Reflection #10: Field Experience Service Learning Project

Ashley Hansen & Rebecca Dalsing
EDEL 3250-03
December 2, 2010

Field Experience Service Learning Project

a) Demographics
Our field experience was completed at Edgemont Elementary located within Provo School District. Edgemont contains students from all socioeconomic backgrounds. Students are primarily white, with approximately 20% considered minority. We were placed in Mrs. Rigby’s 6th grade classroom. There were 32 students within the classroom, the demographics in her classroom fit the overall demographics of the school.

b) What is your relationship with your cooperating teacher? Explain.
We couldn’t have asked for a better relationship with our cooperating teacher. She saw us as fellow teachers, and treated us as such. We were able to use our creativity and style while teaching the class, but she offered her comments and past experiences to help us improve and grow. She also made herself available when needed so we were able to bounce questions, comments, or concerns with her.

c) How does he/she feel about the technology piece you created?
She loved our digital story, she made sure to get a copy. She was excited to see an educational piece of technology that she could use year after year. She was impressed by the classes reaction to the digital story and how enthralled they were with it.

d) How does he/she feel about the piece of lesson you completed?
Overall Mrs. Rigby was impressed with our lesson plans we created. The overall concepts worked really well. We believe the lesson plans worked well, but we did encounter some classroom management challenges while conducting some of our lessons.

e) How did the training session go? Explain.
Though Mrs. Rigby really liked the digital story, she didn’t have time for us to train her fully on how to create one. Since they have Mac computers in the classroom, we created our story using iMovie. This allowed us to get familiar with the program Mrs. Rigby and her students had at their fingertips. Even though Mrs. Rigby didn’t have time for a full training session, we were able to share some tips and hints for iMovie we learned along the way. She appreciated these tips and hints, and it appeared it gave her a little more confidence in the iMovie program and her ability to produce movies and/or digital stories.

f) How do you feel about this service-learning experience?
It was a great experience. We were able to learn more about ourselves and how technology can really be used within a classroom. We were even able to see some of the challenges a teacher actually encounters, such as time constraints. The overall concept of introducing teachers to additional technology is great, and as future teachers, we can see how it is important to stay up to date with technology and how it can be used within the classroom. Having someone come to your classroom and teach you sounds ideal, but while we were there, Mrs. Rigby was finishing up a term and getting ready for parent teacher conferences. This was not an ideal time for her to learn and fully dive into the technology we were trying to show her. While we were there to teach her new technology, we were first and foremost there to learn and observe. It was a balance trying to teach her some technology while respecting her time and other commitments she had for the time we were there.

g) What did your cooperating teacher gain from this experience?
Mrs. Rigby was surrounded by technology. From our observations, she only used it minimally throughout her day. By observing our lessons and watching specifically our digital story, she was able to see more uses for the technology she had at her fingertips. Even though we had a short minimal training session, she was able to see what iMovie was capable of, and she learned some quick tips and tricks to make it easier for her to create her own digital stories.

h) What did you gain from this experience?
Since we had to do an abbreviated training session, it allowed us to focus on the most important features of iMovie and some of the shortcuts that can be used. Not only did we learn a new program, we learned it a little more in depth in order for us to teach someone who was already familiar with the program. Not only did we gain technical skills, but we also learned a lot about ourselves and our potentials as future teachers. Mrs. Rigby helped point out things that worked well as well as things that didn’t work as well. We will be able to take our time we had in field and working with Mrs. Rigby and her class and become better teachers for future students we encounter.

i) Was it worth why or why not?
Yes, it was definitely worth every moment. Being in field and working with Mrs. Rigby and her students was a joy. It allowed us to learn more about ourselves and improve/refine our teaching skills. We also were able to get real world experience in a classroom and experiment with using technology along with other concepts we have learned throughout this semester. We learned what can work well for us, as well as how to integrate what we have learned into a student’s learning experience.