For my placement in October of 2013, the school had decided that I did not need to complete a three week placement but I still wanted to be part of a classroom so I found a school to volunteer with. The classroom was a grade 5 French Immersion with students at a grade 2 and 3 level French while others were at 5 and 6. The teacher expressed her difficulty teaching the class because of this different knowledge level of the language and those who were weaker caused many disturbances throughout the class because they did not understand what was going on. In her class there were few learning disabilities, many of the problems came from the lack of knowledge of the language from a third of the class.
When I came in, I did not teach the class, I was there to work with small groups of students or individuals on things that there were having difficulty with and help them reach a higher level of understanding. I was successful with most students doing this and many of them wanted to work with me because they wanted to learn and understand what was going on. I could see the benefit of someone working one on one with a student and it sucks that this couldn't happen more in the classroom because the teacher has so many students in front of them.
The teacher in this class started everyday with a routine that helped students of all levels know what to expect and follow along. These routines are best for all students of all abilities. The class started with doing some quiet reading and she made sure to include everyone because those who had difficulty reading were set up to the computers in the classroom and had a program on the computer (Dragon Dictation) help them read. After reading she would move into something visual to start the lesson and then something on the board. It was easy to follow and offered different learning styles and while students were working she was available to walk around and answer questions as they came up.
In this volunteer opportunity I learned a lot about the benefits of working with small works or individually with students, the complications of having a class with a range of knowledge of the language used and the importance of routines for everyone.
When I came in, I did not teach the class, I was there to work with small groups of students or individuals on things that there were having difficulty with and help them reach a higher level of understanding. I was successful with most students doing this and many of them wanted to work with me because they wanted to learn and understand what was going on. I could see the benefit of someone working one on one with a student and it sucks that this couldn't happen more in the classroom because the teacher has so many students in front of them.
The teacher in this class started everyday with a routine that helped students of all levels know what to expect and follow along. These routines are best for all students of all abilities. The class started with doing some quiet reading and she made sure to include everyone because those who had difficulty reading were set up to the computers in the classroom and had a program on the computer (Dragon Dictation) help them read. After reading she would move into something visual to start the lesson and then something on the board. It was easy to follow and offered different learning styles and while students were working she was available to walk around and answer questions as they came up.
In this volunteer opportunity I learned a lot about the benefits of working with small works or individually with students, the complications of having a class with a range of knowledge of the language used and the importance of routines for everyone.