While working with the fifth grade class at Bishop Dunn Memorial School, I have come to find that all students learn in different ways and at different paces. I worked with a fifth grade boy for a few sessions during fieldwork. We would be working together next to another fifth grade boy and his college buddy. I began to notice that my student would catch onto some subjects quicker than the other student did, and vice versa. The fifth grade student and I conducted a buoyancy experiment together during one session. The student created two boats, one made of clay and the other made of aluminum foil. He took and recorded measurements of both boats and predicted how many pennies he thought each boat would hold. Then we put the boats to the test. The student placed his clay boat in the water and began to add pennies. By the time the tenth or eleventh penny was added, the penny began to sink. He then placed the aluminum foil boat into the water. This boat was larger than the clay boat. This boat was able to hold about sixty pennies at which point we ran out of pennies. The student made a prediction that this boat could have probably held double the amount of pennies that was recorded, if there were enough pennies present in the classroom. Being able to witness this student make predictions and adjust them along the way was a very rewarding opportunity. It helped me realize that nothing is perfect in science and there is always room for corrections and alterations.
During our last few sessions of fieldwork, our methods class was broken into groups in which we had to create an inquiry lesson for the fifth grade class based on chapter twelve of the fifth grade textbook. On group focused on chemical change. They had the students place alka seltzer in water in order to create a reaction. The students were so excited and it was a great hands-on activity.
My group created an inquiry lesson on chemical technology and how it plays an important role in our everyday lives. The students were asked if they agree that chemical technology plays an important part in everyday life. They then explore different materials that were created using chemical technology and those that were not. The students had to distinguish between the two categories. I observed the students’ reactions to the objects that they were given. Within their small groups, they discussed which objects they felt were made using chemical technology and which ones were not made using chemical technology. It was very interesting to see how they interacted and played off of each other’s ideas. If one student thought something was made using chemical technology and another student did not, every student in the group would give his or her opinion and they would discuss the characteristics of the object as a group until they came to a conclusion together.
Every fieldwork experience has given me useful insight into the different aspects of teaching. Having to observe a lesson has given me an outside perspective of how a lesson is run and how students react to different types of lessons. Having to create a lesson has made me realize that not everything always goes as planned in an experiment and as a teacher I should be prepared for anything and everything. Working one-to-one with a student has made me realize that not all students learn at the same pace or in the same way and as a teacher I must be aware of this in order to meet the different needs of all of my future students.
