A New Setting

In order to continue to maintain my certification in teaching I have been advised to volunteer within a classroom. The reasoning behind this is so that I can keep my classroom management skills sharp and so that I can keep the teaching of lessons sharp as well.

My first day was this past Monday, March 21, 2011. I will continue to work within the 8^th grade Reading & Language Arts (RLA) classroom for the remainder of the school year, once per week. I go to the school for one hour every Monday, during the writing lab. While I am there, I will be working with the students on their research papers. Some of the students are “low level” learners and need some extra attention that is where I come in.

Immediately upon walking into the classroom, I noticed the teacher, Ms. B (shortened so that I can ensure anonymity), using her computer to display lessons and objectives. Since I have not been in the classroom in a while, I was impressed that she was using this form of communication as opposed to the chalk or white board.

When Mrs. B was finished with her introduction to the lesson, she told the student to bring out the laptops and continue working on their assignments. I thought that the school being able to provide laptops to the students in the classroom was a great resource. The students did not get to keep them, but just having one for each student during the class is important. The students worked, and I observed for this first day.

The students were researching using the Internet to complete research papers. They were using search engines like Google to find articles on their topics. Additionally, Mrs. B stated that she regularly communicates through email to the students. This is a great use of 21^st Century Skill.