Field Experiences

For my field experiences, i was assigned a first grade class at Wildwood Forest Elementary. I mostly went during their Reader's Workshop, but did see their Writer's Workshop one Friday afternoon, which they were learning about editing. This was interesting since i was in the group that did their mini lesson on editing. I enjoyed this lesson the best because i saw the students using one step of the writing process to the best of their ability, helping their partners out. Since this was a free write, i saw many topics in the student's stories and also saw an interest from the children in what they were doing. My least favorite lesson was one in which the teacher focused on asking questions before, during, and after reading. This lesson was interesting at first as a whole group, but when the students were asked to read independently, many did not use the strategy, they just read. I had many students want to read to me that did not use the strategy even after i suggested that they might want to so they could better understand the book. Through these experiences, i learned that teaching reading and writing is a process students need to master one step at a time. I learned from my teacher that you will have students who do not like to read or write and will give you the bare minimum in an assignment. Teaching them to love reading and writing may not be accomplished in the one year you have them as a student. By giving them multiple chances to may help teachers, but the most important thing is that they have the skills necessary for reading and writing before they move on.