Fieldwork Experience Journal

3/26/15
Mrs. Penns Class
Mrs. Penns class is set up in rows that face the front of the room. It is a very traditional
way of having the student arranged. There are a lot of posters and bulletin boards on the
walls. She has no wasted space. The class moved to the computer lab and is working on a
program called ST math. It has fun math games that the students use to continue practicing
mental math. This is the first time Ive ever seen this program. It has virtual manipulatives
like the base-ten cubes and the fraction bars. I walked around the room and helped
students who were stuck on a particular puzzle. Because this was new for me, sometimes I
had to ask them to explain what the goal of that game was. This gave me a better idea of
what the puzzle was asking them to do. From there I was able to help guide them and ask
them questions to help them see the problems from a different point of view. It was
definitely interesting, and it was hard for me to admit that sometimes I didnt have the
answer to the problems, or didnt even understand how to play the games they were
playing.
Mrs. Stones Class
Mrs. Stones class had completed a math test and she had some students who left pages
blank. She sent 3 students to work with me in the back of the room to complete the test.
The questions were around the concept of more than, or less than and had the students
comparing the favorite vegetable based on a chart with peas, carrots, and broccoli. One of
the students, Zaine, is an ELL student who understand the mechanics of math, but had a
problem with reading comprehension. I would read the problem to him and he could do
the equations without much else guidance. The other two boys were having trouble
understanding more or less than and were adding when they should subtract and viceversa.
4/9/15
Mrs. Penns Class
Today the students were working on fractions and placing them on the number line in the
correct place. The students were struggling with the concept of a whole number over one.
Mrs. Penn did several examples on the board before the students started to understand.
She also explained further what it really means to have a whole number over one. Once she
did that, the students started to better understand why it equals whatever the numerator
is. After that we went to the computer lab, and worked on ST Math again. I walked around
the room and helped students who were stuck.
4/9/15
Mrs. Stone

I worked with the same 3 students as last time. This was continuing the same work as the
time before. This time I had Zaine get me the base-ten blocks and it helped the students to
visualize the size of the of each vegetable and then decide which was more or less. And the
questions that involved adding or subtracting, the base-ten blocks allowed the students to
physically manipulate the cubes until they represented what the problem was asking of
them.
4/9/15
Mrs. Stankiewicz
This is a Kindergarten class. I have never been in a Kindergarten class before, and it was a
very different experience from what Im used to. First of all, everything is super small, and
I felt like a giant in this class. The students are also much more needy, and wanting hugs. I
equate this experience to be like herding cats. I worked with the students on creating an
online storyboard using Chromebooks, and also monitored 2 other groups of students on
iPods, and the computer. The students would rotate after 15 mins to the next station. Mrs.
Stankiewicz was working with one group of students on reading out loud using iPads.
4/9/15
Ms. Rosado
Ms. Rosado is a very laid back teacher. She didnt give me much direction at all, and I felt
kind of like I was just thrown in without any real guidance or support. Some of her
students definitely take advantage of the fact that she is so laid back, and her ability to
manage the class was not as strong as some of the other teachers I have seen. I worked
with the students on a reading literacy assessment. The students have 3 minutes to read a
passage out loud to me, and I score them based on the words they pronounce correctly. I
also mark on the page the words they got wrong, and what they said instead of the correct
work.
4/9/15
TLC (afterschool program)
I helped the students with their homework. This was all different grade levels, and some of
the students I worked during the day in their classes. Zaine, who is in Mrs. Stones class is
in the after school program, and I got to spend extra time working with him on his Math
homework. He is really a great math student; he just needs support with reading the
directions or the problem. It is definitely giving me more practice with how to explain
things in a way that makes sense to the students. For now it is trial and error.
4/16/15
Mrs. Penn
Today I read to the students, 3 chapters of Island of the Blue Dolphins. They have never had
a male person read out loud to them at school, and they really enjoyed having me read to
them. Initially it was suppose to be one chapter, but one turned into two, and two turned

