Field Summary I was able to observe Mr. Lociceros 4th grade class at Sunny Ridge Elementary.

The class of students was amazing and Mr. Locicero is the type of teacher that I want to be when I have my own classroom. He was fun, open, respectful and his students genuinely like him. I was able to observe different hours of the day. Most of the time I was there was in the afternoon but I was also able to go in for an all-day experience as well as a morning only. I really appreciate the opportunity I had with his class. What was the biggest lesson you learned from your experience? I learned that no matter how prepared you are, you have to be willing to adjust your daily schedule and lesson plan to fit the need of the day. There may be those days that the kids are 100% responsive and the discussion could continue on for hours or there are the days that the kids want to give 0 feedback. You have to be willing to adapt to the feel of the class. I saw Mr. Locicero do that. There were times they just ran out of time because the kids were into the discussion and then were other times that you couldnt get a peep out of any them. Did the teacher treat students of lower socioeconomic class differently than other kids? During my observation, I noticed no difference in how he responded to any of his students. Even to this day I couldnt pick out which students were in different socioeconomic classes. I knew a few of the parents professions and that would help me but for the most part, every student had the same amount of respect and treatment from the teacher. The only time they were treated differently was if there behavior deemed it necessary. Did the teacher have control of the class? Yes, he had control of his class. There were times that the students would shout out answers or get to loud but for the most part he always had control of the classroom. If it was getting out of control for him, we would just get his clipboard and start putting check marks but students names and they would immediately settle down. They hated getting check marks because it would affect their grade and would also affect their money when it came to their market day in the classroom. Were you able to contribute to the class? If so, what did you help with? Did you learn anything? Mr. Locicero allowed me to do whatever I felt comfortably. I was able to work with students during reading intervention and to help test them on their reading skills and assessments. I also walked around when the students were doing their assignments and was able to help them if they were struggling with any idea or concept. I was able to relearn fractions. I also enjoyed observing his class structure and how much freedom and restrictions he had on his classroom. I liked that Mr. Locicero allowed me to be an active participant without putting a lot of pressure on me. He allowed me to go at my own pace and participate where I felt comfortable.

I am so thankful for my time in Mr. Lociceros class. It was a great learning experience for me and I will treasure my time with him and the class. It went by too fast and it was hard to say goodbye to the kids. You form an attachment to them. However, I am also glad this chapter is done and I get to move on to the next step in my education and get that much closer to my own classroom.