Field Experience Paper

EDTE 316 Principles of Learning

Aram Ayalon

Lydia Lorraine Murphy

29 November 2017
Part 1: Classroom Experience

During my time in one of the seventh grade classrooms in Pulaski Middle School in New

Britain, Connecticut, I arrived with an open mind. Individual schools have different responses

and strategies in place to fulfill requirements and enhance student learning. In Pulaski, I was

excited to learn from experienced teachers and professionals, while taking away tips of what to

do and what not to do in my future classroom. I was lucky to grow close to two separate class

periods each containing about twenty individuals ranging in ability. I was able to see both class

periods for close to an hour and a half each week and for thirty minutes at lunch duty. Building a

relationship with them from the first day allowed me to transition into the classroom as a guest

easier, and over time they saw me as another source of knowledge and an adult to trust.

On the first day, it was important to my teacher to introduce me as Ms. Murphy. This was

purposeful. She specifically wanted to introduce me formally, rather than my first name, so the

students understood that not only was I a guest, but that I held some authority that condoned

respect. My introduction to the classes was sincere and represented who I am as a person and as

a future professional teacher. I brought humor to my introduction as well as a background of my

credentials from Central Connecticut State University. The seventh graders were fascinated that I

lived on campus and were curious to know what clubs I was a part of, what sports I was

interested in or watched, and what was it about college life that was so mysterious to them. Over

the next weeks, I found my placement and assistance in Pulaski to be beneficial not only for

myself, but for the students and teacher as well.

In the classroom I sat in on over the weeks, I commend the teacher for not requiring the

students to bring anything except a pencil. If a student did not have one, on almost every day I
was there, she would let them borrow a pencil as well. My teacher in fact, provided each student

with their own notebook that they individually decorated one day in the beginning of the school

year. By allowing each student to take a period to decorate their notebook, it created a sense of

pride and ownership and therefore students rarely forgot their notebook at home. Organization of

material was accessible as well.

I could tell the teacher

understood that many residents

in New Britain fall lower on the

poverty scale. By knowing of

the background her students came from, she allowed each student to glue a ruler into the back of

their notebook, as well as a number line and multiplication chart. By providing these to the

students, it was a saved expense from parents and guardians. In addition, worksheets were used

more frequently than work from large textbooks. Many students in New Britain walk to school,

and the worksheets lightened their backpack load. There was one assignment that required

students to cut out shapes and paste or tape them to another sheet of paper, and the next day

some students failed to complete the assignment because they admitted there were no scissors or

glue in their house. After this, my teacher allowed students to take time in class for any

assignments that required any extra material.

In class, I witnessed many in class assignments and activates. I aided the teacher with

distribution of material, as well as walking throughout the class helping students grasp concepts

taught that day. Most often student desks were grouped in twos or threes and this allowed

students to collaborate with each other when allowed to. This promoted the idea of social
negation condition for learning as seen in chapter 11, Constructivism. Students benefited from

group settings and they were allowed to test their knowledge against one another, as well as gain

new perspectives to the math problems of the day. To truly incorporate collaboration, I saw time

when groups could have been instituted more. For example during in class work, I used small

white boards to explain some concepts to different bunches of students. After I did so, they

wanted to use the board themselves. They wanted to feel like the teacher - with an eraser in one

hand and a marker in the other. As I walked around the room various students were all huddled

around the boards helping each other. My teacher commended my idea and said she would start

using the boards more often.

Another strength in the classroom was the connection to meaningful learning. During the

unit on ratios and unit rate, my teacher introduced a project that incorporated flyers from local

grocery stores, and shops that were popular among

students. The students were to find an example of

rates; for example in the local grocers ad, a student

found that apple juice was on sale 2/$5. They were

instructed to find the price of one container using

division. During the project it was thrilling to see

students discover that some deals in grocery ads seemed like they would save money, but in the

end it cost more per unit. The activity exemplified Bruners theory of discovery learning. This

not only was a great math lesson, but it was a great life lesson about saving money as well.

In addition to these types of lessons, students were motivated by positive reinforcement

in various ways. For example, my teacher had a homework competition between classes. Each
week she calculated which class completed the most homework in percent, and by the end of the

semester whoever has the most will have a celebration and or party. This created an environment

that motivated students to complete assignments on time. Alongside this, my teacher and others

in the math department hold a Jeopardy like game between different classes occasionally

to reward good behavior of students. Again this created motivation for students to behave in the

classroom. The class who won earned bragging rights.

Contrasting the positive reinforcement used, I also observed negative reinforcement used.

On a Friday afternoon, I arrived and the students were silent in the classroom, and my teacher

was at her desk. I noticed many students had their heads down and no pencils in hand, while

others were working on a worksheet. I asked my teacher what was happening, and she replied

that the students were on lockdown. She explained that they were being difficult and mean the

day before, therefore she took away their privilege to learn, talk and ask questions today. She

told me not to answer the students if they asked for help or for a pencil. I was very

uncomfortable when the kids whispered for my help and I was not able to reply. It was difficult

for me to watch the students struggle to stay awake during precious learning time. Instead I

would have had a respectful talk with the whole class and a discussion about behavior and

expectations.

