Daniel Swanson

Professor Suk
Education Field Experience Educ 230-01
Fall 2014
Rationale Statement
Statement of Standard 9: Professional Learning. The teacher engages in ongoing individual
and collaborative professional learning designed to impact practice in ways that lead to improved
learning for each student, using evidence of student achievement, action research, and best
practice to expand a repertoire of skills, strategies, materials, assessments, and ideas to increase
student learning.
Name of Artifact: Field Experience Blog
Date of Artifact: Fall 2014
Course: Education Field Experience EDUC 230-01
Rationale Statement: There are a lot of mantras that I have about teaching as I learn more and
more to be a teacher myself. One lesson that I learned very early on is that being a teacher also
means that one is a professional student. We teach others in the classroom, and learn to
consistently develop new ideas and better ourselves in our field. There are workshops to learn
from and other teachers within ones network are invaluable learning resources. Still, the best
lessons that one learns is through reflection and observation within ones classroom
Ive never learned so much and felt Ive gained so much experience in doing something
before observations. Through my field work, I got to see a lot of what goes on behind the
scenes at the school. I got to see how teachers deal with parents, how they deal with behavior
issues, and even how teachers get paid. I learned how to communicate to students and handle a
classroom. Most importantly, I learned how to properly accommodate a class and make
modifications to my lesson plans to help students. All of this real world experience really gave
me an in depth look at the field. I have seen what its like in the classroom, but I must prepare
myself to lead the classroom. Most of this learning comes from reflection on real world

experiences. Through my field experience blog, I was able to voice my ideas and reflect upon my
own learning as a teacher. This was one of the most effective learning tools for me. When trying
to learn to do anything, metacognition is a huge asset. If Im able to think about the way I learn, I
am better able to make adjustments to my learning and fix what Im not good at. By learning
from my mistakes, I am better able to develop my new skill. The Field experience blog that I
wrote, was very helpful by giving me a forum to voice my opinions and ideas on teaching, while
still evaluating my own understanding of what it means to be an educator today. In addition, I get
feedback from other people who are working teachers to help improve on what I know.
While writing my blogs, I was able to flesh out ideas that I had but was unable to
vocalize at first. Reflection on my own experiences allowed me to understand what I would need
to do as a teacher. I found that as I wrote my blogs, that this real world experience taught me
more than Ive learned in my classes and in retrospect, this was one of my first professional
development experiences. It has also allowed me to collaborate with others and learn from them
as well. All of this helps me develop as a professional and gain a new set of skills to teach others.

References
Board, New Jersey Professional Teaching Standarts. 2014. "New Jersey Professional Standarts for
Teachers and School Leaders." August: 37-38.