Emalee Freelen

Dr. Ellis

EDUC 1301.100

25 April 2019

Observation

Throughout March and April, I had the pleasure to observe Mrs. Amanda Bell’s 7th and

8th grade Social Studies class at Prairiland Junior High. While observing Mrs. Bell, I learned that

there are so many different types of students and they all learn in their own and unique way.

Every student has their own struggles, as well. It is with the help of the teacher to make sure that

students will be able to adequately learn the information.

Some students learn by doing, while others learn by reading, or by listening. I have

always believed that most students learn by doing. In Mrs. Bell’s class, she took her students

outside to play a game where there were two teams, one student from each team knew the right

answer, and the rest of the teammates had to try to guess the right answer. I noticed that Mrs.

Bell’s lessons were student centered, and I was not able to tell which philosophy Mrs. Bell

leaned towards. I really like the way that she teaches because she is super involved and it seems

like she knows most of her students very well.

Another clever way Mrs. Bell teaches is through keywords. I believe that this is a great

technique for learning. Mrs. Bell proved that I was right with her lesson on the 13th, 14th, and

15th amendment. While teaching her lesson, she told her students to remember three words,

“free, people, and vote”. She was telling her students to remember those words because the 13th

amendment freed slaves, the 14th declared that everyone born in America is a citizen of the
United States and the 15th states that everyone who is a citizen of America can vote. I watched

as the students did not have a clue what the amendments were, to remembering them and

recalling what they were days later.

There were a few things that Mrs. Bell did in her classroom that I will not be transferring

into my classroom. At certain times, some students would talk and make noises that were a little

bit out of the ordinary. When this happened she would scold the student and then get back to

what she was teaching. I have an opposing point of view of how I would go about this situation.

Instead of calling them out in front of the class right then, I would wait until class was over and

talk to them about how they are disturbing my class and ask them to stop. If they proceeded to

continue the next day, I would then report them to the principal, and let the principal take it from

there. As a future teacher, I learned from this experience that there will always be students who

act up, but you have to handle it like an adult.

Overall this was a great experience that makes me even more eager to become a teacher.

There are many things that I learned and will definitely take into my future classroom! Mrs. Bell

had a very decorative and bright colored classroom, and that is something I will have. Students

learn better when they feel cozy and relaxed, and that is the type of classroom I plan to have. The

main thing I am implementing in my classroom that Mrs. Bell has is a sense of humor. It is vital

that students know that their teacher cares for not only their education but their well-being as

well. Students need to know that their teacher will always be there for them and that they will

never give up on them, and I am determined to be that teacher.