Bella Roumain 2/9/2024

Field Experience Write up ED 243

Step 1. (5 points)

A. Description of the Critical Incident or Practice

Choose an incident that is complex and likely to draw you into an exploration of ideas, beliefs,
and dispositions you have learned about in your teacher education classes. Completely describe
the ONE critical incident or practice that you have selected as the focus for this entry. Your entry
should include sufficient detail so that the reader can easily understand your focus. This section
should be purely descriptive. Simply explain what you saw or experienced or the way something
worked. The description should be 1-3 well developed paragraphs in length.

During the first block, I was in the eighth grade Multilingual Learners Classroom with Jen Mehl.
When I first walked in, I noticed the alphabet at the front of the room. In each letter, there were
different logos and symbols that started with that letter. Ms. Mehl was leading a lesson on
feelings and emotions. She had pictures of people on the board, and the students had a chart of
emotions (with pictures and words) on their desk. The students explained what emotions the
people in the pictures were feeling. Ms. Mehl said that this connected to their lesson next week
as they will be reading stories about new students. The students will be able to connect to the
characters in the book. She will use the texts to apply their knowledge on emotions. After the
mini lesson, the students get to play games for the last 25 minutes of class because they play
games for the last 25 minutes on Fridays. I played Jenga with two boys, both from Venezuela.
Ms. Mehl was describing the social culture of each of her classes. She said that the 8th grade
class is very talkative and they have brotherly and sisterly love. Most of them have been in the
class together since sixth grade. The students see this classroom as a safe space so they try to do
poorly on the language test so they can stay in the class. I think this speaks a lot to Ms. Mehl and
her welcoming community. She invited us to play games with the kids so we could chat and get
to know them.

B. Feelings
In this section, briefly describe your feelings in relation to the event. Your feelings are emotional
responses whereas your thoughts are cognitive responses. Therefore, do not mix your thoughts
and feelings (such as happiness, anger, frustration, etc.) For example don’t write, “I felt that I
should have been more concerned.” This sentence describes a thought not a feeling. Your
feelings should be written in short sentences or bullets. Do your best to stick with these four
words (or their many close synonyms) to describe your feelings: mad, glad, sad, scared.

I felt inspired while in Ms. Mehl's room. I love learning about language and culture, and in her
classroom, that is embraced. I hope that my future students feel comfortable in my classroom
like the MLLs at Clay Middle School. I felt reassured because I sometimes get nervous when I
work with MLLs. I love to help them, but I worry that I'm doing too much of their work or they
feel that I'm talking down to them.

C. Thoughts
In this section, describe your initial thoughts and opinions in relation to the description and
feelings you provided in Sections A and B. Essentially, you are trying to convey what you were
thinking at the point in time in which the event occurred. Think of it as if someone was listening
in on your inner dialogue as you experienced the event.

Walking into the classroom, I felt a shift in energy. The classroom community felt positive and
exciting, and I wanted to join in. I noticed the alphabet at the front of the room, and I think this is
a great way to help students to learn the alphabet and to immerse them into American culture.
Ms. Mehl took the time to explain her teaching and what curriculum she picks and chooses. The
school bought curriculum work books, but they are too advanced for her students. She has used
some of the activities from it. She also told us about each individual student and their story.
Some of them have been at Clay since sixth grade and on the other hand, one of the students
arrived three months ago. Lastly, Ms. Mehl said she wants to start a Newcomer program at Clay
to help students transition.

D. Now make connections to your thinking....

What went well?
What didn’t go so well?
What do I want to do the same next time?
What do I want to do differently next time?
Something that went well was I learned so much from Ms. Mehl and I got to know students by
playing a game. Something that didn't go so well was that I wish I could've spent more time in
her classroom. Afterwards, I spend two blocks in Mr. Anderson's classroom which is a totally
different environment. Next time, I want to connect with the students again.

Step 2: (1 Point)

Make at least one connection to personal experience, other texts you’ve read, and/or what you
know about schools.

Ms. Mehl said that she has a lot of Tier 2 and 3 students. In ED 498, we've been talking about the
different tiers of language acquisition.

Step 3: (5 Points)

Expand on five High Leverage Practices or more you chose to use in your write up by telling
which one, how you used it and what your thinking was in choosing this for your
student/students.

HLP #7 Establish a Consistent, Organized, and Respectful Learning Environment: Ms. Mehl has
a great learning environment. She has dim lights which is a small change but makes a big
difference. Personally, when the lights are warm-toned and they're dimmed, I feel more calm.
HLP #18 Use Strategies to Promote Active Student Engagement: Ms. Mehl has positive
teacher-student relationships. Her students look forward to her class.
HLP #12 - Systematically Designed Instruction: Ms. Mehl planned out lessons strategically. She
taught emotions this week so she could build upon that with texts next week.
HLP #16 - Explicit Instruction: Ms. Mehl uses clear and concise language with her students.
HLP #15 - Scaffolding Support: While I was in Mr. Anderson's room, I helped Sebastian, an
English Language Learner. I gradually gave him less and less support hoping that he would be
able to do it on his own when I left.
HLP #11 - Goal Setting: I think Ms. Mehl has goals for each group of students.

Step 4: (5 points)

Field Experience -PROFESSIONAL NEXT STEPS- Please pick three of the questions below
and expand on them with your field experience write up with five or more sentences. You should
look for pieces that succinctly enhance your understanding of your possible / potential life as an
education professional. (HINT: Think about how this step connects to your future as a
professional and your next steps in your learning.)

· Speak about the clutter and organization of the classroom

In Mr. Anderson's room, there are posters around the room. Some of them are related to the
current unit, and others are not. There are textbooks on each table group, and the students can
move around the room freely. In my perspective, the materials seemed cluttered, but the students
know exactly where the materials are and when they need to use them.
· What kind of rules/procedures does your student/class have difficulty in meeting?
· What “nuisance behaviors” did you encounter?
In Mr. Anderson's room, the students just work on projects independently. Most of them sit with
their friends which can get noisy. I think they get bored of the assignments, so they chat or play
on their laptop.
· Does the teacher/you have fun with kids and is she or he peaceful in how they interact with
kids?
Ms. Mehl is very calm which helps her students feel comfortable in her classroom. She seems
very accepting of everyone and it's clear that she wants each of her students to be successful.