Weekly Summaries

Week #1 1/14 – 1/18 I got to participate in the classroom by walking around the class and guiding students through their analysis questions of the poem they were working on. My favorite part of this week was the excitement. It was my first week, something brand new, and the students wanted to get to know me and I started to learn things about them. I truly see myself doing this for the rest of my life. I know a lot of people think junior high is some awful age, but I there’s so much energy. A student in my class struggles a lot behind closed doors and puts a lot of pressure on himself to be the best academically and in the sports, he plays. Mrs. Worzala senses his off days and will talk to him and he’s cried to her before. She goes to all her student’s games and events and supports them in and outside of the classroom. I want to be this person, I want to not only have an impact on student’s education, but in their lives’. I want to be the person my students can come and talk to when they’re having a bad day. I have a really good relationship with my 8^th grade teacher and I know I can turn to them no matter what, I want to be this person for someone else. Week #2 1/21 – 1/25 I got to take a small group of students to test and answered student’s questions about their work. I developed some ideas for the lesson I am going to be teaching which is: the students are going to choose between writing an Ode or an Elegy and then take it a step further by making a watercolor painting to go along with their poem that enhances the mood. I would also want to make this a part of my teaching in my future classroom because I think this is such a fun idea especially for students who are more creative and visual learners, not only are they writing their own poem, but painting to go along with it. Week #3 1/28 – 2/1 This week was only 2 days and I was supposed to teach my lesson this week. I got to create closer personal relationships with students during SLT when they asked for me to help them with other classes homework, especially math. It felt nice to be asked for help by the students and it feels like they’re getting more comfortable to come to me for help. Bell work is a routine established in my class room to get students into the tone of what they will be learning for the class period. In class on Monday their bell work was to talk in their table groups and discuss if they thought songs could be considered poetry. The lesson for that day was to annotate “stereo hearts” and a love poem and share their similarities and how songs are considered poetry. Week #5 February 4-8 This week I helped students on their projects and made sure they were meeting all the guidelines on the rubric. I helped them strengthen their work and

Routine that helps the class function: Every day the students complete bell work as their first activity. Bell work is somehow related to the topic of the lesson that day which makes the students start to think about that question and then kind of snowballs into the lesson of the day. It’s interesting to see how their answers from a simple question gradually become part of the lesson.

Favorite part of the week: My favorite part of this week was that the kids felt refreshed coming off of the 5-day weekend and it rejuvenated them. The gained energy was noticeable throughout the period.

Positive impact: This week there was a student struggling with meeting all of the requirements for the poem that he had to write so I sat down with him one on one and worked him through each requirement to help take some of his stress away. This makes me sad because I wish I could do one on one teaching all day, it is much nicer because you’re forming to their needs than just generalizing the lesson. I love sitting one on one and talking everything through, but if I was the teacher that would be so time consuming to do.

Week #6 February 11-15 This week I took a small group of students to the library to take a test and had to direct the test and guide them with certain questions.

Student that surprised me: This week I was surprised by one of my students who opened up to me. He is not quiet or reserved, but he doesn’t talk to me that much and he – out of the 3 adults in the room – specifically wanted to talk to me and it made me feel important.

Type of learning that took place: A lot of independent work happened in class this week with Washington D.C. coming up. They worked on a Shakespeare web quest to find out background information on him and had notes to fill out.

Disruption in the class: During SLT 2 girls from the announcements knocked on the door and asked to interview students which was very disruptive and got them talking and distracted from their homework.

Week #7 February 19-22 This week I made a bulletin board composed of all of their poems and paintings and it was fun to do.

Idea I want to take to my classroom: A lot of teachers hang their students work up in their room, it’s just kind of expected, but after seeing the fun and colorful paintings in Mrs. Worzala’s room it reminded me of my old junior high teacher Miss Wright who hung up tons of fun inspirational quotes and crafts that students made for her and had the side white board in her room dedicated to pictures that students would give to her – she called it the refrigerator door. I love that idea and would want to take that to my classroom because it felt like such a comforting place to be because of all of the fun crafts and quotes.

