On this, the final day of my service learning at Classic City High School, there was a substitute in Mrs. Johns' class. I though it was quite fitting that I would have to work with the students without the help of Mrs. Johns herself. Though there were only five students in class today, I was really glad for the chance to get to sit and talk with some of them. There were no profound moments and no epiphanies about the meaning of life, but there were small moments in which I believe the students actually appreciated my being there. Not because I was helping them with their work or giving them hints as to the next answer, but because I was someone who was still truly invested in them even when their teacher was gone.
This semester in Classic City High School has taught me so many things. There are more than I can count, and I'm sure there are many lessons so subtle I don't recall them in this moment. This environment is nothing I have ever been in before coming from a gifted ELA classroom in a middle school setting. Despite my initial inclination to pull back and stay where I'm comfortable, I believe that this is an experience that has grown and shaped me more than any other I've had thus far. What follows is a list of lessons learned through working with these students.
1. Pick your battles. Students are not always going to work exactly the way that I, as their teacher, envision. Sometimes, getting work done is more important than fighting over how that end goal is achieved. If a student asks you to go to the bathroom in the middle of a lesson, sometimes it is just better to let them go than to disrupt the entire classroom's learning.
2. Understand that what works for one student may not work for another. There were many times when I thought I had cracked the code. I'd finally figured out how to make these students get their work done, and in that moment of pride, I forgot about the nature of students. They are all entirely different. The strategy that got Student A working doesn't always work for Students B, C, and D. Also, what worked for Student A on Wednesday might not work for them again on Friday. Students are not so easily "solved."
3. Students have more to worry about than my assignments. Though the worksheet sitting in front of the students is the most important thing in my mind at the moment, many students have more pressing issues at hand. I will never forget when a student stepped out to take a phone call and came back in to announce that his uncle had passed away from a heart attack. In that moment, I couldn't be just this student's mentor in an educational sense, but had to quickly realize that working on school work and completing assignments would have to take a backseat for a little while. This student needed me to be his friend. I have, in my short educational career, forgotten about the fact that a student's life is not always about my class.
4. Students really do want to please you and they want to have fun. Today, I learned this lesson. Perhaps it was because I was considered their "teacher" for the day, but I could see that the students wanted to talk with me. They wanted to tell me about what they had seen on Instagram that morning and we even watched a view videos together once they finished their work. I could see that they wanted my attention, and we had a lot of fun talking and relaxing. Being a teacher isn't always about having a iron-grip on the students; there is plenty of room for sitting and watching funny videos.
Though this semester featured a few moments of intense frustration and many moments of confusion and hesitation, I truly feel that I am more equipped to walk into my own classroom than I would have been without it. These are students I will not forget because they taught me more than I ever dreamed.
Friday, April 14, 2017
Wednesday, April 12, 2017
CCHS 04-12
Today was a really great day at CCHS. In Mrs. Johns' class, there were very few students, so it was a great opportunity to get one-on-one time with the students. During class today, they were working on a practice in annotating articles. Mrs. Johns gave each of them a short, simple article to read over and she wrote out five different annotations for them to consider. Mrs. Johns said that her goal is to give her students the skills that they need in order to pick out important information in the articles, and that the best way to do that is through annotation of non-fiction works.
Anna Warnell was also in the class this morning, so there were enough adults in the room to pair up with two students each. I sat with my two students and we read over the article and I tried my best to guide them in the annotating process. This article covered the different parts of a cell, so I had to make sure to use my science knowledge (of which there is little) in order to help them. This was a very good task for the students, and they were able to see immediate progress. This immediate progress was an encouragement to keep going in the task at hand, so most students were able to get a lot done in the 15 minute period Mrs. Johns gave them. After the finished annotating, Mrs. Johns handed out a chart so that the students could identify the vocabulary words throughout the article. Since they had annotated, the students were able to readily pick out the vocabulary words and fill in their definitions.
