Is Teaching for Me?

Is teaching for me? That is a question that pops into my head every so often. But after questioning I know without a doubt that teaching is the only career for me. I know that I want to spend the next 40 plus years of my life teaching students. I want to be the person who makes a difference in the students lives and see the light bulb turn on in their heads. I am more excited to start teaching then anything else in my life.

The Service Learning helped me realize more that teaching is for me but that really isn't what really made me decide to go into the career. I have had my mind set on being an elementary school teacher after I spent a semester of high school in an elementary school being a teachers assistant because I actually was working side by side with the teacher and helping teach the class. I was able to get a little bit of being a teacher.

My next steps are getting into the education program. After I get in then I just need to finish the four semesters. When I graduate then its on to finding a job. Then starting my career as an educator.

Classroom Assessment

I see connections with the course topics and service learning, I can see that I am learning the basics to how to be a good teacher. I see that the teachers I am doing my service learning with, show the topics that are being discussed while teaching their class. I have learned so much about teaching in this class. I have learned about the positive and negatives of how to teach students. I learned what its going to be like one day to teach a class. I think blogging is helping because I can see what I have been learning by taking this course and by doing my service learning. I notice I have changed my outlook on teachers from the first blog to my last. Teachers really do have an extremely hard job and they are truly amazing people. I can not wait to become an amazing teacher like the teachers I do my service learning for.

Standards and Accountability

The standards are not followed as much in the classroom I am doing my Service Learning in. But there are things that the teachers try to teach the children more then others. The students are taught the standards but in a simpilar way. The students do puzzles, color, and read every morning which helps there brains get started for the day. Then the students do there morning activities which include singing and naming the days of the week and helps with their numbers. The students then usually get split up on their learning levels and do lessons according to the level they are at. This really helps to have the students understand what is going on. The teachers try to approach every standard they can but in a Special Education class there are going to be hurdles that students can't get over. So the teachers help the students to get the chance to get over that hurdle.

Diversity in Today's Schools

In my classroom the teachers do an amazing job about teaching to the diversity. They don't just teach something one way for everyone to learn. They try to show that everyone can learn in different ways. The teachers help the students learn as much as they can in the way they can learn. The students in the class are willing to learn but it takes them a little longer to get the information that is being taught. The students in this classroom really having amazing teachers that are willing to do anything in order to help them learn.

History of American Education

I see the support for English learners in the elementary school I am doing my service learning. The class I am in the teacher makes sure that no student is left behind. Even though in the class I am doing my service learning in has a hard time learning and they all learn on their own pace. The teachers make sure to give their students the best education possible. The students have disabilities but that does not mean that they don't want to learn. All the students get taught the way they need to in order to learn. I see the affects of the Education for All Handicapped Children Act of 1975. This act made it possible for any child no matter the disability to have an education. This act really improved the education program because no student was being left behind. All children were getting the education they deserved.

Engaging Learners

In my service learning the teachers teach by using a lot of hands on and movement to keep the students engaged. The students will show the students what is being taught and also have something to show the students so they can touch what is being taught. The students move around and do activities that involve movement so they stay focused on the task they are doing. The teachers also make sure to get the students out of the classroom if its just for their little field trip to Provo, or if its just going to a educational place, or going outside for a change. By doing this the students will get an interest in what might be happening next. In the class I am its hard to keep the students attention, so most activities have to be engaging if they aren't they will lose their students really fast. The teachers do a great job keeping the students focused.

Creating Productive Learning Environments

The teacher helped the students by offering them choices on what they wanted to do. She gave them two choice. The kids could play in the gym or go swimming. The students picked what they wanted to do and then the teachers and assistants split up to watch the students.
The teacher lets the students know they are loved by showing that she cares about them. She gives the students feedback when they need it. The teacher is involved which shows the students they are loved. The students know they are safe around the teacher because the teacher shows how much she cares for them. And when you care about someone you make sure they are safe.
The teacher in this class knows that each student has very extraordinary disabilities and not one of them are the same. So the teacher needs to know exactly how to help each student in their own way to help the student learn what is being taught or done in class.

How People Learn

Yesterday was the first day I spent at my service learning school. While I watched the teachers they mostly taught the children how to learn using the kinesthetic learning theory. The teachers practiced this theory by bringing the students to a BYU event. At this BYU event the teachers allowed college students to entertain the elementary age students by showing them how to use sport equipments. The college students understand that the children in this class have disabilities and can't understand things as quickly as other students.

So as I watched and participated in helping the students. I watched as they would see someone shoot a basketball into a hoop and understand that the ball needed to go through the hoop. Also some students only learn by sign language and the teacher has to kind of act out what the student wants to do. These students really on kinesthetic and visual theories in order to learn more.

For my service learning I picked to go to Orchard Hills Elementary school in Santaquin,UT. This school is located to the east of Santaquin. I decided to go here because my Aunt is involved in this school and she is in the area of teaching I want to go into. I want to be able to minor as being a Special Education teacher. The class that I will be helping out is the elementary's special education class. I think this is the best class to be over because it will give me the chance to expand my horizons. This class will give me more challenges and will help me get to know how to help all different kinds of students with their education. I have met her class a few times this year at random activities so I already have a sense of how the students. But that hasn't been for a long period of time so I am sure there will be surprises.
Service learning is what the two words mean, its service while you learn. This is a learning activity that will benefit me as a whole in the long run. But its an activity that doesn't involve payment for your service you provide. I guess the payment is the experience and the knowledge you will gain.