Centaurus P2T 2019-2020

The teacher that I am observing does not ever do a lesson at the times we are there all they do is break out into groups and send us into the hall or another class room to read to the kids or color for with them. I don't really know how she is an effective teacher because I have not seen her actually teach so it is actually really hard for me to answer this question. I want to be able  see a teacher really work with students and really give a lesson that I can observe. It's been really hard to be able to learn anything from her as a teacher.

The teacher we work with is Mrs. Montoya, she is very kind and young from the looks of it. We haven't spoken with her much but every time the children walk into the room they are fairly quiet and sit on their spots on the rug. I think she is an effective teacher because of this, the students listen to her and always follow her directions. Although a definition of a good high school teacher would be slightly different. An effective teacher would be a teacher who explains things thoroughly, a teacher who makes sure we understand our unit so were not lost in our next. I've had some experiences where a teacher goes to fast, this is mostly in my advanced classes, I struggle a bit more than the rest of the students. Since I'm, the only one struggling the teacher always moves on and I end up getting more and more lost. 

10/03/19 A few things that prohibit the students from finishing assignments is not having someone right next to them they wouldn't do their work. I was working with two students today and I was noticing that if I was right next to one student the other wasnt dong their work. In the end, the teacher did talk to me about being on the students if they aren't doing their work or if they're in space. I think this could go for all elementary students with not having a teacher by their side. the kids won't do their work if they (A) don't know what they're doing (B) have friends near or (C) not having a guardian always harping on them.

Today I worked with one student and my partner worked with another. I worked on a math sheet which was pretty hard considering we learned math different ways. We did addition and subtraction which was easy for me but it was hard for me to do the math she was taught. We had to finish the sheet which we were somewhat close to finishing by the end of the day. A few things I noticed about the student I was working with is if I wasn't focused on her one on one she wouldn't do her work, so I had to harp on her a few times. the student loved that I helped her out when she struggled and I actually broke down the problem when she struggled.

Distractions and lack of motivation are what keep me from completing assignments on time. Sometimes a new video will come out on Youtube or a new season will come out on Netflix. I get tempted to watch during my work time, then I end up doing that instead of homework. I think this happens with a lot of kids also since most of them have phones now. The internet is full of distractions that kids cant avoid. My lack of motivation although comes from too much homework and having to deal with a job at the same time. Children don't have to worry about hour-long homework assignments from each class or when they have to go into work. They only get a 30-minute worksheet they have to finish in like 2 days. I would love to go back with the same knowledge I have now, I would pass elementary school with no problem. We all have to learn though and elementary school is part of this process.

10/3/2019 Today in class we got to finally introduce our self's and the kids asked us questions about things we like but it felt like I couldn't relate to any of the questions. That lasted for about five minutes then we helped kids with their math packets and we had other students from other classes work with us as well. I couldn't explain to them how to solve it without them getting even more confused and they were quiet and that made things feel uncomfortable. In all honesty fourth graders scare me, they're more mature and quiet than I figured they would be. 

After the third experience at Ryan elementary, I have concluded that the ILC class may not be the best fit for this educational experience. Most of the students are non verbal and don't listen to instructions, so there is hardly any teaching going on, just observing. I have worked with kids with autism plenty of times, and have plenty of experience having learning breakthroughs with those children. There are two or three children in the classroom I feel a connection to, but River already has his own personal teacher, as do most of the rest of the kids. The program seems to have it under control and they don't really need our help, so they don't give us anything to do. I think a better fit classroom for me would be kindergarten, first, or second grade. I would really like to have a more interactive classroom environment.