EDSE 380 Weekly Check-Ins/Intentional Focused Observations

 Week 1 blog post:

Name: Bradin Heaston 

Field experience from 9/16

Time spent: 8:52-10:30 (Economics 2nd period and Government 3rd)

Sequence of events:

-Got to class early to talk with teacher 

-Bell for first period to end rang at 8:48 and students began to enter class (Teacher has first period prep).

-At 8:52 bell rings to signify the start of second period. 

-Teacher talks with students about what is going on in their lives for a few minutes before beginning lecture. 

-Lecture begins around 8:58

-Teacher lectures for 25-30 minutes over the topic of the demand. Multiple times during lecture teacher would stop to talk to students about any questions they had while also relating the material to their own lives 

- the last few minutes of class were used to work on packet that was given out a few days prior. 

-Period 1 concluded at 9:39 and second started at 9:43.

-second period started with the teacher having the students look over all 27 amendments 

-after looking at all of them the students were to rank on the board their top ten and then the teacher looked at the amendments that were voted as the most and the ones voted for the least, this took the whole class period. 

Significant episode:

- The main significant episode from this day was when the teacher was lecturing multiple times during the lecture he took the time to relate the lecture material to students real life experiences. The one that stood out to me the most was in second period while talking about demand the teacher asked a student whose parents own a small oil reserve and the teacher asked many questions about when his parents drilled more oil (when the price for oil was high) and why that caused the prices to go high. The teacher also asked what they did when gas prices were under two dollars. The teacher by doing this was able to relate the topic at hand to the students very effectively.    

Classroom climate and culture:

-overall the classroom climate and culture is very good. There is clear evidence of respect between the teacher and the students. When the teacher is talking the students are almost all paying attention. There seems to be very little in the way of discipline for students (not once did the teacher ever have to ask the students to stop doing something at all this first week). There are some students who are on their phones during class but for the most part that does not seem to be an issue. Overall the climate is one of friendliness and discussion when the teacher asks a question there is always at least an attempt to answer. 

 Week 2 blog post:

Name: Bradin Heaston 

Field experience from 9/19-9/23

Time spent: 8:52-10:30 (Economics 2nd period and Government 3rd)

Sequence of events:

9/19

-Teacher started off Period 1 economics with a story about Ball State football tickets and how because the team was so bad no one went to the games but when they lowered the price by half over four times the number of people attending came, thus making the school more money. Real world examples like this are a fantastic way to get students to understand a topic. 

-the teacher then lectured for the next 30 min over different topics

-during lecture there was a lot of real world examples and the teacher would build off of questions and statements from students to engage them more. 

-the last few minutes of class was work time, I walked around and talked to students about how they liked economics and what classes they had the rest of the day (Many of the students were only there for 3 periods)

-The next period (a government class) started with the plan for the week then went into a lecture for almost the entire class leaving about 3 min at the end for the students to just hang out

-most of the students were engaged for the most part but toward the end of the class more and more got on their phones. 

9/20

-Both classes took quizzes that lasted almost the whole period for both classes.   

-the quizzes were on canvas 

-once finished the students had free time to do whatever except sleep 

9/21

-Talked to teacher about credit recovery program, I learned it is a product of the politics made by the government requiring students to pass and get a diploma in order for the schools to receive finding. 

-The whole period was set aside to work on study guides.

-I walked around the class and got to know more of the students 

-most of the students had jobs outside of school 

-many of them also played sports 

-it was good to spend a little more time to get familiar with the students and build connections and similarities.

Second period was also for working on study guides and I did pretty much the same in second as i did first. 

-most of the students were not working on their study guides, most were on their phones or ipads, some were just sitting there doing nothing.

9/22

-Both classes played kahoot the whole period 

-most of the students participated but some did not 

-teacher was pretty disappointed the first round through the kahoot, the students missed a lot of questions the teacher thought they should have answered correctly.  

