Field Post 4

On Friday, October 28th I walked into the halls of Chippewa Elementary School for the first time in many years, for I was once a student at this school. These field hours have given me the opportunity to go back and shadow my old second grade teacher, Ms. Clancy, who is also a John Carroll alum. I chose to go back and shadow her because she had such an impact on me. She is an incredible teacher and does a great job connecting with her students, and that is something that I remember from 11 years ago when I was in her very classroom. I arrived at 9:30 which is the start of their school day. I said my hello's to Ms. Clancy and a few other staff members as the kids organized and cleaned out their desks before their morning announcements. One of the first things I noticed was that the class was predominantly white. There was one asian, two indians, and no african americans. That is very typical of the Brecksville School District as it is a predominantly white community. From the moment I walked into the classroom one of the students, Lydia, grew an immediate attachment to me. As I would walk around the room she would randomly come up and hug me, she would ask me questions about myself, compliment my outfit and so on. Ms. Clancy mentioned that she is more of a troubled student, as she has a tendency to talk out loud and not raise her hand, get out of her seat and not listen to instructions. As a teacher you will get students like this and it is very important to know how to handle them properly. Since Halloween was right around the corner the students started their lesson with a Halloween poetry activity. All of the students read along to the poems and actively participated. After that they transitioned into doing problems in their math books. Ms. Clancy did a few problems with the students on the smart board and then had them try it on their own, and if they had any questions to flag down either me or Ms. Clancy. From the very start Ms. Clancy had me working hard and helping the students but I really enjoyed it and felt as if I did a nice job answering any questions and connecting with the kids. Following math was the start of music class with Mrs. Ferguson, my old music teacher. Mrs. Ferguson is a very sweet lady who is passionate about music and is also able to connect with the kids very well. The kids all participated in Halloween music activities and listened to halloween songs and danced! It was a good way for them to let out all of their hyper energy in an appropriate way. They were all very excited and got into the activities. After music class the kids headed back to the classroom and got ready for lunch, meaning that my time was up. As I was leaving a couple of the girls came up and gave me hugs (Lydia included) and it made me feel as if they really looked up to me. I had a very good first day doing my field hours and I am glad that I chose to come back to Chippewa Elementary School. Some of the things that I noted were that all of the teachers that I have ever worked with in this school do an incredible job with connecting with the students, getting to know them, and make them feel heard and I feel as if these things are vital. I also noted that all of the students were eager to get involved with all of the activities and lessons and they cared about what they were learning.That is part of the reason why I want to go into this field at this age level--I admire the administrations passion for the students, and the students passion for learning.