think it would be hard to reach out to each individual student but he has given me a good example of how to succeed this role of a teacher.

Blog 4

      I am really enjoying my field work observation.  It is amazing to see what we are learning in class take place in a real classroom.  I had the opportunity to prepare a power point presentation to introduce myself to the class and I really enjoyed that.  I also got to correct an assignment and it was interesting to see the various scores.  You can really see where some children struggle and others where they prosper. 
      For his assessments he just uses the typical written test.  Before he starts a new chapter he starts out by giving them sort of a pre test.  He gives them a problem and lets them use what they already know to figure it out.  Some kids know exactly how to do it, while others have no clue.  It's interesting to see all the different methods they use.
      One of the teachers I observe uses very interesting teaching strategies.  One in particular that seems to really get the students thinking is when he asks them, "why?"  He will ask them, "why is that the answer?" or "why did you do it that way?".  This really gets their brains thinking.  This strategy is very effective for pre tests because then they ask them selves those questions and its a good way to start learning a new concept.