9/23

-Test day for both classes 

Significant episode: 

One significant episode that really made me think a lot about the school and how it was run was from two separate instances. The first was when I was talking to a group of students and they were telling me how they only have one credit they need to fulfil for next semester and it was just shocking. I did not understand how basically every student in the class only needed one more class next semester but that they are not allowed to get it done this semester and then graduate early. It seemed like there must have been some kind of mismanagement on the schools part if there are this many students who will only have one class next semester. It made me question what the school guidance counselor was doing. There either needs to be more classes offered or there needs to be a different path the students should have to take in order to graduate. It does not make sense that students can just get through all the requirements that fast. Secondly, When I was talking to my teacher about the credit recovery program and how they would push students who never would ordarirally graduate through the finish line by letting them take very easy online classes they can finish in just a couple weeks. To me this seems like a diserice to the students who actually put in the hard work to graduate. It is the states fault because they tie funding with graduation rate so the school pushing students through is just a product of the environment, that being said it is very eye opening to the truth behind schools motive to have a high graduation rate. 

Technology in the classroom:

Overall there is not a huge reliance on tech in the classroom besides the typical things seen in almost every classroom. A projector is used to give lectures and the students use their ipads to look at their etextbook and take quizzes. Technology is not overused and I think that is a good thing. There is not technology just for the sake of technology. 

How I am doing overall:

I feel like overall I am enjoying my experience, I like the students and my cooperating teacher. I am not a huge fan of either Government or Economics but I can find a way to make it work. Overall the hardest part for me has been the fact that the teacher almost exclusively lectures and when he is lecturing I feel like there is not a whole lot I can do without interrupting him in some way. I am wondering if there are any tips for ways to stay involved in the classroom while there is lecturing going on. It seems like it would be rude to see how students are doing while lecture is going on.      

Week 3 blog post:   

Name: Bradin Heaston 

Field experience from 9/26-9/30

Time spent: 8:52-10:30 (Economics 2nd period and Government 3rd)

9/26

-This was a day for the students to work on the next chapters packet for both classes. 

-I was able to walk around and talk to many of the students 

-the students enjoy not having to be in school for long because of their internships they have 

-most students were not very on task but I was able to talk to them a little and many of them when I walked over began to work again

9/27

-Today there was lecture for both classes 

-The students seemed very engaged in the economics material first and the government second 

-For government I gave a little exit ticket/ check for understanding by having a small class discussion. This went very well and the students were very engaged and it all went very smoothly

9/28

-Wednesday went pretty much the same as tuesday with lecture by Mr. Howell the whole period and then at the end of government I gave a little check for understanding. 

-Mr. Howell talked for about 15 minutes before actually starting class (This is pretty typical in most classes, usually it is only around 5 minutes)

-I made sure to pay extra attention to the students who have IEP's and 504's. There was not much to report on, when doing lecture there is not much they do differently than any other students.   

9/29

-Thursday they started a very difficult section in economics (Cost, revenue, and profit maximization) this is a very challenging section for the students so Mr. Howell had a much more interactive lecture than normal, he stopped often to check to make sure the students were understanding the material. 

-I followed along with lecture as best as possible so I can help the students when they needed it. 

9/30

-today was the last day of the 9 weeks so it was a work day for all past assignments for both periods. 

-I did the same thing I do during all work time and walked around and talked with students and asked how their work was coming

-I was trying to not bother the students who had work to get done 

Significant episode: 

The main significant episode from this week was my couple of times doing checks for understanding at the end of class. A few times this week I created a set of questions and held an informal class discussion over the material, it was nothing too crazy, just 5-10 min asking a few questions and getting more comfortable in front of the class. The first day I was able to do a little lesson on National government vs state government powers. I came up with a few examples of different powers the government has and had the students distinguish between state or national. The second lesson was over interstate relations and I just led a discussion on how different states had different rules and the problems that come with that. These little discussions was a great way to get a little more experience in front of the classroom because soon I will give my full lessons so it was great to have some small warmups.  

Students with exceptionalities: 

As I went over in my assignment over the students with exceptionalities assignment, I feel like the plans students have in place to help them do not really work very well for a couple of reasons. Firstly, it seems like all of the accommodations for every student are just copy and pasted for each student with little care for what the students actual issues are. Secondly, it seemed like all of the help students would get only really related to when they were taking tests or quizzes. Things like having ones test read to them absolutely can help but if someone needs that for their tests they are bound to need help in other areas too and it seems like they are not really getting that. 

