Reflection: From Migration To The Classroom

Today, things went a little differently in our classroom because we had a special guest in the morning. One my student 's mother works at FGCU and is an Environmental Science professor and also teaches Ornithogly. For the past week, the students have been learning about migration and reading different stories about animals migrating. The student 's mother decided to come in and give a presentation to the students on birds that migrate. She even got a big book from the FGCU Library on geese migrating and read it aloud to the students. After, she surprised all of the student with coloring books. The coloring books were from a local conservation agency and talking about a type of bird near us that migrates. The kids were really engaged and enjoyed hearing from someone that knew so much about birds near us. It is amazing to see what happens when parents get involved in the classroom. It also felt great to see the parent 's child participating and showing off his knowledge. He really enjoys the environment and birds but isn 't given a chance to show what he knows. That took up almost the first hour of the day, and then we started to do our daily

I am building stronger relationships with the students, and I am growing as a future teacher. The biggest thing I have taken away from this experience is the impact of differentiating. While, I always knew that differentiation is important, I now recognize that it should be implemented throughout every classroom. There are benefits for all students, not just the struggling students. I also learned what can happen when you don 't differentiate for students exceling beyond grade-level demands. I have noticed that the kids performing on a higher level are mostly the ones getting in trouble for behavior issues, but its caused by being in an environment that isn 't challenging them enough. Hopefully starting next week, I will be able to provide that challenge for them to better meet their