Nashayla Whitten April 15, 2015 aaa » Sip) | / Dr.Hicks if i, oS) NA Reflective Essay My experiences were very beneficial to me. A lot of the information that was taught in the classrooms here at Claflin University was being applied in the real world, It was very influential. It gave me great insight as to what itis really like to be a teacher in the 21* century. While I was stimy Field experienc leamed that teaching is nota jb, but teaching as to bea pasion in order for you to stay in the field. With the pressure that the government is putting on our administrators, principals, and teachers, itis going to take more than just a paycheck for any new teacher to stay in the field. Tenjoyed my teacher. Her name was Mrs. Natasha Berry. She was very fair and honest with me. She allowed me to ask her questions about her opinion on certain thingsjand she didn’t hold back any information. Another good thing that I love about the field experience is that a lot of the teachers that are in the field in Orangeburg have just graduated in the range of 3 10 7 years ago. This means that they are still young. It's easier to visualize them being in my shoes at one point. ‘They can share with us their experiences upon graduating in Orangeburg and choosing to work in Orangeburg as well Although my experience was very influential and effective, there are some ways that field experience can be improved, One thing that I dislike about field experience is that it is done based on your availability after you have signed up for classes, If your schedule does not allow for you to get to the school between the hours of 7:00am ~ 3:00pm, then it’s your loss. If you do | | }get a small break in your schedule and decide to go on that small break weekly, then you only get to be part of the subject that they teach during that time period. Yet, your teacher still expects you to do observation notes on 5 to 7 lessons in 4 different subjects when you only had the availability to observe one or two subjects. “Missing class to do field experience is unacceptable” is a statement that I hear all the time, It is not fair to us as students. So in result, I feel like there should be a field experience class that we can enroll in just like all the other classes so this won't be an issue. Other than that, field experience is something that every education major should be able to enjoy, Jeam from, and reflect upon. It gives you insight on how you are to teach, what you are to teach and how your classroom environment/atmosphere could be like. Another good thing about field experience is that it shapes you as a teacher. There are going to be some teachers that you want to mirror in the near future. There are also going to be other teachers that may run their classroom differently then how you may want to. In the end, it shapes you in your teaching philosophy as a whole