How I am doing:

I am doing better than I was last week, I feel like I have been much more interactive with the classroom. There are still gaps where the teacher lectures and there is not a whole lot I can do but that is becoming less and less and I am figuring out I can still help students without totally disrupting the classroom. Overall it seems like everything is going good and I am looking forward to teaching more and more.    

 Week 4 blog post:   

Name: Bradin Heaston 

Field experience from 10/3-10/7

Time spent: 8:52-10:30 (Economics 2nd period and Government 3rd)

10/3

-Period 1 worked on profit maximization charts and I was able to walk around and help the students as best as I could 

-I noticed Mr. Howell went over how to fill out the chart once for the whole class and then when a student came in late he went over the whole thing again individually, but instead of doing it privately Mr. Howell went over it the same way he did when he did it with the class that way if there was anyone in the class who did not understand it the first time they got a second run down of the information 

-In government most of the class was lecture over federalism. 

-There was also a class wide discussion on dress code, although this did not particularly pertain to the material of that day it was able to look back on a previous lesson taught earlier in the year 

10/4

-Today was the last day of lecture for both classes before their tests on thursday and friday 

-Econ lecture was short and the rest of class was used to iron out any misunderstandings of profit maximization charts

-I was able to again help many students with the more confusing sections

-In government like the day before it was lecture basically up to the bell 

10/5

-Today I had the opportunity of shadowing the school's guidance counselor because that is something I am currently planning on getting my masters in once I complete my undergraduate

-It was a fantastic opportunity and I learned so much, it worked out to do it wednesday because both the classes I am normally in were just doing a Kahoot to practice for the test coming up so that is why I choose this day over others 

-I learned so much about the responsibilities of a student counselor and the pros and cons 

-During the conversation I learned about student pathways (a new requirement that in order for students to graduate they nust check off three buckets 1. get diploma 2. participate in a job, sport, or volunteer and 3. earn a technical or academic honors diploma/ have a specific ACT/SAT score or ASVAB score)  

-This was very eye opening because it highlighted the shortcomings of legislation on education being passed by people who have little to no experience as actual educators 

-Today was a great learning day for me and I got so much out of this experience, one of the biggest takeaways was the importance of administration and the school I intend on becoming a Student counselor in. Responsibilities in some schools are divided and in others it is all on one counselor so it is important to find a school with a good fit.  

10/6

-Today first hour took their test 

-Second hour had some independent work/ study time for their test the next day 

10/7

-Hour 1 had a free day as it was the day before break and they had already taken their test  

-During this time I focused on watching how Mr. Howell handles discipline within the classroom when students say something rude or not school appropriate 

-  hour two took their test 

Significant episode:

The biggest significant episode from this week was all day wednesday when I got the opportunity to shadow the school guidance counselor. In particular the conversation I had with the Guidance Counselor about graduation pathways and the problems that arise because of them. Pathways are  a new requirement that in order for students to graduate they nust check off three buckets 1. get diploma 2. participate in a job, sport, or volunteer and 3. earn a technical or academic honors diploma/ have a specific ACT/SAT score or ASVAB score. Of course this has a lot of implication in terms of the a counselor but also as an educator because it forces teachers to teach specific required classes due to the students being shoehorned into a very specific path they have to take in order to graduate. This does not affect the students who are doing very well in school and plan to go to college or even the students who are just able to do well academically. These pathway requirements hurt the bottom 15 percent or so of students who struggle academically. These students cannot take dual credit classes because they would do poorly and getting the required SAT score is also a challenge. There are still ways for these students to graduate but there is a very specific plan they have to follow, this plan requires them to take specific classes and not allowing them to take many electives. All around I believe pathways sounded good on paper but because they were made by people with no education background they do not work well in practice. 

