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Journal 3 - First Field Day

1) The document summarizes the writer's first field day experience visiting a school in northern Trinidad for lessons and teacher training. They left very early in the morning to make the multi-hour journey by maxi taxi. 2) They observed three lessons on ergonomics and Excel which they provided feedback on. They had a lunch provided by their host and built camaraderie with their supervisors and peers. 3) After evaluating the lessons in groups, they had a positive experience providing critique. They then made the long journey back, arriving home very late but feeling it was a worthwhile learning experience overall.

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268 views3 pages

Journal 3 - First Field Day

1) The document summarizes the writer's first field day experience visiting a school in northern Trinidad for lessons and teacher training. They left very early in the morning to make the multi-hour journey by maxi taxi. 2) They observed three lessons on ergonomics and Excel which they provided feedback on. They had a lunch provided by their host and built camaraderie with their supervisors and peers. 3) After evaluating the lessons in groups, they had a positive experience providing critique. They then made the long journey back, arriving home very late but feeling it was a worthwhile learning experience overall.

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23rd September 2015

FIRST FIELD DAY


On Friday 18th September 2015, we visited our colleague Glorenn RoddAbraham at Blanchisseuse Secondary School in the northern range for our
first field day. My day started at 4am as my husband and I rose to begin to
prepare for our journey to Ste Madelaine Secondary School (about an hours
drive) to meet the maxi taxi for 6am. Added to the very early start to our
morning, we had to find a way to get out of our yard as it was filled with flood
water a result of torrential rains and blocked drains due to the construction
of the new highway.
My husband dropped me off at the school and the maxi left promptly as we
proceeded to meet the other student teachers at UWI School of Education
before we officially began the long, arduous journey to Blanchissesue. While
the view was quite beautiful and scenic, my fear of heights and precipices
forced me to either close my eyes or stare at the opposite side of the road
for most of the journey. A little more than two hours after leaving St
Augustine we finally arrived at our destination and were greeted by our
gracious, smiling hostess, Glorenn.
Because of our late arrival, we got into the lessons almost immediately. Ian
Seepersad taught the first lesson - Ergonomics, followed by Lisa Balchan Ergonomics and then finally Erlyn Cowie - Excel. Ians lesson for was quite
informative. I loved his opening and closing videos. They were enjoyable, fun
and age appropriate. His Power Point presentation, while informative, had a
bit too much information for one lesson. I would have preferred if he had less
content and a bit more activities for the children. One of the aspects of the
lesson that I liked was his affable interaction with the students. He was even
able to inject a bit of humour which would have made them feel more at
ease seeing that he was a stranger to them.
Lisas lesson had much more activities and student engagement, which I was
happy to see. The students were used to demonstrate proper ergonomics
and she used a lot of questioning and probing. Erlyns lesson was an
introduction to Excel. Unfortunately none of the students had computers.
Early in the lesson, there was a power outage but it was restored in seconds.
I admired the fact that she did not panic but went straight back into the
lesson. We were very impressed by the students mathematical ability as
they were able to give the correct formulae when asked. Again, I felt her

lesson had too much content for an introductory lesson and that it could
have included more student activity.
After the three lessons, we had lunch. All twenty one of us sat around our
makeshift lunch table and ate our lunch which was delicious, a winning
combination of fresh caught fish and simple country cooking. We chatted and
continued to build on our camaraderie. Kudos must be given to our
supervisors for their continuous efforts to foster these bonds within the
group. In my opinion, I get a very motherly, nurturing vibe from Dr.
Kamoldeen while Ms. Michelle is seen as a favourite aunt or big sister. The
end result is we feel comfortable.
After lunch we began the evaluation session. Since we were short of time, we
were divided into three groups and each group was asked to evaluate one
lesson using a checklist which was provided to us. The theme for this field
day was objectives, so our main task was to check the lesson plan against
the actual lesson to see if the objectives of the lesson were indeed met. I had
indicated in a previous session that in the lesson planning process, writing
objectives was the most challenging aspect for me, so that session was quite
helpful by providing more clarity about what I am expected to produce.
After the groups met, we reconvened and gave our views on the different
lessons. I must say, that the critique part of the session was not as bad as I
thought. Based on conversations from past Dip Ed students, I thought it
would have been a harrowing experience, especially for those who taught
that day, but by the end of the experience everyone left in good spirits.
The drive back to UWI was similar to the drive up (long and scary). Of course
we stopped on Maracas Beach for Richards bake and shark. After dropping
off some of our colleagues at School of Education, we found ourselves in
traffic for an entire hour before we could even leave UWI, but after that the
road was clear. My husband was waiting for me at Ste Madelaine Secondary
School and I arrived home around half past seven.
The day was long and tiring, but so worth it. It was enjoyable and very
informative. I am thankful for such a friendly, fun group and for two
wonderful, knowledgeable supervisors. Unfortunately, we will be splitting up
for the other field days, but I still look forward to our next outing to
Saraswatie Girls Hindu School.

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