into three. I have to admit that reading out loud is not my favorite thing, but I enjoyed
reading to them, and having them be so excited to hear what was going to happen next in
the book.
4/16/15
Mrs. Stone
Mrs. Stone did this really cool activity today called a Brain Break. She played this video by a
Koo Koo Kangaroo. It had students up and dancing, and the students really enjoyed it.
Right when it was over they were ready to go back to work. I worked again with Zaine and
one other student on completing an exit ticket for a section in their math workbook. He did
really well, and I can tell he really understand the content in math, it just his English
comprehension that is making it challenging for him. He gets frustrated sometimes, but
works through it. The other student needed a lot of support from me to get through his exit
ticket.
4/23/15
Mrs. Penn
Today the students were working on fractions again. They were working with unit
fractions and went through several steps that eventually got more difficult. The first step
was to shade in the represented fraction in each of the problems. The next step was they
had to show two other fractions that could be added together to make the original fraction.
Some of the students were getting this rather quickly, and some were really challenged by
the second step of the lesson. I walked around and helped student by using fraction bars to
represent the fractions.
4/23/15
Mrs. Stone
Today I worked with the same students on catching up on math. Zaine was a little bit more
resistant today when working on his math. I think he was already frustrated before we
ever started, and this caused him to not want to work so willingly. The other two students
were doing their math without much help from me. They had both been absent. Mrs. Stone
was working with the rest of the class on their math, and I notice that Zaine gets distracted
and wants to participate more with the rest of his class.
4/23/15
Mrs. Stankiewicz
We are still working on using Chromebooks to create a storyboard. Whenever I come, Mrs.
Stankiewicz says this is what we will be doing. I had the same three stations of students
and she was continuing to read with students out loud. The students are really great with
technology and it amazes me how much they are able to do on the storyboard site without
my help. There is only one thing they need help on and it is spelling out what they want
their characters to say in the text bubble.

4/23/15
Ms. Rosado
Today we were reading in two groups. Ms. Rosado took a group and the other group came
with me. The class was reading Who was Walt Disney? I started reading the first few
paragraphs and then asked for volunteers. One of the boys I ended up calling on told me
that he doesnt know how to read, and was giving me attitude. Ms. Rosado told him that he
now had to join her group because he was being disrespectful. The rest of the group I had
loved reading out loud, and I had to actually stop them so that another student had a turn.
4/23/15
TLC (afterschool)
Today was just like the last time I was here. I worked with the students on completing
homework and making sure that things were getting accomplished by them before they
could go out and participate in PE. It seems to be the same students that need some help
with their homework, but I dont mind. I am getting more and more comfortable in
working with them, and understanding the best way to explain something to them.
5/7/15
Mrs. Penn
Today I was working with the students on their ST Math programs. One student in
particular was really struggling with a set of puzzles. I sat with him to help him get through
them, and try to explain it in a way that made more sense to him. By the end he seemed to
understand it more, and not just guessing at the answers. The rest of the class was working
on making Mothers Day cards, or their Mission projects. After working with the one
student, I worked with the others who were also doing ST math.
5/7/15
Mrs. Stone
Today I worked with the students on another Math test in the back of the room. I had one
girl who tends to be a resistant to learning. She has a rough home life from what Mrs. Stone
said, and sometimes she just refuses to do anything. When I was working with Zaine, she
said that she didnt want a pencil, only a crayon, and I told her that she needed a pencil and
eraser before I could help her. She quickly told me she didnt need my help, and I told her
that she could return to her seat if she didnt need help. She stayed anyway, and I started to
work with Zaine. As soon as I stopped paying attention to her, she started to pester at
Zaine by taking his paper away, throwing his pencil across the table, and then trying to
cheat off his paper. Zaine went and got his folder to put up between them so she couldnt
cheat, and I reminded her she had to work on her own paper.
5/7/15
Mrs. Stankiewicz

Today was just like before. The students are working on a new storyboard now. They
drew on paper their own story, and now were translating that into an online storyboard.
Some of the students were really quick and remembered how to use the website from last
time. Some of the other students needed more help. I had a few boys who were not using
the iPod touches in the correct way, and taking pictures instead. Mrs. Stankiewicz told me
that if they break the rule I can take the iPods away for 5 mins, and so I did, and after 5
mins gave them back, and asked them to tell me what the rules are for using the iPods.
They told me and I said okay, and let them start playing games again.