My Classroom
At Worcester Technical High School there is a unique class schedule because it is a vocational school. The classes alternate between an 'academic week' and a 'shop week'. Due to this, I would teach the same set of lessons for two weeks in a row, and meet with each group of students biweekly. I would teach my 'A week' students for one week, then the schedule would flip and I would teach my 'Z week' students the same content for a week. All class periods were double periods, so students would be in the classroom for about an hour and 30 minutes. This time allowed me to insert more activities and interactive elements to each lesson because there was not the constraint of a single 45 minutes period.
"Thank you for being with us these past few months. I, and I am sure many others have enjoyed the way you teach. It was very refreshing."
"I think Ms. Behning is doing really well, she's good at in-depth lessons and makes things really easy to understand."
All of my classes were 9th grade Honors Biology Classes. A main goal of this class was to prepare the freshman students to pass the Biology MCAS they had to take at the end of the academic year.
A Week Period 1/2
This was the first class in which I taught a full length lesson. I would consider this class to be the one in which my growth was most visible. This class required the most behavior management and redirection. There were multiple students that were disruptive by talking to each other while I was give notes or directions. I found that the best strategy for keeping students in this class from becoming distracted was using random participation methods, as well as using consistent verbal reminders of expectations. A strategy that I used a few times towards the end of the practicum that was very effective was the use of sticky notes. During a discussion or when I was having them take notes, I had a few notes ready that read "I need you to face forward and pay attention". When I would see a student get too distracted and they were not responding to other methods, I would walk by their desk and place the sticky note on their chromebook. This gave me the ability to single out a student with out embarrassing them in front of their peers. It let them know I was able to see their behavior with out me having to call out their name in class, potentially escalating the situation.
Z Week Period 9/10
This class was very talkative, and the main struggle I had was there were a lot of friends who would whisper to each other during class. A strategy I used that was very important in this group was assigned seating. There were two students who were able to talk to each other even from across the room, so finding spots in the room where they were able to pay attention and not distract each other or classmates was very important.
A Week Period 7/8 and Z Week Period 15/16
These classes was my quietest class. Rather than finding strategies to control disruptive talking, I had to find ways to make the students comfortable to share out their ideas to the class. One of the ways I found was most effective was having them all answer a question, then I would 'prescreen' their answers. I would quickly read them over and either say: "All of your answers are correct! If you want to share your answer right now, you will be saying something fantastic!" or I would call out a few names that had answers as they wrote them to boost their confidence to share.
Another struggle that I had with all classes was the use of chrome books during class time for off-task things. Some ways that I found that worked to help eliminate distracted internet use was having students "45" or halfway close their computers when watching a video on the board or when there was a part of class they didn't need their computer open. I would also circulate the room when possible, and give occasional reminders to "close your extra tabs that are not your digital notebook". Additionally, I would often sit or stand in the back of the classroom when they were working in groups or individually so I could monitor their screens easier.
"You are a really good and nice teacher. Keep it up!"
"WE LOVE YOU MISS BEHNING!!"
"I think Ms. Behning is doing a good job teaching and I am learning well in her class."
Department Meetings and Professional Development
I was able to attend one science department meeting in which I got to hear discussions about general planning for the next weeks, workload, and sharing of resources. While I did not attend many meetings, I was able to observe many department teachers interacting with my mentor teacher as she is the department head. When teachers came to her, she would support and discuss with them how to best format their lessons, what materials to use, and any concerns they had.
Additionally, I attended one of the Professional Development sessions which was centered around how to incorporate "the full picture" of a student. The instructor from the school walked through how to use a computer application that continued information on each of the students. Some of the information included was about levels of resiliency, who needed extra support in class, and information on how to incorporate strategies on how to address these issues in class. The main aspect of this PD was how to navigate the website interface.
School Play
Towards the end of my practicum I attended the school play Beauty and the Beast Jr., which many of my students were performing in. It was so much fun to get to see my students participating in something they loved, and they looked so proud of what they had created. I was also able to see some of my students who went to watch the play. When they saw me they called my name and looked so excited that I was there. When I was able to see my students who were in the play the next day in class I was able to congratulate them, and they seemed surprised that I had attended and were excited that I got to see them doing something they love. Through attending this event, I was able to show my students that I care about their interests, and want to celebrate their achievements with them.
IEP Meetings and Parent Interaction
I was able to attend 3 different IEP Meetings while I was at WTHS. In each of these meetings teachers, counselors, and a parent was present. Two of these meetings were for students with ASD and one was for a student with ADHD.
In these interactions with the parents I was able to gain more insight into each students' individual situation. In one of the meetings I learned that one of the students had recently changed their medication and they were trying to see if it was helping them. When asked to think about the timeline of their academic improvement, I was able to see that when the student changed this medication there was a noticeable increase in their participation and completion of work.
Another students parent informed the meeting that their student had been anxious about struggling to complete tests in time, but was too nervous to advocate for her accommodations on her own. If this parent interaction had not occurred, I would not have known that she was struggling to ask for use of her accommodations, and been able to adjust to provide more opportunities for her to communicate with me about her needs.
The interactions with the parents provide crucial context for a child's life. Without these parent interactions I would not have known many pieces of important information about how the student acts at home which influences their life at school.