Though this task was great and useful for me, my favorite part of today's class had nothing to do with the students' assignment. I noticed that one of the students had a solved Rubix Cube with him at his desk. I stopped by his desk and asked him if he knew how to solve it. He answered yes, and he told me that if I wanted to scramble it, he could solve it for me. Of course I wanted to see this skill in action, and given that he was done with his work, it would give him something to do. I quietly scrambled the cube in the back of the classroom, handed it to him, and within a minute, he had solved it. Honestly, I was shocked. We repeated this a few more times, and soon the class had all noticed what we were doing. Instead of being a distraction for the students, this became an opportunity for this student to show off his skill. On a normal day, this student is very quiet and completes his work before anyone else; he isn't one that always stands out. On this day, however, he shone in the classroom. His classmates couldn't believe that he could solve the cube so quickly and they couldn't understand how on earth he did it in the first place.
This was such a great moment for me as a teacher. Seeing the other students amazed by their peer was so much fun, and I smiled throughout the entire interaction. I could see that the student was so proud of himself and enjoyed the praise from Mrs. Johns, his classmates, and myself. Seeing as though he doesn't usually receive any attention, I was so glad that he was getting the chance to be the "star of the show," even if just for a moment. These interactions are part of the reason that I want to become a teacher. When students feel valued and unique, it improves their performance in the classroom and outside of the classroom, which it the ultimate goal of education.
Anna Warnell was also in the class this morning, so there were enough adults in the room to pair up with two students each. I sat with my two students and we read over the article and I tried my best to guide them in the annotating process. This article covered the different parts of a cell, so I had to make sure to use my science knowledge (of which there is little) in order to help them. This was a very good task for the students, and they were able to see immediate progress. This immediate progress was an encouragement to keep going in the task at hand, so most students were able to get a lot done in the 15 minute period Mrs. Johns gave them. After the finished annotating, Mrs. Johns handed out a chart so that the students could identify the vocabulary words throughout the article. Since they had annotated, the students were able to readily pick out the vocabulary words and fill in their definitions.
Though this task was great and useful for me, my favorite part of today's class had nothing to do with the students' assignment. I noticed that one of the students had a solved Rubix Cube with him at his desk. I stopped by his desk and asked him if he knew how to solve it. He answered yes, and he told me that if I wanted to scramble it, he could solve it for me. Of course I wanted to see this skill in action, and given that he was done with his work, it would give him something to do. I quietly scrambled the cube in the back of the classroom, handed it to him, and within a minute, he had solved it. Honestly, I was shocked. We repeated this a few more times, and soon the class had all noticed what we were doing. Instead of being a distraction for the students, this became an opportunity for this student to show off his skill. On a normal day, this student is very quiet and completes his work before anyone else; he isn't one that always stands out. On this day, however, he shone in the classroom. His classmates couldn't believe that he could solve the cube so quickly and they couldn't understand how on earth he did it in the first place.
This was such a great moment for me as a teacher. Seeing the other students amazed by their peer was so much fun, and I smiled throughout the entire interaction. I could see that the student was so proud of himself and enjoyed the praise from Mrs. Johns, his classmates, and myself. Seeing as though he doesn't usually receive any attention, I was so glad that he was getting the chance to be the "star of the show," even if just for a moment. These interactions are part of the reason that I want to become a teacher. When students feel valued and unique, it improves their performance in the classroom and outside of the classroom, which it the ultimate goal of education.
Saturday, April 8, 2017
CCHS 04-07
On Friday, April 7th, I spent time in Mrs. Johns' class. Many of her students were present, so the classroom was quite full. In addition to the increased number of students, there were 4 mentors in the room. Mrs. Johns expressed that this was a great day to have lots of help because her students were going to be working individually on assignments and may need help or encouragement.
Her students were working on activities that incorporated economics into English. While some students were catching up on previous assignments, many of them were working on one of three options that Mrs. Johns had given them: a 27-minute video on economics with a three paragraph response, or a choice between two articles price elasticity, an economic principle.
During this time, I got to work with many different students on many different tasks. The economic feature to these activities stretched my knowledge a little bit, which caused me to think on my feet a little more than usual. The students were unclear on the concept of price elasticity, but with a little help from Google, I was able to direct them. In reading the articles, the students had to fill out two sheets after the read: a summary of the article in which they listed the title, author, tone, etc. and a list of three economics problems that were based on the information that they learned in the article. This day stretched my ability to adapt and work with many different students at one time, and I had to learn to manage many different people in my mind. I would work with one student for about five minutes, another for three minutes, and then I had to take a scan of the room to see who was in need of help or just a little encouragement to get their work done.
