Student Teaching Weekly Logs Written by Brittany Wolgast

February 7, 2015

How did you spend your time this week? What responsibilities did you have? On Monday I observed my mentor teacher (Debbie) teach 4th period and then I taught her

lesson during 5th, 6th & 7th period. We are currently teaching the Waves, Sound, and Light Unit so we worked on the Sound Lab Monday. On Tuesday, I began teaching all four class periods and we began working on the Light part of the unit. Tuesday went well and all students seemed engaged while learning about properties of light. Wednesday is early out so I had 15 minutes taken out of each class and I didn’t fully take that into account so I felt rushed, but students learned about scientists and how they collaborate all the time. Thursday is when the students started their EM posters after we reviewed a PowerPoint about the EM Spectrum.

At the beginning of class, I am responsible for standing in the hallway to ensure students get to class within the 3 minute passing period. We close the doors at three minutes, and allow an extra minute for students to get prepared for class. I am working on balancing the start of class with taking attendance and marking tardies. During 4th period we have a lot of behavior issues that I am working to manage and during 5th period we have 10-12 special education students along with a co-teacher. Those two class periods need much more scaffolding than 6th and 7th period so I am working on providing that with my lessons next week.

I also had my mock interview Wednesday morning with the Principal by surprise, but I think it went well overall. Mrs. Croy coached me on how I need to provide more examples and give details as to how I will implement certain aspects into my future classroom and how I have done so during student teaching. On Thursday, the district Science Supervisor observed my 4th and 5th period lessons, which were a little rough with behavior issues, but I spoke with him after and he thought I did well and encouraged me to apply for positions right away when DMPS posts them.

What were the most satisfying experiences? Greatest challenge(s)? Since 4th and 5th period were the first classes of the day, the lessons did not go as I had planned.

I worried that my lessons were not good, but then during 6th and 7th period the lessons worked just as I had expected in my mind. Debbie discussed this with me and we are working on providing my scaffolding experiences for the 2 earlier classes that need it more than the later 2 classes. As of right now my greatest challenge is managing classroom behavior while trying to teach at the same time. My most satisfying experience this week was seeing a couple students really engaged and on top of their work even though their peers around them tried to distract them.

We had conferences on Wednesday & Thursday from 3-7pm and I usually use those times to plan my lessons for the upcoming week. However, a few positive things came from conferences because the students who need extra guidance and want to be earn better scores this semester brought their parents and we were able to work on a plan with them. I conducted a few conferences by myself and it went really well!

What are the plans for the upcoming week? Best times to observe? This week I continue to teach my lessons full-time and we will be moving into “Light and Color.”

Students will finish their EM posters on Monday, Tuesday is a field trip and we will be missing 5-8 students in each classroom, Wednesday is a quiz and new information about Light Interactions, and Thursday we will continue learning about Light Interactions. Des Moines Water Works is coming Friday to work on a lab about conservation with our students.

Since I am full-time teaching Monday through Thursday, I would recommend that you visit 6th or 7th period on Monday, Tuesday, or Thursday. If you come during 7th period then I can sit down with you after that class is dismissed and go over what you observed for immediate feedback. 6th period is 12:30-1:27 and 7th period is 1:30-2:30.

February 14, 2015

How did you spend your time this week? What responsibilities did you have? I taught bell-to-bell again this week with my lesson plans. On Monday we continued to work on

the EM posters that we started on Thursday the week before and we also did this for part of the class periods on Tuesday because about 1/3 of the students were on an extracurricular field trip. After wrapping up the posters on the EM spectrum, we began taking notes on light and color in the book and I included a Bill Nye video guide to supplement this topic. There were two assessments this week and the students did very well on both of them, which made me very happy to see. We begin to learn about light interactions next week.

We had a guest speaker on Friday from Des Moines Water Works to discuss watersheds and pollution, but I still facilitated the class routines and reviewed the information with the students during the last 15 minutes of class. One thing I improved upon this week was enforcing the behavior system the school has in place. I felt as though I was losing a lot of students’ attention and while I felt bad about sending the students to “time-out” or isolation, Debbie told me I needed to just follow the steps consistently and the students’ behavior would improve, and I think it’s beginning to improve already.

We also had duty after school to direct students to their buses, and we popped into the school dance on Friday to see the students in an environment other than the classroom, which was very interesting!

What were the most satisfying experiences? Greatest challenge(s)? My most satisfying experience this week was seeing the students’ finished posters and grading

the quizzes. My students also had an exit slip on Thursday and I was very pleased to see that many students understood the concepts and earned high scores. Also, one of my students who was one of my challenges from last week was absolutely wonderful this week and she even talked about working towards her goal of being a better student and learning more in school. My greatest challenge is keeping up with the behaviors while being in charge of the classroom. My students find all kinds of reasons to leave the room (restroom, office, nurse, library, etc.) and I have to be stern and not let the students leave every time they ask. It’s hard to be strict with a straight face when they beg and try to play on my emotions.

Also, I had to send a special education student to time-out for not putting his head up after they had been asked. He was very frustrated and after a couple attempts of talking to him, he expressed how he felt it was very hard to have such a big change with a new teacher and that he knows the class is taking a while to adjust to it. I told him that it was completely okay to feel that way and I thanked him for putting his feelings into words. I had a feeling some students felt this way, but it was nice to have it confirmed.

What are the plans for the upcoming week? Best times to observe? This upcoming week is my last week of teaching my lessons bell-to-bell. I have some awesome

demonstrations prepared to capture the students’ curiosity for Monday and Tuesday, they will be working on a lab Wednesday, and taking a quiz Thursday and beginning the “Teach a 7th Grader” project, which will run into next week. I will be absent Friday due to being in California for a wedding, but I will see you Monday for 5th period!

February 28, 2015 How did you spend your time this week? What responsibilities did you have?

We continued the “Teach a 7th Grader” project this week, which was chaotic, but the students were wonderful! I helped the students organize their lesson plans (outline, visuals, practice, and assessment) Monday through Wednesday and they taught their lessons on Thursday. I also pulled two small groups for intervention on the topic of EM Waves on Monday and Tuesday and those students retook the quiz from the previous week. Even though I took a step back from teaching this week, I still worked with small groups to prepare them for teaching on Thursday. I am still responsible for attendance, tardies, and controlling any behavior issues that I notice. I had to make my first phone call home to a parent because I had to send a student to the Behavior Intervention room. Luckily, the situation was resolved the following day so I did have good news to go along with the bad for the parents.

What were the most satisfying experiences? Greatest challenge(s)? The project was so chaotic and I wasn’t sure how it would turn out, but the students were

amazing when they taught their lessons. The project itself was a challenge and Debbie kept telling me to wait it out and see how the students perform and she was so right! I was so impressed and overwhelmed to see the students switch roles and become the teacher. Some of the students I have struggled with in the past relied on me to help them get prepared because I could relate to their situation. Even the “naughty” students acknowledged that teachers do a lot to prepare to teach and it was the perfect “a-ha” moment. This week’s satisfying experiences far outweighed any challenges and that is such a great feeling!

What are the plans for the upcoming week? Best times to observe? I will be teaching for a few class periods on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. On Monday we

are reviewing for our exam to be taken on Wednesday, we have the STARLAB on Tuesday, and then I introduce more Astronomy on Wednesday. Debbie will be assisting the other science class with STARLAB on Wednesday and I will be teaching solo that day.

I think Monday during 6th or 7th period or anytime Wednesday would be good times to observe. However, I will be leaving quickly after school on Wednesday because I will be attending the AEA Heartland Job Fair in Johnston.