My First School Observation

     Today for Education 250 we went to a local elementary school to observe. I was assigned a kindergarten class, which also happens to be the grade I want to teach! I was very excited to get to see a teacher in action in the exact setting that I hope to one day be in. I thought the teacher I observed did very well facilitating her class, and I learned a lot while watching her teach.
     One of the major qualities I noticed about the teacher I observed is her patience and her ability to multitask to an extreme level. She was able to continue to focus on what she was teaching the children and what her task was, even as the students constantly called to her to show her their progress and to ask her questions. She was also very patient with the children that continued to misbehave. She never raised her voice to any students, and always politely asked them to stop. This teacher also had a different method of "time out" that I really liked. Instead of calling the place misbehaving students were placed in "time out," she called it "refocus." In this station, the child worked independently in order to refocus their attention before coming back with the rest of the group. This was very effective and I plan to keep this tactic in mind for my future classroom. I think it is important when disciplining students to stay positive and not make the child feel embarrassed or punished if possible, but help them simply shift their energy and attention and help them to realize they have to focus on the task at hand. "Students who are regularly the object of punishment may over time show a drop in positive attitudes toward school (resulting in poor attendance and work performance), have a more negative perception of teachers, and adopt a more punitive manner in interacting with peers and adults" (link at bottom). This teacher did an amazing job of always being uplifting and positive, and never making a child feel unwanted or "bad". This directly connects to the NCTCS, specifically standard two. This standard says, "Teachers establish a respectful environment for a diverse population of students," which I believe is what this teacher aimed for when disciplining students in her classroom.  I would like to facilitate my classroom with the same kind of positive energy in the future.
     I also really admired the way the teacher handled the classroom in a "controlled chaos" type system while doing centers. To anyone else walking in the room, it seemed as if the children were everywhere and that there was no order to it, yet the teacher had everything completely under control. The teacher provided help at one of the centers that the children were doing, but she was very aware of whether the children at other stations were being productive or not. She was very well prepared in order to provide the outcome from the centers that she desired.
    I realized during this observation that I have a very long way to go before I am the teacher in a classroom full of kindergartners. There are many behind the scenes skills that teachers have to work towards, such as patience, multitasking, being overly prepared for every situation, etc. There is so much more to teaching than many people realize, and I will definitely need to work on some of these skills before I reach the classroom.


Link:http://www.interventioncentral.org/behavioral-interventions/challenging-students/what-every-teacher-should-know-about%E2%80%A6punishment-techni