Field Placement Reflections

  My first day of field placement on Friday was definitely interesting! This semester, I am at the Fairland Center, a school supporting students with Emotional and Behavioral Disorders. The classroom I am in has seven middle-school age students, though only three students were present in school on Friday. There were three adults adults in the room full-time, my co-op and two others, though several adults stopped by every once in a while to see how things were going.
   One thing that really surprised me about this placement is the non-traditional schedule and super-flexible set-up of the day. While I was there, the students had some time to play games, then they had gym, and then time to work (or avoid working), and I didn't see any academic group instruction. The only time all of the students were instructed together was when they were playing a game together during gym class. Instead of group instruction, each student had individual assignments to work on at his desk. I was surprised because the students seemed to spend a good deal of time off-task, and would be up and wandering around the room a lot, or simply refusing to complete their assignments. I wondered often throughout the morning how the students managed to complete any of their work! I am curious to see in the next few weeks how the schedules and routines change day-to-day. My co-op explained that because the students are at such different levels academically, group instruction isn't really feasible, and I am now curious to see the teaching strategies my co-op uses with the students one-on-one.
    The most interesting part of my placement experience on Friday was the students themselves. They are all great, and I was impressed by how well they worked together in gym games. They would all clap and cheer for each other, and were very supportive. My co-op also told me that the students have made a lot of progress on using sign language to communicate, as one of their classmates has a hearing impairment. From what I took from the conversation, the teachers and staff began using signs to communicate with the student with a hearing impairment, and his classmates willingly began to work on the signs to communicate with him. The student with the hearing impairment has difficulty hearing mid-to-high-frequency sounds, but can somewhat hear low tones. For this reason, my co-op and the other staff members hum as low as they can to get the student's attention, which really fascinated me. I am excited to go back to placement in the future to continue building relationships with the students and my co-op as well, and to see how the rest of the semester will be!

American Teacher Reflection

             The documentary “American Teacher” was certainly interesting, and brought up what I consider to be several important points about the teaching profession in the United States. Though there was a very heavy focus on the financial aspects of being a schoolteacher, I felt that the statements made about the respect a teacher receives were more powerful, though less focused upon.

                Throughout the documentary, the stories of several teachers from across the country were followed. Each of the teachers faced different hardships connected with being a teacher, though this documentary focused in particular on the financial strain that a teaching career placed on the individuals’ lives. While I feel that the scenarios presented were eye-opening, there is a lot of information regarding finances that was left unsaid during the documentary, including standard of living and benefits, which slightly took away from the argument. I feel that the stories of financial difficulties would most impact those unfamiliar with the teaching profession, who may be unaware that such financial hardship can occur while an individual holds a “professional” job.

               

                While the commentary on financial struggles was intriguing, the part of the documentary that resonated with me most was the idea of the respect that teachers receive in our country. It wasn’t something that I had given much thought to before, at least not from the angle of comparing the profession to others. When considering my own life, however, I found that the difference in respect between teaching and other professions has already begun to play a role. Both of my roommates intend on going to medical school, pursuing careers in pediatrics and optometry. We are often asked about our career goals, and the responses to my roommates’ and my own answer are always different. While my roommates’ answers evoke a, “Wow, that’s intense, good for you!” response, my answer generally evokes an, “Aw, that’s really cute!”. It is interesting to me that, though my roommate’s career choice involves children just as mine does, the responses to our intended careers are so much different. I feel that some of that difference comes from the perception of our careers by the public, and I believe that this documentary calls attention to that. I found the comparison of attitudes towards the teaching profession in the United States and in other countries interesting, and I would like to learn more about it. If our country were to follow the education profession models used by other countries, would our education system improve? 

                Overall, I feel that the documentary “American Teacher” brought up interesting points about challenges faced by teachers today, and presented a strong commentary about the perceptions of teachers in our country. I hope that this documentary will bring educational issues further into the public eye, and help our country to develop the best educational system possible for our teachers, and, ultimately, for our students.