Blog 2

Productive Learning Environments:  Describe the impact of positive or negative language that you heard during your experience.  Explain how you saw time used during your experience.  Talk about how the learning environment was organized.  How were different learning styles addressed?

I had a good field experience. Although, I may have seen some things that weren't pleasant to my eyes and ears, the majority of my experience went rather well. Positive and negative language has an huge impact in how a child grows and learns. The use of tone, and expression emphasizes whether a child takes well to a positive or negative reinforcement from a teacher. One day during my experience I noticed a little girl throwing paper balls at another student. The little boy got upset and went and told the teacher. Instead of the teacher going to the little girl and addressing her like how we learned in class, she yelled across the classroom "Shanice!, you better stop playing around before I call your mom!" At this time it was quiet time and everyone was doing their assignment at their desks. When the teacher yelled that across the class, the entire class erupted in giggles and laughter; totally interrupting the positive vibe in the room. This could have been avoided if the teacher had gone to the little girl and addressed her about her misbehavior in private. ( Praise in public, scold in private) During my experience time was used in somewhat a productive and organized manor. Ms Frizzle had the rules and procedures posted on the wall so the students could see it. She also had the weekly lesson plan posted on the wall. Every activity that the class did was scheduled. From learning time to center time to recess, everything was scheduled. The majority of the time Ms. Frizzle was really aware of her classroom. She demonstrated a high level of withitness. She knew what was going on in her class without even looking up from grading papers. Ms. Frizzle was an organized teacher. Not every student in a classroom learns the same way. So for students who where more visual learners she had worksheets they could use to follow along. And for students who were more hands on learners, she provided blocks so the students could follow along with the lesson.

Effective Instruction: What classroom management skills did you see?  Did you note any negative transition patterns we discussed?   Describe an example of a pedagogical cycle you observed or in which you participated.  What levels of questioning did you see according to the application of Bloom’s Taxonomy?  Which models for effective instruction did you experience? 


One classroom management skill I did see was when Ms. Frizzle addressed misbehavior when it occured. When a little boy was running in class after she said no running, she immediatley went to the student and gave him a warning for his misbehavior. Ms. Frizzle also used different methods to get the children's attention after a group activity. She would clap her hands in a appealing tune and they would repeat it or she would count backwards from ten, to give them time to bring there voices to a minimal. Fortunately, I didn't notice any negative transition patterns. Ms. Frizzle really suck to her daily lesson plan. Once one activity was about to end, she would introduce the next one. She did that to cause less confusion and chaos. From what I have experienced so far with my field experiences I have observed and participated in all stages of the pedagogical cycle. One example of the pedagogical cycle I saw Ms. Frizzle use was scaffolding. She was basically introducing new information to the old information that the children already knew. An example, would be her going back over the math problems that the children learned already, or asking them if they knew it. The levels of questioning I did see according to Bloom's Taxonomy was knowledge and comprehension. The children were able to take in new information, and get to a point where the could comprehend the new information.