Class Field Experience

Ashley Stellmacher

During the spring semester of 2020, I had the opportunity to be in the three- and four-year-old

classroom once a week at the Fishback Center for Early Childhood Education in Brookings, South Dakota.

During my experience, I had the opportunity to work with groups of students and one-on-one to expand

their inquiry within the classroom. I was assigned in a small group with a few students and one of the

student teachers. In my group, we would discuss our topic, science, and I would assist in helping the

student teacher when needed. During this group time we would create experiments and spark inquiry. I

had the opportunity to help the students grow on their inquiry and knowledge using guiding questions. I

had also learned a lot about lesson planning from the student teachers in the classroom. They showed

the process of creating one and stressed the importance that things will not always go according to each

lesson plan and that it is okay.

During the spring semester of 2022, I spent time in a middle school special education

classroom at Mickelson Middle School in Brookings, South Dakota. I spent 10 hours in the

classroom throughout the semester. During my experience, I had learned how differently the

classroom was in terms of levels of learning and behavior. I had spent time working with

students one-on-one with their classwork on topics such as shapes, time, and writing which

varied from student to student. I had learned a lot from the classroom teacher about organization

because every student was at a different level of learning. She made sure that she worked with

every student one-on-one and incorporated fun learning activities as a whole group. She had

really helped me when creating my lesson plan and because everyone was diverse, she directed

me to create my lesson for one student. I learned a lot about how much work goes into making
sure that every student is growing on their learning through being prepared and attentive to what

students are doing in the classroom.