Fieldwork Experience 

Fieldwork was a great experience! I really learned a lot and feel as if I have grown as a person. I really enjoyed my experience with fieldwork. What made this fieldwork experience so great was the fact that we were given a real class full of real students to teach. It made me feel as I were a real teacher with a class of my own! Besides my own teaching experience, I also enjoyed watching my other peers teach their lessons. Watching them teach was great. It allowed me to see other ideas, and ways others present their material using direct and inquiry instruction to teach students.

Overall the fieldwork experience was great. I learned how to teach different content using direct and inquiry instruction. I also learned how to use different tools to hook students to the start of the lesson, how to check for understanding during the lesson, and how to engage them in an activity at the end of the lesson. I acquired all of this by watching my peers’ lessons.

Through observation I can’t really say I noticed things go wrong in anyone’s lesson. Two major things I can remember is running out of time and not finishing, and at times the students would get to loud. In my group’s own lesson we encountered this, but we were able to overcome this by redirecting the class by having them put their hands up. Besides that, I feel all of my peer’s lessons and ours were successful.

Observing my peers, I noticed every group had a different teaching style even if we all used direct and inquiry instruction. My peers were consistent in the material they taught, and all used tools to enhance their lessons especially during direct instruction. They all made sure to check for understanding by asking questions. They also made sure to give an activity at the end of their lesson to engage students, while most importantly having the students review what they were just taught.

What surprised me about fieldwork is how much of an impact inquiry instruction makes on students. Students are so eager for new things, and using inquiry allows them to become involved while applying their critical thinking and problem solving skills. Students were very engaged in the inquiry lesson and used the previous knowledge they were taught to help them solve their activities. It was amazing to see how they used their content knowledge, and applied it to their activities they were given to solve. I hear many of the students say, “That was fun.”

In class we read and discussed how important inquiry based learning can be. Teachers are so use to and many still stick to direct instruction. Using inquiry lessons can really make a significant impact on student learning. The great thing about inquiry learning is that it is student based and not teacher based. Most importantly, it allows students to apply their content knowledge while exploring and investigating. This type of learning allows students to learn based on experience rather than facts and drills. Students are more engage, and learning becomes more meaningful and purposeful for them.