This visit also challenged my ability to adapt when the information isn't the most familiar concept for me. Though this will probably not be a problem in my own classroom given that I will be choosing my own assignments and lessons, but it is still a great skill to work on as a future educator. Learning quickly was very important on this day, and I believe that I was able to adjust my expectations relatively quickly. Each time I visit CCHS, I learn something new about teaching and the theme of this visit was certainly flexibility.
Her students were working on activities that incorporated economics into English. While some students were catching up on previous assignments, many of them were working on one of three options that Mrs. Johns had given them: a 27-minute video on economics with a three paragraph response, or a choice between two articles price elasticity, an economic principle.
During this time, I got to work with many different students on many different tasks. The economic feature to these activities stretched my knowledge a little bit, which caused me to think on my feet a little more than usual. The students were unclear on the concept of price elasticity, but with a little help from Google, I was able to direct them. In reading the articles, the students had to fill out two sheets after the read: a summary of the article in which they listed the title, author, tone, etc. and a list of three economics problems that were based on the information that they learned in the article. This day stretched my ability to adapt and work with many different students at one time, and I had to learn to manage many different people in my mind. I would work with one student for about five minutes, another for three minutes, and then I had to take a scan of the room to see who was in need of help or just a little encouragement to get their work done.
This visit also challenged my ability to adapt when the information isn't the most familiar concept for me. Though this will probably not be a problem in my own classroom given that I will be choosing my own assignments and lessons, but it is still a great skill to work on as a future educator. Learning quickly was very important on this day, and I believe that I was able to adjust my expectations relatively quickly. Each time I visit CCHS, I learn something new about teaching and the theme of this visit was certainly flexibility.
Friday, March 31, 2017
CCHS 03-31
This morning, I was in Mrs. Johns' class as usual. The students were working on what Mrs. Johns was calling a "lap book" and the students were filling their lap books with their work from the previous week. They had been learning about the Pythagorean theorem in math, and Mrs. Johns was able to translate that into some English assignments. For example, the students had to write out definitions of term and then complete a journal assignment. For the journal, students were presented with a few prompts like "When I encounter a math problem I don't know how to solve, I..." and "One of my best experiences in math class was..." Each student was instructed to write five sentences per prompt for a total of four journal entries.
While the students were working on this, Mrs. Johns and I walked around the room to offer help and to encourage students to get their work done. While all of the students did finish their work, it was slow going and I had to quickly learn some ways to motivate students to get things done.
One student simply did not seem to have any motivation to work. She was spending a lot of time on her phone and very little time working on her assignment. In order attempt to get things moving, I tested a strategy on her. I wrote out all of the things that she had to get done before the end of class, such as "complete last journal" and "create a title page." I placed this list at her desk in an attempt to show her that one by one, she could get these things done. This strategy was very helpful for her because she could see exactly what needed to get done and could mark off things she completed, thus giving her a visual of her progress. By looking at the paper and seeing all she had already done, completing the next task did not seem as daunting.
While this strategy did work for that particular student, it was not effective with everyone. A few students were not willing to work no matter what I did, so I simply completed some of the easiest tasks for them, such as taping pages together and cutting out paragraphs. By the time I had completed the simplest things on their lists, they could see that the end was near and then began to work on the last few tasks they needed.
This was a very good day! Even though there were some very frustrating times and working with unmotivated students can wear a teacher down very quickly, seeing students begin to work and get things done was very rewarding. I learned a few good strategies to implement should this ever come up in my own classroom (which I'm sure it will!).
While the students were working on this, Mrs. Johns and I walked around the room to offer help and to encourage students to get their work done. While all of the students did finish their work, it was slow going and I had to quickly learn some ways to motivate students to get things done.
One student simply did not seem to have any motivation to work. She was spending a lot of time on her phone and very little time working on her assignment. In order attempt to get things moving, I tested a strategy on her. I wrote out all of the things that she had to get done before the end of class, such as "complete last journal" and "create a title page." I placed this list at her desk in an attempt to show her that one by one, she could get these things done. This strategy was very helpful for her because she could see exactly what needed to get done and could mark off things she completed, thus giving her a visual of her progress. By looking at the paper and seeing all she had already done, completing the next task did not seem as daunting.
