blog 8

       Over the last few months I have learned a lot about teaching, classrooms, and the philosophy behind teaching. But one of the best things that I have had the opportunity to learn is how a teacher can engage a class. The more I learned about this topic and the more I thought about it I began to realize that some of the most memorable lessons that I ever had were engaging and hands on. I recall making stucco mountains in first grade, growing corn in second grade, drawing from stories in third grade, making candles in fourth grade, making Mayan food in fifth grade and insulating jars in sixth grade. these lessons were the ones that truly taught me in a memorable way, they applied topics to my life and made me care in a way that would otherwise not be possible. 

       As I watched different teachers interact with their classes I was reminded of this importance, I was  taught the different ways that engaging a class could be accomplished. In the fifth grade class I spent the majority of my time in I saw the teacher engage the class by having them teach one another and explain their answers to the class. I also witnessed a mom come and make applesauce with the class in a first grade classroom. from little things to big things there were many ways to accomplish this goal. As I looked through my blogs I was able to see how my feelings about topics have changed and see how my thinking has progressed. In the past I thought that engaging students could only be done through big things like field trips or big projects but because of my service learning I was able to see the many small ways that teachers incorporate these things in classes everyday. Because of these blogs I was more focused in the classrooms and was better able to see these little things and engage with the teachers on these topics and hear what they had to say. I am so glad to of had this opportunity to use my service learning to engage with this class and know that this will be one of those lessons that I will be able to recall many years from now.