Iourna| S What I have |earned from be|ng a teach|ng ass|stant

Cne of Lhe Lhlngs l've felL l have really lacked as a prospecLlve Leacher ls fleld experlence
besldes Lhe few weeks of observaLlon durlng Luu 280 and Lhe classes l observed for LnC 373 l have
llLLle Llme ln Lhe classroom never mlnd any experlence acLually leadlng a class 1hankfully l was offered
Lhls opporLunlLy Lo Lake a more handson role ln a classroom My Llme 1Alng Lhls semesLer has offered
me many chances Lo apply my LheoreLlc learnlng lnLo real pracLlce and l have learned abouL Lhe reallLles
of Leachlng whlch cannoL be LaughL Lhrough a book or observaLlon
lrom Lhe very beglnnlng my experlence as a Leachlng asslsLanL supplemenLed my learnlng of
educaLlonal Lheorles Cn Lhe flrsL day of class l walked lnLo Lhe classroom and was surprlsed Lo flnd Lhe
seLup of Lhe classroom was conduclve Lo dlrecL lnsLrucLlon and lecLuresLyle learnlng usually slnce
Slbley ls Lhe bulldlng where educaLlon classes are held Lhe seL up of Lhe class ls more sLudenLcenLered
whlch would be approprlaLe for Lhe Lype of learnlng LhaL was golng Lo occur ln ur Llpszyc's class l
declded LhaL ln order Lo promoLe a more poslLlve learnlng envlronmenL we should change Lhe desks
from forward faclng rows Lo a horseshoe whlch ls more favorable for dlscusslon and collaboraLlon l had
repeaLedly learned Lhe lmporLance of room seL up ln my educaLlon classes buL Lhls was Lhe flrsL Llme
LhaL l was able Lo apply Lhls ln an acLual classroom Lvery day from Lhen on we seL Lhe classroom up Lhls
way and l belleve lL lnfluenced Lhe classroom because from Lhe beglnnlng lL slgnlfled Lhe Lone of Lhe
class Cn a more personal level lL allowed me Lo see how whaL l have learned ln my classes really can
be used
1he oLher lnsLance when l was able Lo apply my ouLslde learnlng lnLo my 1Alng was when a
sLudenL's behavlor became dlsrupLlve Lo Lhe learnlng envlronmenL uurlng my lesson l noLlced a group
was noL on LasklnsLead of engaglng l Lhe peer LuLorlng Lhere were on an unrelaLed webslLe l had
recenLly learned Lhe Lheory of leasL lnLervenLlon ln my educaLlonal psychology class Classroom
managemenL was Lhe mosL slgnlflcanL aspecL of Leachlng LhaL l felL unlnformed and unprepared for so lL
Iourna| S What I have |earned from be|ng a teach|ng ass|stant
was very helpful for me Lo puL lnLo pracLlce Lhe Lheorles l was learnlng l Look Lhe sLeps l had learned Lo
flrsL subLly slgnal Lo Lhe sLudenL LhaL her behavlor was unaccepLable 1hen l quleLly spoke Lo Lhe
sLudenL Lo cue her Lo geL on Lask When she sLlll refused Lo engage ln Lhe lesson l declded LhaL l couldn'L
dlsrupL everyone else's learnlng so l declded Lo lgnore Lhe behavlor and have ur LlpszycLhe auLhorlLy
flgureLalk Lo Lhe sLudenL afLer class 1hough Lhe sLudenL dld noL engage ln Lhe lesson l sLlll feel llke lL
was a successful use of Lhe Lheory because l dld noL allow one sLudenL Lo dlsrupL Lhe learnlng of Lhe
enLlre group and lnsLead addressed Lhe behavlor afLer Lhe lesson closed
1Alng allowed me Lo pracLlce uslng all Lhe knowledge LhaL l have galned ln my Llme of sLudy here
aL laLLsburgh l learned LhaL Lhlngs don'L always go accordlng Lo plan l have also learned LhaL l acLually
do have a loL of knowledge LhaL wlll help me ln Lhe classroom 1hls semesLer also showed me how much
l sLlll have Lo learn and how much wlll come wlLh experlence l honesLly belleve LhaL l learned more
from Lhese flfLeen weeks of 1Alng Lhan l had ln my four years of undergradslmply because you need
Lo acLually Lo learn