Relating to the lockdown procedure, the students are also not able to obtain recess time,

and they are required to walk in strict lines to and from the classroom. I wondered why the

seventh grade students, who are only eleven and twelve years of age did not have the opportunity

for down time in the middle of a long school day and were forced to stand in lines. My teacher

responded, that administration would rather extend class time to encourage more learning than
give the students a time for free play, and contain students in lines. The term contain makes me

very uneasy. Contain has a negative connotation to it, and I believe that containing students,

although may be practical for a short period of time is not realistic. Adults are not contained in

their jobs or in their home, so why should children be contained? Relating to no recess, this

contradicts Piagets play theory, which encourages students to be exposed to environmental

stimuli and interaction. As a child develops into a young adult it is necessary for them to

implement what they learn in the classroom to other areas with open communication with peers.

Although I have observed some practices that I do not necessarily agree with at Pulaski

Middle School, I do recognize that the school is a great resource for the community. Pulaski is

home to several sports teams, clubs and afterschool programs. The students are encouraged to

participate in Math Nights and dances, as well as community service. In October, the students

chose a day to raise money for a Breast Cancer Awareness Fund by donating and wearing pink.

Each morning the principal and vice principals announce key skills to focus on every day,

whether social skills, communication skills

or study tips. The students when motivated

show diligence to learn and like to share

their thoughts and ideas. by being in the

classroom I gained great knowledge of the

inner workings of the school in general, as

well as the math department.

Part 2: Mentoring and Tutoring Field Analysis

During my time at Pulaski Middle School, I was able to mentor one student in particular

that moved from the Washington, DC area two weeks after I arrived for observation in the

classroom. For this paper, I will refer to the student as J. She was placed in my teachers third

and fourth period math classes. My teacher dislikes this class, and refers to them as her mean

kids. My teacher, in her first conversation with J, apologized that administration put her in this

class and warned her the kids could be mean. This was not a great start at all for J. My teacher

inappropriately scared J on her first day. The class was taking a test, and so I was asked by my

teacher to sit at a table in the back with J to assess her level of mathematics.

I overheard the conversation J had with my teacher and I could tell J was even more

nervous and shy than when she walked in the classroom. I introduced myself to J and explained

that I would be in her class every now and then to help my teacher. I also reassured her that

Pulaski was a great school, and that the kids in her class are indeed friendly. She seemed to smile

at this reassurance and so we began to work on setting up her math notebook. We glued a ruler,

multiplication chart, and number line in the back and we both decorated the cover of her

notebook. She really enjoyed drawing on the front using colored pencils and she really focused

to make it neat. We both shared a favorite color of yellow and so this was the beginning of

identifying similarities and bonding.

After copying down notes, J and I worked on subtracting and adding integers using

algebra tiles. I personally did not learn algebra tiles when I was younger, and so we were both

learning together. After two or three examples I saw J was growing more and more confident and

so I played as if I did not understand the concept and asked if she could explain it to me. By
using the technique of having her teach me, she was prideful in her work and grew gleeful when

she was able to teach me the tiles. During our algebra tile lesson, class was breaking for lunch,

and she admitted she was nervous and would like for me to sit with her at lunch. I agreed to.

At lunch, her and I sat at a table with a few other classmates and they all introduced

themselves. I noticed that J and a few other girls were chatting and laughing and so I wanted to

give her some space. I gently tapped her shoulder and asked if it was okay for me to run to the

classroom for a second and she said she felt comfortable and was making friends. When the

students returned to the classroom, she was talking with the same girls and I could tell her

confidence was growing. For the next half hour we continued on some other concepts in the back

until she left for the day. I gave her a high five and she gave me a huge smile in return when she

left.

The following week, she had an assigned seat in the classroom and was gossiping and

laughing with the others. While I was walking around helping students she told me she wanted to

play basketball for the girls team and I encouraged her to join. She was really integrating into the

community of the school, as well as participating in class and answering questions. However,

two weeks after she arrived, I noticed she was more distracted talking with her new friends in

class and she was not completing work up to the standard she showed earlier. I sat with her at her

desk and asked why she was not getting some problems done. She shrugged off my question, and

I explained the importance of math and school, and encouraged her to get her work done in class,

and talk and play with her friends at lunch. After this, I noticed in the following weeks that she

was trying hard to complete her problems and J even raised her hand to show me everything was

done on her paper.

 J is a sweet young adult and very mature for her age. My teacher should challenge J with

concepts and encourage her to connect math to her life. J also can be distracted easily and so my

teacher should take this into consideration for group projects and assignments. After the first four

weeks, it was harder to sit with J because I was either helping students who needed me more as

requested from my teacher, or the class was taking assessments I was not able to help on. I also

wanted her to be able to have space to interact with her peers, and not only me. However, we

always caught up in passing or at lunch for a few minutes when she was waiting in line for her

meal. I intend to visit Pulaski in my off time next semester to see how my class is doing, and I

will try my hardest to check in with J and aid her in math help or life advice if needed in the

future.