In the Field

This week I spent a lot of time with my focus student for another class, and did not really see too much science in the classroom. My CT is still trying to catch-up on a lot of different things, so I was able to take my focus student in the hallway and work with him individually. This is extremely helpful because I am learning how the students in the class learn, especially this one student I am working with. He works so much better with me in the hall then in the classroom because he had someone there to help him when he needed it, and he had somewhere there to show they “cared.” My CT does a great job with all the students and getting them to develop in many different areas, but because he has so many struggling students he is not always able to attend to the students’ needs when they are needed. I was also able to give the student assessment tests in literacy, which was a very interesting experience because I did not do this for a while (I did similar testing the classroom last semester). The students have obviously gotten better at reading, which relates to science in many ways. The students used to have problems following directions on many of the science activities partially because they simply just could not read them at an adequate pace. Now that they can read better, they will be able to complete the science activities more effectively, which of course relates to their learning experiences. This improved reading will help all of the students in many different areas, and considering that a good portion of them came in at a kindergarten reading level, it is truly impressive how much they have improved.