Classroom management:

Overall Mr. Howell's classroom management style is one that is very laid back and relaxed. He starts every class just talking with the students and getting to know everyone on a personal level, I think this really helps with his classroom management when it comes to having to get students to behave. All of the students have a lot of respect for Mr. Howell and therefore do not talk when he is talking or anything like that. From time to time there are students who cuss in class or say things not super school appropriate and when those things come up he just tells the students to keep it down, this to me is a very good response because let's be honest this is a class full of 17 and 18 year olds, that kind of thing is going to come up. I am not a huge fan of "picking your battles" but in this case things like swearing in a classroom is something that can be addressed but if punishment is handed down students will feel annoyed and lose interest in the teacher. The main thing I disagree with that Mr. Howell does with his classroom management it his lack of action when it comes to students not paying attention while he is teaching, it seems like there are the same 5-6 students who are always on their phones or iPads during class and are almost never paying attention. If I was running the classroom I would have a much more strict policy on technology use. 

How I am doing:

This week was very good, I loved my experience getting to talk with the guidance counselor and there was so much useful information I gained from that. In the classroom I feel like I am finding my groove a little bit and I have been connecting more and more with the students and this will help greatly when I give my full three day lesson once we come back the end of October. Things are going well and I am only sad that I am not able to stay in the classroom because I feel like this week I finally got into a good rhythm but hopefully I will be able to pick right back off where I left off.           

Week 11 Blog post:    

Name: Bradin Heaston 

Field experience from 10/31-11/4

Time spent: 8:52-10:30 (Economics 2nd period and Government 3rd)

10/31

-Today was spent integrating myself back into the classroom. 

- In the first period of the day (Economics) it was just a work day on their packets they get before they start the next chapter, it was a great opportunity to get to catch up with the students and find out what they were up to over the three weeks I was gone. 

-I was also able to iron out a few final details for the 5 day lesson I will be teaching starting Monday november 14th. 

-In government the second period they were finishing watching the documentary "The Swamp". A documentary following politicians during the first Trump impeachment.      

11/1

-In both periods today Mr. Howell lectured the whole class.   

-During this time it gave me a good opportunity to really think about how little differentiation there is for learners in Mr. Howells teaching style.

-I then began to think about all the easy ways differentiation could be integrated into the class.  

- Little things like handing out some kind of document for the students to read and annotate or throwing in a video here or there, or even creating a little assignment for the students to complete and present during class.  

11/2

-Today seemed like it was going to be another day of same old same old with lecture both periods. And although it was lecture both periods there was a lot of things I learned from watching Mr. Howell teach that were very valuable to learn. 

-Firstly, in econ the students were in another kind of mood from their normal calm mood. The students were very talkative and were talking while the teacher was talking. To solve this rather than telling the students to stop talking he did two different things, one, he would call on them to answer a question and that usually got the students to pay attention but he also use proximity by walking and standing close to the students who were talking. Both of these methods seemed to work really well. 

-In second period the topic was political parties and their beliefs (a very touchy subject) and I was very impressed with how it was handled. I learned how to shut down conversations when they start to get out of hand and I also learned how to be neutral in terms of talking about a touchy subject such as this.  

11/3

-Again it was lecuter the entire time both periods. 

-Today I tried to talk to Mr. Howell about any other options other than lecture for teaching his class and he said he didn't think there was any other way to do it. 

-I counted and during his lecture 8/13 students were on their phones or Ipads the entire lecture not paying attention. 

-Something needs to be done, when I am teaching I am going to make sure all my students have something to be engaging with while I teach them rather than just lecturing to them the whole period. 

-There is about 10 minutes where the students can listen to lecture and after that they lose all interest unless you give them a reason to be interested. 

11/4 

-Today was quiz day for both classes. 

-Once the students finished their quizzes they were instructed to just hang out and be quite for the rest of the class. 

Differentiated instruction: 

I have noticed there is little to no differentiation in Mr. Howell's classroom. Due to there being no differentiation it really got me thinking about all the things that could be done to mix things up for all students. Both different kinds of learners and those who need a little extra help. Firstly, less lecturing!! Day after day of lecture has to be draining on the students, there are no activities for the students to do, nothing that gets them to critically think about the material, nothing to get them to be engaged at all. There are so many great things that can be done in a government class that can get the students involved. Presentations, debates, research projects, and so much more. Getting the students different ways to learn is so important, I can tell the students dont pay attention to the lecture (When the tests are open book why would they) and because they dont pay attention they dont learn anything. Giving them something to care about is so easy and should be the bare minimum. 

