A. Yes, I definitely still want to teach. My classroom experience strongly confirmed my desire to become an educator. My interactions with the students I tutored made me realize how much I enjoy teaching children. I observed in a Cross-Categorical classroom as well as a fifth-grade bilingual room. My experience in the cross-cat room was amazing. I thoroughly enjoyed my time there as well as getting to know my cooperative teacher. It was very inspiring to watch her connect with her students and teach them different lessons each week. I worked with one student in particular while in her room. Thomas* was a male from Guatemala who in the past few years had been adopted by an American couple. When I first started helping him read and write, his skills were still fairly rudimentary. He also had a difficult time focusing on his work and often he would become frustrated and lash out. However, by the time I left, he was reading and writing much better and his reaction to frustration was so much more controlled. It was incredible to watch his transformation throughout the semester. The biggest lesson I learned while helping him was the importance of communicating expectations to one’s students. Because of his problems with anger, my cooperative teacher had created a behavior contract which stated five different goals he was to achieve or at least strive for each period. I observed that if these expectations went without statement, then his behavior was markedly worse. However, when the time was taken to state his expectations, his behavior was much better.
Initially, while in my fifth-grade bilingual classroom, I thought perhaps I would enjoy teaching a larger class in all subjects. While in Ms. Smith’s* classroom, I enjoyed the atmosphere of teaching children who understood the material being taught. However, after observing a regular class and a special education classroom, I realize that I’ve picked the right major. Even while in a regular room, I always tended to gravitate towards the children having difficulty learning. In my opinion, the one-on-one interaction is what I enjoyed most as opposed to a group lecture. Even though teaching children with disabilities is more challenging and frustrating at times, the outcome is so much more rewarding for me. This classroom was also relevant to my teaching career. Mrs. Tufts* was a joy to watch teach. From her I learned that love and nurturing are an essential part of educating children. She taught her students as if they were her own flesh and blood and she did so with a great sense of humor.
The biggest eye-opener for me was the reality of ISAT testing. I never knew that it held sway to such a large extent in our public schools. It was especially unnerving to see how even with special needs children and Spanish-speaking students, the same exact test was given to each and every student at Booker T. Washington. It seemed that the teachers were literally ‘teaching to the test.’ I observed that this created stress for the both the students and the teacher. Instead of the classroom revolving around curiosity, it’s centered on a specific test engineered in a generic way.
B. My service-learning experience took place at Booker T. Washington School in Champaign, IL. I observed in two classrooms. One was a cross-categorical room and the other was a fifth-grade bilingual class. While completing my observation, I learned the reality of teaching which involves much more paperwork, patience and technique. This will greatly benefit my expectations when beginning my teaching career.
