My Middle School Observation

        My observation of the middle school was very informative and interesting. Although it did not change my mind about teaching elementary school, I still learned a lot from this experience. I was assigned a sixth grade science class, and their lesson for the day was on energy.
        One of the major methods the teacher I observed demonstrated was complete awareness of individual student needs. In order to teach the class about energy, the teacher assigned an article for the students to read, and questions to answer based on the reading. As the students worked individually, the teacher went to every student and assisted in different ways in order to provide guided practice for her students. As I listened to the responses this teacher gave each child, I realized she answered every student differently. Some students were given additional examples, assistance, and encouragement, whereas other students were simply prompted to answer the questions in their own way. This teacher obviously knew which students were insufficient in this area of learning, and which students were well beyond sufficient. I think being aware of the learning style, ability, and level of each student is extremely important for a teacher to grasp in his or her classroom. I hope to make this extremely prevalent when I teach in the future, and pay very close attention to each student in order to learn their individual needs. This directly connects with the NCTCS, specifically standard one, "teachers demonstrate leadership." Element 1a under standard one states that "Teachers demonstrate leadership by taking responsibility for the progress of all students..." Teachers can show students that they are capable of learning and growing when they lead in a way that helps all students progress in education. The awareness of individual student needs also directly relates to standard four, "Teachers facilitate learning for their students." Specifically element 4a, which says "Teachers know the ways in which learning takes place, and they know the appropriate levels of intellectual, physical, social, and emotional development of their students." In order for any teacher to successfully help all students learn, they have to be aware of the way each child learns best and the level of assistance they require.
      Another major thing I noticed in this classroom was the distracted behavior of the students. The article that the students were given about energy was intended to give the students a relevant, real life example of what they were learning in order to engage them and give them something to connect to. I believe this backfired slightly in this classroom. The students were not focused, and I noticed many of them becoming extremely distracted very easily. This helped me to realize the importance of over planning for my future classroom. The lesson that a teacher plans may not always be engaging and beneficial in the way it is intended to be. I believe if the students are not engaged, they are not learning and need to move on to something else. I hope to be able to enforce this in my future classroom in order to create the best possible learning environment for my students.