How I am doing:

I am doing very good. I feel like I was able to pick right back where I left off with the students and that is a great feeling. I am starting to get a little frustrated with Mr. Howells insistence on only lecturing in class but it is not my class and so besided when I am teaching my lessons there is not a whole lot more I can do. I am really hoping my full lessons will have a good response from the students and will show Mr. Howell there is more than one way to teach the material. 

Week 12 Blog post:    

Name: Bradin Heaston 

Field experience from 11/7- 11/11

Time spent: 8:52-10:30 (Economics 2nd period and Government 3rd)

11/7

-In the first period for economics The whole period was set aside for a kahoot to prepare for the quiz on tuesday. 

-For government today started the week where Eva, the other practicum student in the class with me to give her edTPA lesson.

-Her lesson was a welcome change of pace, she started off a little nervous but soon found a good groove. 

-The students all were really great and payed attention the whole time. 

-Eva Finished a little quickley with her lesson but with a little help from Mr. Howell she was able to just talk about current events with the class until the class was over. 

11/8

-First period econ took their test today, it was a longer test and some students took up to the bell to finish.

-Second period Government Eva gave a short lecture and then had a really fun activity she did with the students. 

-The activity was over freedom of press so she had all the students write a "Newspaper opinion" over what they think the school needs to change in order to make things better.

-The students loved this article because they got to bash on the school a little but I think they also were able to learn a lot about what they could and could not say.

11/9

-First period was the start of a new chapter so it was a work day on their packets (I have noticed as of late there has not been much new material taught in Econ since we have been back)

-For day three of Eva's lesson she had a classwide discussion over freedom of speech and that got the students really engaged, with very little effort at all the whole class was able to debate whether or not they felt like they had freedom of speech in their class and school as a whole. 

-I was really impressed with how well the students handled having Eva as their teacher and it gives me a lot of hope that they will do the same for me. 

11/10

-Econ first period was a lecture on monopolies and big business and that was something many of the students had a lot of interest in.  

-Government the whole class was a mock trial that Eva was doing.

-The first thing she did was divide the class in two and then had one person along with Mr. Howell be the judge. 

-Then she gave the scenario involving free speech and had one side be the prosecutor and the other the defence. 

-The students then got a few minutes to come up with their arguments and then they presented to the judges.  

-The students really got into this assignment and it was a lot of fun to watch the students use the things they had learned in class and apply it to their arguments. 

11/11

-In econ it was again a lecture the whole period 

-Government it was a quiz over the material Eva presented. 

-Our teacher was out today for third period so because he was a veteran and was hosting an event in the school so the principle was in the classroom with myself and Eva and that was fantastic because I just got to talk with the principle about what all he looks for in a new teacher and all kinds of really interesting things about how a school works.  

Focused Observation: Data Driven Decision Making 

There is little usage of data driven decision making, especially on the curriculum side of things. I asked Mr. Howell about it and the main thing he talked about was using Canvas to look at what quiz questions the students seemed to struggle with, but even then it seemed like all the data was just interesting to look at. It seemed like Mr. Howell does not take any kind of action after looking at the data.  There is so much that could be done such as reteaching things that students had a hard time with or considering how he will want to address the concept the next time he teaches but it seemed like that was not the case. 

How I am doing:  

I am doing good, this week was very refreshing to be able to get to see Eva teach her lesson. I was able to get a lot of good ideas and information from how she was teaching that I can incorporate into my teaching when I start this upcoming monday. Watching how the students took to Eva's lesson was a huge relief, it seemed like they were really paying close attention to everything going on and that was really something I was worried about. That being said I am of course still very nervous I am going to not know my material I am teaching well enough or something will go wrong but I have all my material finished and now I just have to go out there and do my best.  

Week 13 Blog post:    

Name: Bradin Heaston 

Field experience from 11/14- 11/18

Time spent: 8:52-10:30 (Economics 2nd period and Government 3rd)

11/14

-Today was the first day in my week long lesson I made and am now teaching. 

