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Rebekah McCloy

Dr. Megan Marshall and Professor Ian Nolte

ENG 402

7 December 2020

Clinical Experience Overall Reflection

I would like to start out by saying that I really enjoyed my clinical this semester. I ended

up being placed with an amazing teacher who I was able to learn quite a bit from. Initially, I was

a little nervous about beginning my clinical for a number of reasons. First, there was the fact of

the ongoing global pandemic. I was a little afraid to go back out into a setting where there would

be a lot of people while the pandemic was still raging on. Second, I was placed, for the first time

in my college experience, at a high school. My previous placements had all been at middle

schools, so I was unsure of what to expect at the high school. There was also the fact that I

oftentimes get confused for a high school student when out and about in everyday life (pre-

pandemic). I was concerned that it would be tough to teach to a group of students that really are

not that much younger than me, particularly since I was placed in a twelfth grade classroom. This

clinical ended up being one of the best, most educational clinical experiences that I have ever

had. My fears ended up being groundless and unwarranted, as I really did not have any respect

issues with the students. Through this clinical experience, I learned that I actually really enjoy

teaching high school students. I had always thought that I would want to teach in a middle

school, but not a high school. Now, I feel that I would actually enjoy teaching in either a middle

school or a high school.

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Through my clinical experience I also learned that I need to be more intentional about

adding good, solid contingency plans to my lesson plans. I feel that contingency plans are

sometimes glazed over in the classes where we are taught to write lesson plans, yet they are one

of the most important parts of the plan. It is so important, particularly during this time of great

uncertainty, that we have contingency plans. We need to have a plan for when things do not quite

go as planned, because that will happen. I have also discovered that my strongest teaching area is

in the one-on-one conversations with students. I feel that I sometimes give better instructions

when it is just me talking through an assignment with a student. It seems easier and more natural.

However, I really enjoyed giving instructions to the entire class as well, as it allows for class-

wide discussions. It makes sense that I am better at the one-on-one instruction than the class-

wide instructions, as I have far more experience in the former. In my previous clinical

experiences, I had plenty of opportunities to work with students individually, but I did not have

the chance to work with the entire class until this clinical. Given more practice with class-wide

instruction, I feel that I shall improve. I must also say that, during this clinical, I was rather

surprised to learn how much I enjoy grading. I had not had many opportunities to do it in the

past, not since late elementary school when I would help my teacher grade homework

assignments. I really enjoyed reading my students work and giving them feedback and a grade.

In the future, I see myself working at a small, rural middle or high school, possibly in

West Virginia. I want to be the English teacher that will teach both the classics and newer books,

poems, and short stories. I want to show students how some classics are still relevant today, but I

also want to incorporate the literature that my students are most interested in reading now. It is

my hope that I can get some students to really enjoy English class. I believe that, in addition to

the above ideas, I can do this by incorporating relevant topics for the students to write about.
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This would not be dissimilar to Kelly Gallagher’s weekly writing topics that can be found on his

website. I would also, as long as the state standards can still be met, try to include some

opportunities for the students to write about any topic that they desire. I feel that it is important

to encourage students to read and write often. I think that by incorporating literature and writing

topics that are interesting to the students, I can help them to become more intentional about

reading and writing. It is my hope that I can instill a love for reading and writing in my students.

In order to accomplish this, I plan to try and keep up with current, age-appropriate

literature as much as possible, searching for books that will help me meet the state standards

while also being literature my students can enjoy and relate to. I also need to be deliberate about

reading quite a bit of classic novels, so that I can achieve the same goals regarding the state

standards and the students’ appreciation of the literary works. In order to accomplish the writing

related goals, I believe that a good place to start would be in viewing Kelly Gallagher’s website

and using his weekly writing topics as a model for my own classroom.

To conclude, I believe that public school teaching at either the middle or high school

levels is for me. I enjoy teaching, but more than that, I enjoy seeing the students learn and

improve. It is amazing to see what students are capable of doing when they put their mind to it. I

have a great appreciation of literature and composition, and that is something that I want to pass

on to others.