Behavior issues: In SLT there is a group of boys that just does not do their work. They can’t seem to get motivated and just play games on their iPads. Mrs. Worzala is planning on doing something and started talking about possibly giving them candy if they finish their goals which I think would work.

Favorite part of the week: When I did my bulletin board this week, a student was walking to the bathroom and asked if I was going to put his work up. He knew I was joking when I said, “I’m only putting the good work up” and we both laughed. It makes me happy that I can have these light hearted jokes with students and get to laugh with them.

Week #8 February 27- March 1 This week Mrs. Worzala was gone Wednesday-Friday and I got to help a lot since the sub was unsure what they were supposed to do or what their normal routines were.

Difficulty with a student: This week I had difficulty with a student because other students say that he harasses them and won’t leave them alone when they ask. I saw firsthand him following a student nonstop asking questions and the other student politely asking him to leave her alone. I stepped in and told him to leave her alone because she asked him to do so and then he followed me around. I’ve seen him making multiple student’s uncomfortable and have asked him countless times to stop. I’m not sure if Mrs. Worzala is aware and I’m trying to handle it by talking to him, but if it continues for much longer I will tell Mrs. Worzala.

Favorite part of the week: My favorite part of this week was on Wednesday when I got to take over their goal sheets. Her SLT students everyday write one goal of what they want to accomplish in that period and if they do it, they get a piece of candy. I liked seeing them accomplish their goals and get their homework done, and then get rewarded for doing that.

Idea I want to take to my classroom: I want to take the idea above to my classroom. Especially during a free period, students get easily distracted and want a break from their day. I love the idea of giving students a piece of candy for completing their goals. The first day she implemented this, the students were SILENT in SLT, something I’ve never seen.

Week #9 March 11-15 This week I participated in the classroom by doing my lesson plan and playing the Kahoot with my students to help them prepare for their upcoming quiz.

My favorite part of the week was most definetly playing Kahoot with them. It was so much fun to see them engage in what they were learning especially with Shakespeare.
My teacher has a routine everyday of starting SLT by passing out student’s goal sheets where they write a quantitative goal to achieve by the end of the class period. It motivates them to get their homework done, and if they meet the goal they get rewarded with a piece of candy.
Something difficult I had to deal with this week was making sure everyone was on task. As easy as it sounds, there are certain students that you have to keep reminding and I didn’t know what things I could do to make them stay on task.

Week #10 March 18-22 This week I got to help all the students with their group projects and I gave them ideas and tips to make their projects stronger since I knew what Mrs. Worzala was looking for in their work.

This week group work took place in my classroom. The students got assigned groups and collaborated on ideas of how to make their project unique.
A disruption this week was going to the library. Since the students had all week to work on their project, going to the library threw a wrench in the door. It seemed to distract them because they felt like Mrs. Worzala wasn’t always watching.
My favorite part of this week was hearing all of the students come up with their own ideas on how to make their project unique. Seeing them get creative and all collaborate was so fun. They all made me laugh with their ideas and I felt like I got to connect with them over it.

Week #11 March 25-28 This week I got to watch group projects be presented and give them feedback on presentations.

I want to take the idea of making groups and having them modernize Shakespeare and make their own play. It really forced them to understand the play inside-out, so they knew how to properly relate it to pop culture and reword it. It forced them to get involved and work with people they normally don’t work with.
This week a lot of the students were acting out because spring break. I could tell that many of them were not motivated because spring break was just around the corner, but they didn’t have too much to do because they were presenting their projects. I think this week was set up really well because of that.
A student that surprised me this week was a boy that I’ve watched not do much ever. He always needs to be reminded to stay on task and even after reminding him it’s a struggle, but this week he really thrived and pulled his weight in the group project and took on another role when his group member was absent for the presentation.

Week #12 April 8-12 This week I participated in my classroom by answering questions the kids had about the Holocaust. My teacher talked to them about missing work and I got to give input about high school and teacher’s policies with missing work. I love getting to answer their questions about high school – yes even when they ask, “If I see you in the hall will you say hi to me?” even if they all ask one after the other.