-My lesson is only for government 3rd period so for the first period I am able to watch Mr. Howell teach his economics lesson. 

-The first lesson I give day one is about the fourteenth amendment and how the rights under the fourteenth amendment are protected in the constitution. 

-There is a lot of discussion that I have built into my lesson and it goes ok, but not as well as I would like. I had some participation but I had to be very direct with my questions and there was not as much natural conversation as I was hoping. 

-All in all today my lesson went pretty good, it ended a few minutes early because i planned for a little more discussion than I actually got. 

11/15 

-Today my lesson again like monday went pretty smoothly, however there was again not a lot of participation throughout the lesson. Today was a cold, grey day and the students were all very sleepy and just not very into the lesson. 

-It was also a lesson on racial discrimination and therefore my class just did not really relate to the topic and because of this they really had no reason to pay attention. 

-in the future I would need to try and find a way to make this particular lesson more interesting. 

11/16

-Today went fantastic, today I talked about the second amendment and abortion rights along with the right to privacy and the students all were very interested in the topics. I lectured for maybe 10 minutes and we were able to have a class discussion for the remaining 35+ minutes left of class

- I was so happy with how well everyone participated today and it just all around was my best day so far

11/17

-today was a mini project day 

-I created a little worksheet with the 10 court cases that were important to the chapter and then split up the class so there was one or two people per case. I then gave them 20 minutes to research their court case and then they presented the case to the class while the class took notes. 

-this did not go... how I was hoping it would. The students just rushed thorugh and did not think through their answers and therefore after almost every presentation I had to go over the whole case myself to make sure the students got the information they needed.

-I think if i did this again I would write different questions because I think the questions I made were a little too open ended and that resulted in the students not going in the direction I was hoping they would. 

11/18

-Today was quiz day over the material I taught. 

Focused observation:

- Our podcast is going good, we have all of the information, we are working on a script and all we have to do now is find a good time to sit down and record the podcast itself. 

How I am doing: 

-Overall I am doing really good. My lesson did not start out as well as I was hoping and I definitely had some things that bombed but I also had a lot of wins and I feel like my lesson was good more than bad. Most of the things that went wrong I had no idea they would go wrong so i am not too beat up about it. I learned so much and thats the real purpose of giving the lesson anyway, to learn what i can do and what still needs some improvement. I... Need a lot of improvement, but I learned so much and they are all things I know for next time. I felt so much more confident by the end of the week than when I started.  

Week 14 Blog post:

Name: Bradin Heaston 

Field experience from 11/28- 12/2

Time spent: 8:52-10:30 (Economics 2nd period and Government 3rd)

11/28

-Today was lecture for both periods 

-in first period I noticed that often there were long pauses that Mr. Howell would take when he would give his lectures, these pauses seemed to coincide with times when it would be good for students to think and possibly ask questions

-I also realized that almost never does anyone from the class actually ask any questions about the material. There was always time to do so but there never seemed to be any questions. 

11/29

-today first period was lecture and second was review for their test on wednesday

-Mr. Howell gave the students the option to either take a kahoot to review or have the period to work on their study guides 

-the students chose to work on their study guides 

-as best as I could tell it seemed like most of the students did not work on their study guide but rather they were either talking or watching youtube on their ipads 

11/30

-Today first period continued lecture 

-second took their test

-After all of the students finished their test they were free to talk with the people around them, most of the students when given freetime do talk with their friends, this to me was not a given seeing how invested they are in being on their ipads normally. I think students are currently starting to become more social again, covid caused a decline but I think the students are starting to become more acclimated to a school environment once again.  

  

12/1

-Today first period did a kahoot to study for their test 

-I decided to play the kahoot with the students today and they really enjoyed that, they enjoyed the competition and I think it got them to participate so much more in the material

-second period had a day to work on their study guides

-for periods like this were the students are just doing work on their own I am still trying to walk around and talk with them. I think a lot of the students are not used to teachers taking a real interest in their lives.

