Memo 10/14 6:56pm

Memo
October 14
I have been taking field notes the last few weeks, but I finally feel now that I am focusing on my question. With my more focus my field notes will be much more helpful in my research. I am researching different ways to support our students who have interrupted schooling and traumatic experiences.

I have been able to keep a focus on my field notes and for the past week I have been keeping notes on the three students I have chosen to include in my research project. These three young adults have three unique personality, backgrounds and bring different strengths to the classroom community.

This process of keeping a daily log of my observations is a great way to reflect of the day. As a teacher I feel like it is part of my job to reflect and many times I focus on the lesson of the day and/or the class as a whole. While I still do my personal reflections in my head, I rarely write them down. It has been surprisingly nice to take a few minutes a day a focus solely on B,A, and M.

I am continuing be conscious to take my field notes from a asset based viewpoint. It can be easy to slip and focus on the not-so-good and blame the student, but that way of thinking isn't productive. While students are human and not perfect, it's okay. Sometimes when an adult fosters a child's strengths, the weakness diminishes.

Comments

  1. UnknownOctober 15, 2018 at 2:01 PM


    Hello Leah,

    Agree with everything you said in your post. I also agree that taking field notes can help teachers thinks back, analize and reflect on how your day.lesson went and what we can do as educator to deliver a meansingful and engaging lesson.

    I still think it is about difficult to teach and take notes at the same time. I suppose classroom observation(s) and note taking will become better as we get used to the process of writing notes at least 10 minutes per day.

    Regarding the time we have and note taking, I realized that not every situation(s) or time(s) are the same. Students behave differently on different occasions based on their life experiences at home. I am confident that thru field note taking we will collect data that is valid and reliable. Our student’s needs may go unnoticed if we do not pay close attention to their behavior from day to day. Taking field notes would help us become aware of the changes in their behaviors as we are able to see and identify patterns that we did not noticed before.

    I also agree with your comment: Sometimes when an adult fosters a child's strengths, the weakness diminishes. Our students need to know they are welcomed and valued. We need to show them that we believe in them. Most students have the potential to succeed. It is our job to show them the path to become successful lifelong learners. We also have to assure them that we will be next to them all the way. They will welcome respond by performing well when they know who have high expectations from all of them.

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