While this strategy did work for that particular student, it was not effective with everyone. A few students were not willing to work no matter what I did, so I simply completed some of the easiest tasks for them, such as taping pages together and cutting out paragraphs. By the time I had completed the simplest things on their lists, they could see that the end was near and then began to work on the last few tasks they needed.
This was a very good day! Even though there were some very frustrating times and working with unmotivated students can wear a teacher down very quickly, seeing students begin to work and get things done was very rewarding. I learned a few good strategies to implement should this ever come up in my own classroom (which I'm sure it will!).
Monday, March 27, 2017
CCHS 03-24
On March 24, I worked in Mrs. Johns classroom. There were two other mentors in the classroom with me, Melanie Beadles and Kaelynne Boyd. This week, the students took their usual Friday quiz over what they had been learning that week.
Since the computer system was down while I was there, I got the opportunity to help two students complete a packet over prefixes and suffixes. One student was less engaged and was not interested in completing the work, which posed a problem for me. Though he did complete a few things, while I was working with the other student, he was looking at his phone and texting instead of completing the assignment like I had asked him to.
The other student was very engaged with the material. Though he was listening to music, it was clear that he wanted to get this task done so that he could move on. We had a lot of fun working on one of the tasks, which was a type of matching game. On one side of the paper, there was a list of prefixes and students were instructed to decipher their meaning using three other columns of synonyms, words containing the prefix, and lastly a definition of the word that contained the prefix. For me, it was a refresher as well! The student clearly enjoyed working on it, and I got a chance to spend more one-on-one time with him through it.
The activities in the packet that I was instructed to teach were quite effective for the one student, but not for the other. There are many outside reasons that the one student may not have been engaged, but I would love to have been able to sit with him in a more one-on-one situation so that he could complete his work on time. I believe that, had I been able to sit on the other side of the table from them rather than between the two of them, we might have gotten more work done as a group.
It was a good day and I feel that my student and I were able to get a lot done while also having a good time and laughing at the fact that we were both trying to figure out what the prefixes mean. Coming down to the student's level made him feel much more comfortable and he was more receptive to my help. He knew that I was learning right alongside him.
Since the computer system was down while I was there, I got the opportunity to help two students complete a packet over prefixes and suffixes. One student was less engaged and was not interested in completing the work, which posed a problem for me. Though he did complete a few things, while I was working with the other student, he was looking at his phone and texting instead of completing the assignment like I had asked him to.
The other student was very engaged with the material. Though he was listening to music, it was clear that he wanted to get this task done so that he could move on. We had a lot of fun working on one of the tasks, which was a type of matching game. On one side of the paper, there was a list of prefixes and students were instructed to decipher their meaning using three other columns of synonyms, words containing the prefix, and lastly a definition of the word that contained the prefix. For me, it was a refresher as well! The student clearly enjoyed working on it, and I got a chance to spend more one-on-one time with him through it.
The activities in the packet that I was instructed to teach were quite effective for the one student, but not for the other. There are many outside reasons that the one student may not have been engaged, but I would love to have been able to sit with him in a more one-on-one situation so that he could complete his work on time. I believe that, had I been able to sit on the other side of the table from them rather than between the two of them, we might have gotten more work done as a group.
It was a good day and I feel that my student and I were able to get a lot done while also having a good time and laughing at the fact that we were both trying to figure out what the prefixes mean. Coming down to the student's level made him feel much more comfortable and he was more receptive to my help. He knew that I was learning right alongside him.
Friday, March 3, 2017
CCHS 03-03
I spent this morning with Mrs. Johns. Anna Warnell was also in the classroom with me, and the two of us got to see each other in a professional environment. Her teaching strategies were helpful for me in thinking about my own teaching.
During this class period, students took a quiz covering the Harlem Renaissance. Mrs. Johns reviewed some possible questions with the kids, which helped them review what they were about to be quizzed over. Some of the questions included:
During this class period, students took a quiz covering the Harlem Renaissance. Mrs. Johns reviewed some possible questions with the kids, which helped them review what they were about to be quizzed over. Some of the questions included:
- Who was the "voice" of the Harlem Renaissance?
- Where did it take place?
- What kind of people were involved?
Throughout February, students have been learning about African American history. This topic was quite relevant and it seemed to hold their attention very well. The students enjoyed what they were learning because they could see how it was relevant in their lives.
