Lesson 8 Classroom Assessment

One of the things I really appreciated about this course was the opportunity to do Service Learning. It really helped when I went into the classroom to have something specific to be looking for our thinking about to report in my blog. I actually wish there had been more blog assignments because although I still felt the days I didn't have a blog assignment to be working on had value, I feel like the blog part itself helped to give an extra purpose and added meaning to my day.

I do feel that I was able to make connections between the course and my student learning. Sometimes it was a little tricky, like the weeks we were talking about diversity in classrooms. At first glance, the classroom I was in didn't seem to be particularly diverse. The course pushed me to look a little deeper and try to get to know the kids a little better to understand how they learned and why they learned and what would motivate them to learn. I feel like the first week I was there, I just saw them all as students but by the last week, I knew which students had a harder time focusing or might need a little extra attention and I knew which students worked better if I was just hanging out nearby, whether or not they actually needed any help. I learned that the students in the class were not just a bunch of first graders but that they were all individuals with thoughts and ideas and different backgrounds and strengths and struggles. I was also able to learn some of the tricky parts about being a teacher and different strategies to handle outbursts or disruptions. Some of that was tricky for me since I'm in my last weeks of pregnancy so my patience wears a lot more thin than it might otherwise. I was able to learn a little about myself through this as well and about what things I would need to plan ahead for in order to be successful and not feel out of control.

Overall, it was a really good experience and as today is usually the day I would have been in the elementary classroom, I am feeling a little bummed out that I'm not there right now.