Student Teaching

Week 1 Reflection-

Week one was fairly laid back and there was not much to do. Mr. Klezek introduced me to the
students and we did an introductory game style plan. Everyone wrote down five generic
questions on a notecard then threw them into a showbox. This was shook up then Mr. Klezek, the
students, and myself took turns going to the front of the class and drawing a card and answering
the question. This was a fun way to be introduced and meet the students. Day two consisted of a
VR lesson for history and just notes for psych. The lesson was a good introduction for me
because I will soon be using the VR for my own lesson. I even got to lead one of the classes. The
following day I led a day of Trivia all across the board. The students enjoyed this and it was
another good day of getting to know them. The rest of the week was administrative with all day
assemblies Thursday and then In-service Friday. It was interesting to finally see what teachers do
on an inservice day and it was a lot of planning.

Week 2 Reflections-

This week was a lot of fun. For starters a three day weekend is always good. Starting Tuesday I
took over the history classes and things went really well. The students seem to be accepting me
well and I am enjoying the teaching. The first thing I did was make notes for the entire unit and
that has helped immensely. This week has been good to get a feel for the timing of things and
such. One class is a bit rowdy so I am learning the real power of withitness and that sometimes
you have to be firm. Watching Mr. Klezek teach Psych has been good as well. It was nice not to
jump straight into that given that I am still learning it all myself. I definitely did not expect to be
teaching Psych. Mr. Klezek has been very helpful and supportive. This was definitely a good
matchup for me. I can feel myself slowly refining my skills and that is exciting given that I am
pick up Pysch come next week.

Week 3 Reflections-

Week three was the start of teaching the full schedule and it was definitely a lot. I really see the
importance of long term planning now. There is so much work to be done that being planned so
far ahead makes things so much easier. It’s a lot but I never felt overwhelmed or like I could not
do it. I was well prepared and am loving the challenge. Day one of psych was a little tough and I
flew through the notes, at least for the first period. After that I made a few adjustments during
my planning period and I was set. This also helped a lot for the rest of the week. Sometimes
being able to see what's wrong with your plan can help a lot. History is still cruising along the
students are reacting very well to me and the lessons. I definitely know history is what I want to
teach.

Week 4 Reflections-

Week four was a good second week of teaching the full schedule. I am more accustomed to what
a full day feels like and I think that that is helping me very much so. This week was cut short a
day for a snow day on Friday. The rest of the week revolved around each class taking their first
tests with me however. Monday there was a crossword puzzle that I liked a lot. This is something
that I picked up from my time in highschool and the students responded to it quite well. This was
followed up by a review game in class using quizlet live and gimkit. The students get very into
these games and this aids in their learning immensely. Then test day rolled around and this was a
great learning experience for myself. I used this test as a gauge for myself and definitely know
what to fix next time. The test was short and students took it a lot faster than anticipated. They
did comment on liking the setup/structure of my test however so that was a good take away. The
big problem with the test was that students flew threw it. After the first period, I instantly began
to plan to cover the rest of the period following the test. This helped some, I just wish the test
was longer. Students also did very well, the best they have done all year according to some of
them. This for me means that one my review and teaching were working but also that my tests
can afford to become a little more challenging. This may inherently happen with making it
longer. The following day we reviewed the tests, which Mr. Klezek gave me some tips with that
in terms of students seeing others papers and such. This was very much appreciated. Then the
final wrap up for the units began and there some intro into the next unit of information. Overall,
a very good week for myself and for learning.

Week 5- New units for both classes has me excited and I am ready to get rolling with it all.
History is getting started with the Gilded Age and Psych is getting started with Emotion. After
the first week, things are moving along really well. I had a project for my Psych class lingering
from our previous unit. This was a video project and I thought it could take a few weeks, but
after some discussion with Mr. Klezek (who has done a few projects exactly like this before) I
realized that it would take more time. This was finished at the end of the week when the videos
were presented. I really enjoyed this assignment and so did the students. I have been working on
mixing in active participation like this with my notes and the students are reacting very well.
Another example was for emotion, on the first day I had the students get into groups then act out
an emotion for the rest of the class to start. The students had fun and I could tell they were
learning. This was a good week.

Week 6- Week six picked back up with the same units and went pretty smooth. There was a lot
that happened this week but the biggest takeaways went hand in hand. The first was some
disciplinary issues that showed up in class. Most of my classes are very well behaved, they can
get off topic just like any high schoolers but with a little reminder straight back to work.
However, there is a class that is not quite the same. Mr. Klezek has told me it's the worst he’s
ever seen. There was a day that they were not on topic and were talking a lot and acting rude in
general. I had to be firm and get them back on track, which was difficult but I did it. Mr. Klezek
even told me I did a good job. This leads into my second biggest take away. I am feeling very
comfortable and really enjoying teaching. Things are really looking up.

Week 7- Week seven just kept the balling rolling. This schedule feels normal and its just the
daily grind at this point. I taught some more notes and this week I got to work on my
improvising. I have not had to do this much due to my planning but a day this week called for it.
Things were looking a little dull and students were having a hard time staying awake in my
troube class. So thinking on my feet, I cut the lesson short and we acted out the Battle of Little
BigHorn. (This is what we were learning about). I assigned a General Custer who then recruited
troops and took them into the hallway. Then my Native Americans made their defensive
positions. “Custer” followed the same attack plan as in real life before retreating and ultimately
everyone dying. The students loved this and so did Mr. Klezek. It was a fun way to bring the
lesson to life. I did make sure to monitor and tell them absolutely no physical contact was
allowed and it went over incident free. In psych we finished emotion and tested. This test went a
lot better and took the entire period. The students who are active and study aced it and the other
results were fairly good.

Week 8- Things got a little thrown off this week. Mr. Klezek told me the school had just
completely changed up the finals schedule and that I needed to zip through some units. First off,
I did not even know high school finals were a thing and secondly this changed up some of my
more long term plans. For my history class this meant the Progressive Era would be flown
through but I still hit the big points that matter, there was just little time to spend on the small
things. The students continue to love their guided notes and are doing really well. I almost forgot
there was a Gilded Age test. This was an eye opening experience to a lot of students. The test
scores showed who paid attention and who slept or messed around. I liked this because personal
accountability is a big factor to me. Psych was treated with getting to watch Inside Out before
beginning the unit on stress. The students were given daily assignments that varied in order to
make sure they were paying attention during the movie. It was funny to be teaching all about
stress when I am still trying to figure it out myself sometimes! Overall, this week went very well.

Week 9- Week nine was a little weird. My classes got back onto the same schedule and both
were preparing for an upcoming test. History is still working through and wrapping up the
Progressive Era and Psych is about to finish up Stress. The week consisted of finishing notes, a
review worksheet, then there was a special concert from a visiting college that ate up a day, and
now we have a test next week. The week has however been overshadowed by the virus sweeping
across the country. After Wednesday this week, every one of my classes begins with my students
telling me how happy they are that I am still there. The UPJ students have been pulled from
placements for the time being and it will be interesting to see how the upcoming week goes. This
is a serious thing but it has been interesting to watch, terrible pandemic but a great experience to
see how to handle something like this.