12/2

-first period took their test today 

-Second period began their next and second to last chapter of the semester 

-It was again lecture all class but Mr. Howell made sure to tell lots of stories in an attempt to relate the material to things the students understand

How am I seeing learning displayed in the classroom and how myself and my host teacher is assessing for learning?  

There are a few main ways I am seeing learning in the classroom, one of the main ones I pick up on the most in the classroom is seeing students make connections with material from previous lessons and build on that knowledge with questions and statements about the current lesson. Seeing students being able to take information they learned weeks and months prior and make connections between that and what they are learning now is the number one way I have seen learning displayed. The main way I assessed students for learning in my lesson was by having class discussions over the material I had just taught them, if the students are able to use the information they had been taught to formulate an argument or an opinion that shows they were able to learn the material and grasp it, it was a complete learning rather than just learning shells of things like names and dates. If I saw that the students were not grasping the material this also gave me a good chance to rephrase the material in the hope the second time hearing it they will be able to grasp it. My teacher does class discussions to do this, he also uses quizzes and homework to gauge this as well. 

How I am doing:

Overall I am doing just alright, I am feeling a whirlwind of emotions. I'm stressed with all of the things coming due, I am excited to finish off the semester, I am nervous to be this close to student teaching and everything that comes with that. In my placement I am really happy with how I was able to build a report with the students and just all around integrate myself into the classroom. That was something I was worried about doing going into this practicum because I felt like I did not do that very well in the middle school practicum. I am also a little sad it is coming to an end, this was a truly enjoyable experience and I hope I enjoy student teaching as much as I did this practicum.      

Week 15 Blog post:

Name: Bradin Heaston 

Field experience from 12/5- 12/9

Time spent: 8:52-10:30 (Economics 2nd period and Government 3rd)

12/5

-Today was business as usual for both classes, there was lecture for both periods.

-In first period I noticed that there were a lot of students missing, the teacher said there is a flu going around the school. 

-This made me think about the difficulties that come with student absences, my teacher from what I can tell does not really do much about it when students miss, I think one of the few advantages of him building his curriculum entirely around the textbook is any student that misses class can read the chapter and almost entirely be caught up. 

12/6 

-Two Hour Delay

12/7

-Two Hour Delay 

12/8

-Today was a test day for first period, it was a very short test so the students had about 25-30 minutes of free time at the end of class 

-I dont quite know how I feel about free time yet, on one hand I see it as inevitable but also I want to try and do everything I can to get rid of it. I think never having it is draining on the students, they need to have at least a little bit of time to decompress but I think any more than 5 minutes is just a waste of time that could go towards better things. 

-Second period had review for their test tomorrow

12/9

-First period worked on their study guides for their new chapter they are starting, and again like always they did not work on it at all 

-At this point I would just stop giving a day to work on it, even the students who get it done always get it done on their own time, I just dont see the point in wasting a day

-Second period took their test 

-At the end of the class Mr. Howell presented us with a little gift card and a mug as a thanks for our effort and participation 

Mentor Teacher Pedagogy:

Mr. Howell has a very traditional teaching pedagogy style, he has a powerpoint that he uses as he lectures to the students for the entire class until he has covered all of the material, then there is a quiz, then a test, and then repeat the whole process for the next chapter. His style of teaching sparks very little engagement from the average students. I think Mr. Howell does a great job at telling stories that involve current events that can be compared to whatever he is talking about and that can spark an interest in students who care about current events but that is only a small handful of the students, it is those three or four students who talk and ask questions but almost everyone else in the class has no reason to listen to the lectures especially when all the information they are getting is coming straight from the book.    

How I am doing:

I cannot believe the semester is coming to an end and I have officially had my last day of my high school practicum. I am so happy with how my experience went, I learned so much about my teaching style and how I want it to be. Originally I thought I wanted to teach sort of the way Mr. Howell teaches, With lecture and stories that I can use to relate to students, and while I am going to continue to relate my information to things students already know about I now know I cannot only rely on that to engage my students, there is so much more I have to do. I want to have activities and utilize problem based learning to engage my students. Overall, this was a great experience and I grew so much in my confidence as a speaker.