Following the quiz, the students continued working on the legacy papers. Motivation was pretty low because of spring break, but they were each progressing. Many students were working on getting their essays up to the minimum number of words, which was 500.
Since it was the day before spring break, this was a pretty relaxed day in the classroom, which I think was good for the students and Mrs. Johns as well!
Friday, February 24, 2017
CCHS 02-24
Today I spent time in both Mrs. Johns and Mr. Jones' classrooms. This was a shorter day for students, so classes only lasted 45 minutes. Mrs. Johns' second period is set aside for planning, so she took the time to show me to Mr. Jones' room and introduce me to him. Since I had never been in his classroom, I was eager to see how it was different from my previous experiences with Mrs. Johns.
In Mrs. Johns' classroom, students were still working on their legacy papers from last week, and I was glad that I got to see their progress. Students were answering the questions provided, and this week they were focused on putting their answers into paragraph format and moving forward with the writing process. Mrs. Johns and I were there for support, but the students worked on their own for the majority of the class period.
When her class was over, she escorted me to Mr. Jones' room where I got to work with his senior English class. With a 45 minute class period, these students were focused on catching up on any missed work, which gave me a lot of opportunities to assist them.
I worked with two students in particular. One of the students was working on an "Archetype Essay." Mr. Jones had his students take a quiz to find out what qualities they had that matched up with archetypes that we see in many stories. This particular student fell into the warrior, magician, and martyr categories. As a part of the assignment, the student had to write a short essay explaining how she felt about the archetypes she was assigned, and she and I spent this time formatting the essay that she had previously written. While showing her how to indent, change font, and keep her sentences consistent, I had the opportunity to talk with her about her martyr assignment. She confessed to me that she wasn't really sure what a martyr was, so we spent a little time looking into that and Googling answers. She explained to me that, many times, she uses her work checks to help out her family and take care of their needs, but that one day she hopes to open her own salon and provide for her family in that way. Through the simple task of editing a paper, I was able to spend some time getting to know her and what she wants to do in life.
The second student I worked with was focused on a personal narrative. This interaction was much less serious and extremely entertaining. This student chose to write his narrative about an experience he had at Six Flags. He described riding the roller-coaster Goliath with his family and the intense fear he felt during that experience. I shared with him my first experience riding Goliath and the fact that I was just as scared as he was! Getting to laugh with this student over a shared experience was so much fun and brightened my morning. I'm starting to realize that sometimes, just laughing with the students can be beneficial to them, but even more beneficial to me.
In Mrs. Johns' classroom, students were still working on their legacy papers from last week, and I was glad that I got to see their progress. Students were answering the questions provided, and this week they were focused on putting their answers into paragraph format and moving forward with the writing process. Mrs. Johns and I were there for support, but the students worked on their own for the majority of the class period.
When her class was over, she escorted me to Mr. Jones' room where I got to work with his senior English class. With a 45 minute class period, these students were focused on catching up on any missed work, which gave me a lot of opportunities to assist them.
I worked with two students in particular. One of the students was working on an "Archetype Essay." Mr. Jones had his students take a quiz to find out what qualities they had that matched up with archetypes that we see in many stories. This particular student fell into the warrior, magician, and martyr categories. As a part of the assignment, the student had to write a short essay explaining how she felt about the archetypes she was assigned, and she and I spent this time formatting the essay that she had previously written. While showing her how to indent, change font, and keep her sentences consistent, I had the opportunity to talk with her about her martyr assignment. She confessed to me that she wasn't really sure what a martyr was, so we spent a little time looking into that and Googling answers. She explained to me that, many times, she uses her work checks to help out her family and take care of their needs, but that one day she hopes to open her own salon and provide for her family in that way. Through the simple task of editing a paper, I was able to spend some time getting to know her and what she wants to do in life.
The second student I worked with was focused on a personal narrative. This interaction was much less serious and extremely entertaining. This student chose to write his narrative about an experience he had at Six Flags. He described riding the roller-coaster Goliath with his family and the intense fear he felt during that experience. I shared with him my first experience riding Goliath and the fact that I was just as scared as he was! Getting to laugh with this student over a shared experience was so much fun and brightened my morning. I'm starting to realize that sometimes, just laughing with the students can be beneficial to them, but even more beneficial to me.
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