I made a positive impact this week helping my teacher prove her point about high school because a lot kids don’t believe her when she talks about it, but they’ll believe me.
One student threw a colored pencil and punctured the ceiling. It not only disturbed the class, but I didn’t know what to do about it. My teacher came back, and no one would confess to throwing it. So, my teacher made them all write who they thought/knew it was and hand it to her at the end of class so that they wouldn’t be “snitching”.
We have a lot of behavior issues in SLT the boys in that class are rude to each other and get physically violent with each other and they become hard to deal with.

Week #13 April 8-12 This week I helped students on their projects and made sure they were meeting all the guidelines on the rubric. I helped them strengthen their work and

Routine that helps the class function: Every day the students complete bell work as their first activity. Bell work is somehow related to the topic of the lesson that day which makes the students start to think about that question and then kind of snowballs into the lesson of the day. It’s interesting to see how their answers from a simple question gradually become part of the lesson.

Favorite part of the week: My favorite part of this week was that the kids felt refreshed coming off of the 5-day weekend and it rejuvenated them. The gained energy was noticeable throughout the period.

Positive impact: This week there was a student struggling with meeting all of the requirements for the poem that he had to write so I sat down with him one on one and worked him through each requirement to help take some of his stress away. This makes me sad because I wish I could do one on one teaching all day, it is much nicer because you’re forming to their needs than just generalizing the lesson. I love sitting one on one and talking everything through, but if I was the teacher that would be so time consuming to do.

Week #14 April 15-19 This week I took a small group of students to the library to take a test and had to direct the test and guide them with certain questions.

Student that surprised me: This week I was surprised by one of my students who opened up to me. He is not quiet or reserved, but he doesn’t talk to me that much and he – out of the 3 adults in the room – specifically wanted to talk to me and it made me feel important.

Type of learning that took place: A lot of independent work happened in class this week with Washington D.C. coming up. They worked on a Shakespeare web quest to find out background information on him and had notes to fill out.

Disruption in the class: During SLT 2 girls from the announcements knocked on the door and asked to interview students which was very disruptive and got them talking and distracted from their homework.

Week #15 April 22-26 This week I made a bulletin board composed of all of their poems and paintings and it was fun to do.

Idea I want to take to my classroom: A lot of teachers hang their students work up in their room, it’s just kind of expected, but after seeing the fun and colorful paintings in Mrs. Worzala’s room it reminded me of my old junior high teacher Miss Wright who hung up tons of fun inspirational quotes and crafts that students made for her and had the side white board in her room dedicated to pictures that students would give to her – she called it the refrigerator door. I love that idea and would want to take that to my classroom because it felt like such a comforting place to be because of all of the fun crafts and quotes.

Behavior issues: In SLT there is a group of boys that just does not do their work. They can’t seem to get motivated and just play games on their iPads. Mrs. Worzala is planning on doing something and started talking about possibly giving them candy if they finish their goals which I think would work.

Favorite part of the week: When I did my bulletin board this week, a student was walking to the bathroom and asked if I was going to put his work up. He knew I was joking when I said, “I’m only putting the good work up” and we both laughed. It makes me happy that I can have these light hearted jokes with students and get to laugh with them.

Week #16 April 29 – May 3 This week Mrs. Worzala was gone Wednesday-Friday and I got to help a lot since the sub was unsure what they were supposed to do or what their normal routines were.

Difficulty with a student: This week I had difficulty with a student because other students say that he harasses them and won’t leave them alone when they ask. I saw firsthand him following a student nonstop asking questions and the other student politely asking him to leave her alone. I stepped in and told him to leave her alone because she asked him to do so and then he followed me around. I’ve seen him making multiple student’s uncomfortable and have asked him countless times to stop. I’m not sure if Mrs. Worzala is aware and I’m trying to handle it by talking to him, but if it continues for much longer I will tell Mrs. Worzala.

Favorite part of the week: My favorite part of this week was on Wednesday when I got to take over their goal sheets. Her SLT students everyday write one goal of what they want to accomplish in that period and if they do it, they get a piece of candy. I liked seeing them accomplish their goals and get their homework done, and then get rewarded for doing that.

Idea I want to take to my classroom: I want to take the idea above to my classroom. Especially during a free period, students get easily distracted and want a break from their day. I love the idea of giving students a piece of candy for completing their goals.