Alex+Journals

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On Friday, Oct. 28, Emily and I met with our cooperating teacher, Sara Stow. We did this a few days before our actual in-class observation start date in order to understand the teacher’s expectations, as well as inform her of ours. She laid out the tentative course schedule for her 7th grade geography class for the time we will be completing our field experience, and informed us of the units that will be taught, as well as some of the assessments associated with the units. She gave us both a textbook so we could familiarize ourselves with the content and to use in planning our lesson. We have her e-mail address to contact her with any concerns, questions, or ideas.=====

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Ms. Stow explained to us that she would help us with anything we needed when it came to teaching and preparing lessons, as she is a firm believer of helping anyone training to become a teacher. However, she informed us that she would not “coddle” us, as the lessons we will be teaching are __ours__, making it our responsibility to put in the proper time and effort necessary to be prepared and ready to teach. She let us know that we will be able to choose any lesson we would like to teach, and seemed to be very laid back about what we would like to do. She also seemed just as excited and happy to have us in her class as Emily and I are to be there. The meeting as a whole allowed us to go into the field experience prepared and having an idea for the way Ms. Stow teaches and manages her classroom.=====

THEME 2

The classroom management system Ms. Stow uses in her 7th grade geography classes is a simple system that is promoted in each classroom at Dakota Meadows Middle School. Each classroom has a poster with the word PRIDE on it, which is an acronym where each letter stands for a certain thing expected to be followed by students in the classroom. Preparedness, Respect, Integrity, Determination, and Excellence are the five words the PRIDE poster stands for. When there is an issue in the classroom, Ms. Stow points to the poster and asks the entire class questions such as “What aren’t we doing right according to the poster? What can we do as a class to make things right? What needs to be fixed?” Ms. Stow does not have many issues with classroom management or with her students though, as her students are very well behaved and almost always focused on their work and learning. The one problem Ms. Stow often encounters is one particular student who never does any work, even with constant encouragement.

The 7th grade classes Ms. Stow teaches are not accustomed to inquiry type learning. Instead, Ms. Stow teaches in a way which pushes her students to use higher levels of thinking to understand the content. She does this by asking the class various types of questions throughout the lesson. Students work individually in most cases, and group work isn’t used in her class as much as it is in other classes the 7th grade students have, such as math and science.

Students are graded on daily work, homework, tests, quizzes and projects. These are all the types of summative assessments Ms. Stow uses for her class. Ms. Stow doesn’t grade on a curve, as all the points are equal and put into one total pot. Formative assessments Ms. Stow uses include students placing post-its where students have answered several questions on the door on the way out of class, or fist of five. Fist of five is a formative assessment where students hold up their fist and show a number relating to how well they understand the content, 5 meaning they know the material completely, and 1 meaning they have no clue and have many questions. When it comes to state testing, such as the MCA and NWEA, Ms. Stow likes the way they measure progress and keep both the teacher and school responsible for the students’ development. However, she does not believe they are a good indicator of whether a student can graduate or not, as some students are not good test takers.

THEME 3

Our first lesson was taught to the 7th grade Geography class we have been observing and working in over the past week. As far as student development, it was difficult to measure any development in relation to this unit since it is the first day we have taught the economy section. Today was a basic introduction to the unit and the key terms, as well as a getting to know you activity for us and the students. To involve all the students, we had them form a large circle around the room, and every student took a turn speaking. When we went over the vocabulary, we encouraged every student to help explain the definition or explain what they thought the word might mean. With some students, this was difficult, as there were several who were quite shy and quiet, and others who chose not to do any schoolwork at all. We also were able to get most of the students involved in participation with an activity we did at the end of class, where one student defined one vocabulary word, and then chooses another student to define the next word. We related the vocabulary terms to the lives and experiences of the student’s by asking them questions in an open class discussion about how they have heard or used the words and definitions in their daily lives, or how they relate to the type of economic system in the U.S.A. We used the parallel teaching style because it allows my co-teacher and I to equally engage in teaching, and we can effectively feed off of each other’s ideas and comments.

An assessment we used in our lesson today is the activity mentioned earlier where students defined the vocabulary word we previously discussed as a class, and then chose another student to do the same with the next word. This activity allowed students to review the words, and it also gave both co-teachers an idea to whether or not the students were grasping an understanding of what the word is and what it means.

Students had to complete their daily bell-work at the beginning of class, which is part of the everyday routine. This usually gets the students focused and on task immediately upon arrival to class. We used the same classroom management strategies that Ms. Stow has been using the entire year, which follows the PRIDE poster. Some of the students in one of the classes we taught got a little out of control and were not very respectful to us or the learning environment. We were unsure of how to discipline the students, since this was our first time teaching. After class, Ms. Stow told us we can be strict if we need to be, and to refer to the classroom PRIDE poster if anything like this happens again. Besides this incident and for the most part, the classes were very well behaved and respectful of me, my co-teacher, and any student who was speaking to share something with the class.

