Reflection 1: Inventory

This is the first time I have ever been surrounded by children in a classroom environment. I am doing my observations in the school I attended as a child, xxxxx in xxxxx. I have fond memories of this school. As a child I enjoyed the wide open space this school offered, with its large playgrounds and spacious sports fields. But xxxxx along with other schools in the town of xxxxx has gone through a rebuilding phase. Gone are the large baseball diamonds and playgrounds. They have been replaced with portable classrooms and a new kindergarten wing. This is due to the growing population xxxxxxx has seen in recent years as housing prices have risen in Silicon Valley.
xxxxx is located on xxxxxx Westside. I grew up in this area and I can speak from experience that it is not the best area in this town. This school has 567 students enrolled. Of these students 48% (270) are English learners and 64% are low income students. Most of the 270 speak only Spanish at home. These factors may affect a student’s ability to learn. 67% of xxxxxx students rank at basic or below in English/Langue Arts (reading and writing); they far better in mathematics with 50% at basic or below California Standards Tests.
My first day of observation started in Mrs. xxxxxx kindergarten class. This class is team taught with Mrs. xxxxxx. One teacher is the main teacher for the morning class while the second takes charge of the afternoon class. On my first morning I was a little nervous. I seemed to be a bigger distraction than anything. But once Mrs. xxxxxx introduced me the kids they all settled down. Of the twenty or so students about 90% were Hispanic, with about 40% speaking little to no English. This makes teaching very difficult especially since they have to teach only in English.
The most interesting event that happened on my first day was seeing how ability grouping works. After reading “The Balanced View: Ability Grouping” I knew the pros and cons associated with ability grouping. I understood why it was such a big controversy among parents and educators. The students were broken up into three groups: birds, bunnies, and fish. The fish were the children who needed the most help, while the bunnies were in the middle, and the birds were above the rest. I worked one on one with all three groups and saw the advantages ability grouping has for all students. At first I thought ability grouping was a bad thing for children because it would keep them from learning from their peers. But after seeing it in action I believe ability grouping can help children. It makes it easier for the teacher to give extra attention to the students who need it without taking time away from the other students.
I was given a project that involved following directions, coloring, cutting and pasting. When I worked with the fish group I saw them helping each other. Most of the students in this group were English learners and lacked the basic language skills to fully understand what was being asked of them. They were not scared to ask for help from me. I was more involved with this group because most of them needed help. The bunnies and the birds on the other hand did not need as much direction from me.
All in all, my first day was pretty fun. I learned a lot of things and gained some experience. But most importantly my first day changed my view on how ability grouping can help students. I saw the advantages ability grouping has in a classroom with English learners and how I might use it one day in my own class.

Credential essay

For most people choosing a major is a very hard decision that takes a lot of soul searching. It was no different for me. I have changed my major four times and each time the path I chose did not feel right. I was lost for the three and a half years I spent at Gavilan Community College in Gilroy. I tried everything from computer science to accounting but nothing seemed right for me. Not until I took a child development class my last semester at Gavilan did I feel like I had found something I could see myself doing as a career.
I have always enjoyed being around children of all ages. I come from a large family with many small children running in and out of our home on a daily basis. It was not till the birth of my own child that I saw how much of an impact an adult can have on the development of a child. Seeing the expression and joy on a child’s face when they learn something new is an unexplainable feeling that has made me seek a career in education. There is no greater joy for me than seeing a child learn something new. Helping them achieve success in the classroom and in life is why I want to be a teacher.
While most of my friends have chosen to jump into the competitive world of engineering and business I chose not to follow the money but follow my heart. As a child and teenager I was never passionate about school. In all my years of schooling I never had a teacher that made me want to learn or made learning fun. School was more like a chore that I did not want to do but was forced to. I want to change that. I want to be the teacher that makes children want to learn. I want to be the teacher they can look back twenty years later and say “He made a difference in my life.” This all may be a foolish person’s dream but with hard work and dedication I believe this dream can come true.

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