I was placed at Coleman Elementary because that is where I am designated to do my student teaching in the Spring. I went in three days a week, one day in Ms. Coulter's kindergarten classroom, one day in Ms. Lesheiner's third-grade classroom, and another day for me to rotate and see other classes. 

Well… the second I walked in, to Ms. Coulter’s kindergarten classroom on my first day back at Coleman, I was given a dandelion and a necklace made out of a shoelace and a plastic butterfly toy and was asked if I teleported there. The students immediately fell in love with me and are like magnets to me. I would receive constant hugs throughout the day from various students. Working with this class was a great experience, since I learned a ton of management strategies for setting up a larger amount of students who, some of which had never been in school before, to be able to learn the routines and expectations of a classroom.

I also observed in Ms. Leschiener's third grade classroom as well. It was a great, and eye-opening experience. I was always adamant that I wanted to only teach primary grades, but being in there and made me realize that I have the ability to connect with students of upper elementary grade levels as well. I was also well-liked by these students as well, as they would cheer every time I can in. I really look up to Ms. Leschiener as a role model for how to treat the students, resolve social-emotional issues among the students, and how to make academic content engaging for all students. 

This semester, I was able to combine work experience with fieldwork with a new job as an aide in the preschool/transitional kindergarten program at the Mill Valley Community Center. Since this was my part-time job, I spent more time there than at previous fieldwork sites I had observed at. I was able to get a more of a feel for what my everyday would be like as a teacher. This experience has further confirmed that teaching young students is what I am meant to do, I learned how to approach a variety of personalities and dynamics in a preschool classroom setting. I also learned a ton of effective classroom and behavior management strategies, as well as ideas for fun projects and lesson plans. Over time, I grew very close with the kids. I even became a favorite of one of the girls in the class. On the days I came in, she would be completely ecstatic to see me. She would always come up to me randomly throughout the day to give me huge hugs, sat in my lap during circle time, and ate her snack sitting next to me. 

During this time, the first valuable lesson that I learned was that having your students respect you as an authority figure is just as important as having your students like you, especially with preschool students, who are just learning how to behave in a school setting. Within a very short time of my working there, I discovered that my weakness in the classroom is being too "soft" with children. This was probably because one, I have a very gentle personality and I also did not want to yell at them, not knowing what goes on in their lives outside of school, and have my students dislike me. But, I was able to work on my weakness as a growing teacher and learn the balance of how to be firm with kids without being too soft or too intimidating to them. Being a teacher is all about developing positive relationships with your students, while also teaching them how to behave and treat others, as well as themselves, with kindness and respect. 

The second lesson I learned working here was the importance of reaching and connecting with every student, even the very hardest to reach was truly reinforced. From the day I interviewed for the position, faculty members pulled me aside and warned me about one specific child. In fact, I was told that I was placed in the classroom I did my fieldwork in because the teachers needed an extra set of hands in handling this particular student's behavior and that I would be a positive role model for him based on how I answered the questions in my prior interview. Given this student's challenging behavior, he was no teacher's favorite student. This poor child had a bad reputation, even among other teachers in the facility. Naturally, I ended up spending a lot of time with him since a lot of the time during my shifts, it was my role to keep an eye on him to make sure he was not bullying other students. He and I actually ended up bonding quite a bit. Something interesting that I noticed was that he would be a little more gentle and calm if we were one on one. I think this was because I made sure to give him much-needed positive attention whenever possible. As time went on, I began to realize that the challenging behavior that this student consistently displayed had to be connected to a larger issue. Connecting his behavior with what I had learned about ADHD in children during previous courses at Dominican, I realized that this student actually exhibits every symptom of it, including aggression, impulsivity, hyperactivity, and complete inattentiveness (beyond what is typical of the preschool-age group). I was able to speak privately with the main teacher about what I was seeing and get some clarification. Luckily, she was aware, seeing the same things as I was, and had spoken to his parents about it before. Although I was not the first person to figure it out, it felt reassuring for my observations to be correct. Also, on top of untreated and undiagnosed ADHD, he was also dealing with some difficulties and a lack of structure at home. So in reality, a lot of this child's behavior is not something that is his fault or he can control. From this experience, I learned that there is no such thing as a bad kid. Behavior is never just behavior, there is always an underlying cause behind it. Children who display challenging behavior are actually sending adults the message that something is not right or that their needs are not being met. If teachers just simply categorize a student as "bad", then they are not taking responsibility for seeing what the child is trying to communicate to them. 

This semester, I was placed at Coleman Elementary, in San Rafael. I got to work with Ms. Sakellariou and her fifth grade class, focusing on teaching science. I was so excited to be able to do my fieldwork hours in person again, I missed actually interacting face to face with all of the students. Right away, I was able to connect with the students, which was great. 

One highlight of my experience was when I was able to help a student who is on the autism spectrum. He was having a meltdown because he loves to draw, but he had a broken arm that was preventing him from doing so in art class. He walked out of the classroom crying and I followed him to see where he was going. I found him in the classroom and we sat together on the couch in the classroom and I talked to him. I told him that I understood his frustration, that his arm would heal again in no time and that if he thinks that made a mistake on his drawing, there is no such thing as a mistake in art. When Ms. Sakellariou came in, she said almost exactly what I was saying to him, so I know that I said all of the right things. Ms. Sakellariou asked him if he wanted a squeeze (which must be how he calms down) and he leaned towards me and I gave him a squeeze. During this moment, I was able to really bond with him and realize how my presence was able to help him in that moment. Hopefully, I will be able to impact even more children positively and help them. 

Link to school website: https://co-srcs-ca.schoolloop.com/

At Coleman, I did a group lesson with two of my peers, where we had the students play a card game to build their own food chains. It was an engaging lesson for the students because it allowed them to critically think about what eats what in a collaborative and fun way. 

  Also, I have learned through my courses and through observations at Coleman how to teach science more effectively. It is important that the students are engaged through the teacher making science fun, rather than just simply reading from a textbook and taking notes all of the time. 

This semester, I got the opportunity to work with Ms. DeBaere and her second grade class at Coleman Elementary's Connected Classrooms program in San Rafael, CA. I completed these fieldwork hours online due to the unfortunate circumstances of COVID-19. I was so sad to not be able to meet this group in person either because they were all so wonderful to work with. But, despite, this was a very eye-opening experiences because it exposed me to a variety of student circumstances, such as ELL learners, students with IEP plans and some students who have difficult circumstances at home that they were trying to balance with trying to concentrate during distance learning. Working with them taught me how to accommodate each student's individual needs in the classroom. 

Link to school website: https://sites.google.com/srcs.org/online-learning/home