Overall I think I learned most in this course during field experiences. Most of the content I took away from the course was of the way to actually conduct myself in the classroom (as opposed to the valuable, but personally untested head-knowledge that I received in education and methods courses up until that point), and small improvements made to my lesson plan and teaching during the lesson study process.
I was surprised that in the school my group taught at, which has a reputation very being a very rough and dangerous place, the discipline problems came from students not participating and being too quiet, rather than being too talkative or fighting. It was good to have that experience, because if not, I might have went into teaching believing the hype about how "bad" certain "kinds" of students are.
I would like to continue to explore art as a way to personally connect with students, and have them connect with parts of themselves that are not usually expressed in the classroom.
It just goes to show you how schools and students are unfairly judged and labeled. The students in both schools this semester have been labeled difficult to work with. Remember as you go into your next teaching experiences to give all students an opportunity to show who they are to you, without being labeled. All students deserve that opportunity and since you have witnessed it first hand, I feel you will take it to heart. Good work!
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