THEME 4

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For our second lesson, we once again taught the 7th geography students in Ms. Stow’s class. Students started class with their daily bell ringers and the news/current events, which always gets them focused and on task right away. The majority of this class period was spent on an activity which involved all of the students, titled __Take a Step for Equity__. Every student was randomly assigned to one of four economic classes, and then progressed through the activity. The activity is structured on separating the students of each economic class apart from those of the other classes, and in the end, students see how large the gap is between the percentage of the world’s rich and poor citizens. At the end of the activity, we had a large group discussion with the entire class, and had them reflect on the activity and what it meant for the people who live in each economic class worldwide. We planned the activity for students to be able to understand why there is such a large gap between economic classes worldwide, what impact that gap has on world populations, and the consequences of hunger on poverty for those in the poor economic class. We were able to monitor some development of vocabulary with the students, because many of them were able to recall some of the key terms from this section as we discussed them in the activity. There was also some evidence of critical thinking as the students responded to the reflection questions in class discussion. Emily and I once again used the parallel style of teaching, as we are comfortable with it and it works best for our objectives.=====

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At the end of class, we had the students answer some reflection questions on the activity. This was our formative assessment. The classroom management for this lesson was much better than it was for our first lesson. The students were very well behaved and respectful, and we did not have to take any disciplinary measures other than occasionally telling some of the students to “quiet down.” Perhaps this was due to the expectations we outlined before starting the activity. We instructed students to be respectful of other students and their belongings during this activity. We also had to explain to them that because the statistics we would be sharing with them about poverty are real, that it would be inappropriate to laugh and joke about them. Establishing these expectations and guidelines before the activity definitely made a positive difference in my opinion, enabling the activity to run smoothly for both the students and Emily and I.=====

THEME 5

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Our final lesson for the 7th grade geography class was based on the economic concept of supply and demand. By the time we taught this lesson, I had memorized all of my student’s names and could call on them without having to refer to the seating chart. For the lesson, we used an activity that involved different supply and demand based scenarios and situations. Students were divided into 3 groups, and the groups would take turns reading their scenarios. The other groups would then have to explain what was happening to the supply and demand in each situation. My co-teacher and I made sure everyone was involved and participated by making sure the scenarios were equally dispersed and read by each group member. The overall participation level for the classes was very good. We used a parallel teaching style for the lesson, feeding off each other’s comments and instruction and each taking our turns explaining concepts and facilitating discussion. We related the lesson to the student’s lives by giving real life examples of what happens with supply and demand, and centered it on items they are very familiar with, such as Xbox 360 and winter clothing. We utilized the smartboard for the lesson to draw graphs. These visual aids helped in explaining the concept of supply and demand. Our other materials included the scenarios and situations that the students read in their groups. =====

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A formative assessment we used for our lesson was the thumbs up thumbs down assessment. This type of formative assessment has worked well for us in the past, and we figured it would be best to keep using it. Students were able to show us whether they were grasping the concept of supply and demand, and also used this assessment to show whether supply and demand were going up or going down in the certain situations being discussed. Students also demonstrated learning and understanding in the ways they answered discussion questions. Classroom management was very good for the most part, besides a few maturity issues from some of the students in one of the classes. We needed to keep reminding them to focus and stay on task and be respectful, as the classroom management PRIDE poster in the room says. It was somewhat sad leaving the school knowing our time at the school teaching the students had come to an end, but it was a great and valuable experience. =====

My field experience in Ms. Stow’s 7th grade geography class at Dakota Meadows Middle School was phenomenal and benefitted me greatly. Every aspect of the field experience, from my actual assignments pertaining to me education, to the lessons I taught the students, has undoubtedly helped prepare me further to reaching my career goal of being a secondary education teacher. Getting firsthand experience of teaching lessons to students has made me more comfortable as an educator, and actively communicating with my cooperating teacher as well as getting feedback from her has given me the knowledge of what I am doing well and what I need to improve on.

The assignments pertaining to my field experience at the middle school that my college professor has provided me with has benefitted my education and practice of becoming a future educator. I have learned the importance of identifying a class profile and the students that make up each class, and adjusting teaching styles to fit well with each class. Every single class will be different, and I have learned adjusting teaching styles is necessary and important because this can create positive classroom climates. I have also found the journal entries, as well as the video critique to be very beneficial. These assignments allowed me to reflect on what I was doing well as a teacher and what I need to improve on. One example of something I did very well while teaching the lessons was taking time to explain difficult concepts by relating them to the student’s lives. This makes is much easier for the students to understand these concepts. On the other hand, I need to improve on making the lesson objectives clear to the students and also acknowledging what standard the lesson addresses, in addition to other aspects of teaching.

Perhaps what has been the most valuable part of my field experience is the increase in my comfort level for teaching in front of students. I was extremely nervous prior to teaching my first lesson, but as I became more comfortable with the lessons as they progressed, I was reassured that teaching is my true calling. Not only did I become more comfortable with being in front of students and teaching, but I also became more comfortable with efficiently managing the classroom and establishing a positive environment. This is due in part to the effective communication between my cooperating teacher and I. After every lesson, she would let my co-teacher and I know what we were doing well, and what we could change for the next lesson or class. She has been a positive mentor to me throughout the field experience and an important tool for my education. Leaving the school on the last day of my field experience was a bit sad, as I had enjoyed every moment at Dakota Meadows Middle School. I built great relationships with all my students, my cooperating teacher, and even some other staff members as I frequented the teacher’s lounge and even got to know my way around the staff workroom. My assignments benefitted my experience, and working in the school has made me much more comfortable as an educator. The entire field experience has been invaluable to my education and preparation for future teaching.