Jessica McCrea

Claflin University

EDUC 323: Instructional Strategies

Dr. Bettie Hicks

November 15, 2012

My Field Experience

For my field experience this semester, I was placed at Whittaker Elementary School. I

was placed with Ms. Dinkins in a pre-kindergarten classroom with 20 students. I have grown

professionally as a result of this field experience in many ways. While observing and working

with a room full of energetic 4-year old students, I’ve learned a lot about myself, both

professionally and personally.

Professionally, I gained knowledge on what goes on beyond and outside of the

classroom. I was given the opportunity to see the time and effort that teachers put into educating

their students. I was able to witness first-hand my mentor teacher creating lesson plans and

following up issues that occurred within the school day. On some occasions, my mentor teacher

was absent due to class due to professional development conferences that she was required to

attend; even though she was absent, the classroom still remained orderly and on task. This could

only happen with the help and support due to collaboration between my mentor teacher, Ms.

Dinkins and her assistant, Mrs. Hilliard. From observing Ms. Dinkins and Mrs. Hilliard, I really

understand the purpose and benefits from their collaboration. Having twenty students to teach

and monitor at all times can be impossible for just one person to do; nonetheless, Mrs. Hilliard

made things much more manageable and orderly. With the guidance from my mentor teacher, I

learned the do’s and don’ts of professionalism and keeping certain things confidential.

Personally, this experience helped me to identify some of my strengths and weaknesses.

I realized that one strength that I have is my ability to keep things organized. This is something

that I thought I needed more help with, but I learned something new about myself. Even though

I am an Early Childhood Education major, I learned that pre-kindergarten isn’t the grade for me.

While conducting my micro-lesson, I learned that I need to work on my classroom management

skills and ways to keep students focus on the material. Some of the students got “antsy” and

some were making outbursts. I learned that patience is essential in working with 20 four year

olds, and this is something that I need to work on for the future.

As a junior participating in field experience, I know that I need to engage myself in more

“mini-lessons” with the students in my placement classroom. Opportunities like this will prepare

me for the real test of student teaching. My expectations of a pre-kindergarten classroom on the

first day of field experience are totally different from what I have experienced over the semester.

Being a person who has never worked inside a pre-kindergarten classroom, I expected students

to play, color, and take long naps throughout the day; however, I was absolutely wrong. I

learned that pre-kindergarten students aren’t “baby-sitters”, they are professional educators that

follow standards to increase student achievement at young age.

In conclusion, this was the most beneficial field experience that I’ve conducted while

being a student at Claflin. I learned a lot and gained a lot of professional knowledge. This

experience also increased my appreciation for educators of young children and all that they do. .

A teacher’s job is never done; teaching isn’t a career, it’s a lifestyle.