Week 4 & Last Post

Your reading and language arts lesson identified reading challenges some children had. What would you do next to help the children who did not do well on your activity? Why?

There were a lot of children that had difficulties with letter recognition and reading. For these students, I would start from the beginning. They need to learn letter recognition and phonics before they can start to read words. There were many students struggling in each group so I would put these children together in a group in order to support all of these students with activities that other students have mastered. When I have assisted these children with the basic knowledge they need, I would place each student that was struggling in a group of students that could help if needed. I would use this method because a lot of the students seemed like they needed more support than just peer support at first. Then, I think peer support would be beneficial. 
Reflect on the entire trip. What have you learned about yourself as a teacher? 

I learned that teaching requires a lot of patience. There were many students over the past month that tested my patience and I had to learn how to deal with my frustrations so that I could assist these students with what they needed. I've learned that I have an easier time with older students than younger students. I found it difficult to teach every subject with younger students, but I had an easier time relating to the older students. I also enjoyed teaching language arts and creative writing more than math, which was surprising to me because I always have enjoyed learning math more language arts and creative writing. 

What is your next step to continue to develop your teaching skills? 

I want to explore different grades and see which grade I like the best. I always thought I would enjoy any elementary age, but this trip showed me that I need to find the grade I enjoy the most because then I would be a better teacher for the students. I have only been in one classroom since starting at UNCW, so I have a lot more to learn about being a teacher and my likes and dislikes. 

What do you think you learned as a result of this trip that you might not have learned if you had not participated?

I learned how crucial early grades are in a child's development. I saw some areas that the children struggled with and how it affected their learning. I have seen children in good schools in great areas of Wilmington and Cary, so I had never seen the effect that deficits in early learning have on current learning. 

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