Second Placement Surprise Blog #3

                Last Friday, on April 5^th, I had my first formal observation at my second placement. I am now student teaching at an urban high school in Harrisburg. The student population and culture here is tremendously different in comparison to my first placement in Dillsburg. In Dillsburg (my middle school placement) I taught five classes: two upper level English and three mixed level English. Whereas in Harrisburg I am currently teaching two academic English classes, but will soon pick up three honors English classes as well. All of my classes are 10^th grade English.

                I want to start this blog off with a recap of my lesson for my observation, and then discuss the differences I have noticed in student behavior. The class and I had been studying Carpe Diem poetry the entire week, so I decided to try and end Friday on a lighter note.  I began class with a small discussion about the MTV show “The Buried Life.” If you are not familiar: it is a show in which four boys, in their mid-twenties, make a list of all of the things they want to do before they die. For every item on their list that they check off, they help a stranger complete something on their bucket list. After this brief explanation, I showed the class the trailer on YouTube. Then, I mentioned how their previous journal topic (on Carpe Diem) relates to this topic. I wanted the students to complete their own bucket lists in class. Before I passed out the assignment, I demonstrated what I expected them to write by reading examples from the book, “What Do You Want to Do Before You Die?” written by the cast of “The Buried Life.” I was pleasantly surprised that those examples held the students’ interest. It was as though we were having our own little story time as I read examples from the book and showed students the pictures. I will explain later why I found this so memorable. The bucket list worksheets were passed out and I shared with the students my expectations for completion. Dr. Shannon, my co-op, and I all noted that small discussion around the classroom was on topic with the activity. The students were excited to write their own bucket lists. We wrapped up the activity by having students share some of their examples and well as discussed how this activity fits along with what we had been studying.

                The Pros:

                One student left class and said to her friend in the hallway, “I liked that bucket list activity.” Hearing this compliment just lifted me out of my shoes…I have never received this type of feedback before from that class. It was nice to know that there are some students that appreciate my hard work and enjoy the lessons I plan. In addition, the students were excited about the lesson and I was able to keep the students interested and engaged. It was probably one of the quietest academic English classes I have taught so far.

                The Cons:

                There were many students missing from class, so I was aware that all of those students would be behind on Monday. There were some students discussing during the clips and others on their cell phones. I had to talk to students individually at their desks to get to work because they were not doing anything at times. The lesson was not highly focused on academic achievement, but it was a building block for the poetry project that we began this week. Yesterday, students used their bucket lists to choose a theme for their poetry projects (where students write their own poem, rap, or song and present it to the class).  I decided to move forward with the bucket list idea for my observation though because I knew one of the cons to teaching highly important material of a Friday would be that students would be unmotivated. My hope was to have them at least complete their bucket lists, this way on Monday they can just circle one item from their list as their theme instead of brainstorming their own.

What would I have done differently?

I thought it ran smoothly. If I had to change/revise my lesson, I would ask for students to chose their theme on Friday and explain in a short paragraph about why they feel it is important for them to achieve this goal and briefly list items associated with completion of it.

Student Behavior Differences

                 My middle school placement students were absolute angels. They understood my expectations and respected my wishes. At my high school placement, the students (in my academic sections) do not raise their hands when they have a comment or answer and they seem to forget my expectations. They have almost no desire to complete work in class. Honestly, I feel worn out because I have to work so hard to motivate the students to complete the activity. I do not accomplish nearly the amount of work that I did at my middle school placement.  There are times I have felt that I am too easy on the students when it comes to the amount of work I expect from them. I have been advised by my co-op do not ask the students to complete as much work as I do in one period. Side note…I do not assign them any homework and are asked not to do so!!!!!! In comparison, I assigned homework every day for my 7^th grade students.  I struggle each day to get students quiet when delivering instructions.  Sometimes I wait about 5 minutes for them to quiet before I begin class. I am happy that I am able to see this distinct difference in student behavior. It has helped me solidify my desire to be a middle school teacher. I know not all middle school students are well behaved, but I feel as though there is still some hidden desire to absorb knowledge deep within them.

So far My Experience

                I have had many good, but also bad days in my second placement. My commute from Shippensburg to Harrisburg every day alone is tiring, but so are the students. I cherish each good day that I experience with my students and struggle to understand my bad days.  I look forward to those good days each time I walk into school. That is what makes teaching truly worth it. I do wish sometimes that my co-op would give me more feedback and plan with me, but really he has made it all up to me. My leash has been cut, and I don’t think I am doing that bad. I guess we will see how it goes after my second observation…I am crossing my fingers!