Reflection # 10 (6 on class website)

Field was a great learning experience. I was assigned to work in Mr. Van Orden's 5th grade class. Mr. Van Orden is not what you would call a typical teacher. He want students to enjoy his class, but most of all he wants to enjoy the teaching itself. He tries to keep things basic and light. Students are taught that if they manage themselves they will have more opportunities to do interesting things. Mr. Van Orden likes to turn the lessons over to the students. They explore and experiment to find solutions to problems on their own and in groups. The arts are not a particularly strong focus in his class, but he tries to incorporate music into the class. Students see an art specialist once a week, so the teachers do not have to worry about trying to find in the time to integrate it into their other subjects. I think this can be useful, but I think it would be better if students were able to relate art and music to the other subject areas. Laura and I tried to incorporate art by using pictures as primary sources and having students participate in an art project. Students were able to create a picture of one of the 3 founders we discussed in class. Students used geometric shapes and symmetry to create interesting pieces of art. We were impressed by how creative the students were and how easy it was to keep the students on task. We also had students create a graphic organizer that if we had time we would've had students decorate with pictures to go along with the information they had written in them. I think the students really enjoyed the lessons we planned for them and I learned a lot by putting what I've been learning into practice.