My Classes

F Block was the first class I taught, with my first day with them being in Week 3. Since I started teaching them so early in the year, both my students and I were nervous. I worried that I would not be a good teacher, whereas the students were still adjusting to high school. We all opened up to each other around the same time; as I became more comfortable in the classroom, so did they. This class was originally the lowest level CPA Class that Sam had. However, over the course of my practicum, they became one of the stronger classes, with higher averages on quizzes than the other two CPA classes. I believe it is because we developed a very good relationship, so the students were more comfortable asking questions when they were struggling. My other classes did not like to ask as many questions, so it was harder for me to tell what topics they were struggling with. Overall, I never had an issue with discipline with my F block class. Of course, there were a few times when they were more talkative, but it never became a large issue.

E Block was the second class that I started to teach. I started teaching them in Week 5, when they started Unit 2. This is the class that I had the most difficulty with management wise. There are a handful of students in the class that are often disruptive and talk while I am trying to give the students instruction or as I am writing notes on the board. This was one of my biggest challenges during my practicum. I discussed different discipline strategies numerous times with Sam. At first, I tried reminding the students of the classroom expectations but that was not successful. I then implemented a policy where students receive one warning about their behavior before receiving a morning detention. For some of the students that were more disruptive, this helped their behavior in class. However, some still could not control their actions in class. After speaking to one particularly disruptive student about how we could work to improve his class behavior, he mentioned that his family waiting for a doctor to confirm he had ADHD and to be prescribed medications. I was surprised when I heard this, and suggested the student try to always face forward in his seat and write down every part of the notes in an attempt to limit his distractions. The student is still working on improving is behavior in class.

A Block was the third class (and final Algebra 1 CPA class) that I started teaching. I started teaching them in Week 7 of my practicum. The class, although the smallest of the Algebra 1 CPA classes, contains many strong personalities. Most of the students are more outspoken yet understand when they need to be quiet. For this reason, I have never had a big problem with classroom management. The class entered a routine - during the do now, they were more talkative than my other classes, but this allowed them to use some of their energy before activities such as notes. By allowing this, the students tended to be more focused during notes.

The D Block class was the Fundamentals of Algebra class and the last group I took over from Sam; I started teaching them in Week 8. In the class, there are 11 students, eight of whom receive accommodations due to IEP or 504 plans. There is also a paraprofessional in the class to assist the students with their learning. I incorporate the accommodations from the students plans into my lessons (described in Chapter Four: Meeting Diverse Needs). When I first started teaching the class, Sam had allowed the students to listen to music while completing their classwork to help them focus. However, a couple of weeks after I started teaching them, Sam and I noticed that they became more distracted while listening to music. For this reason, we decided to change the class policy; no one was to listen to music during class time. After we made this change, the students became much more productive during class.

In my D Block class, there was one student who missed a tremendous amount of school. She often missed 2-3 classes per week, and there was a part of Quarter Two where she missed about a week and half. Because of her absences, she quickly fell behind in class. Sam and I had to figure out a plan to help catch her up on the material. Before I took over the class, I would sit with her in the back of the room to teach her the materials that she missed and help her through some example problems while Sam worked with the other students in the class. After I took over the class and she missed a week and a half, however, we needed a new plan. The students have interactive notebooks that are left in the classroom for their notes. We made sure to put in all of the notes that she missed and added extra pointers with the example problems. We then sent the notebook and her missing worksheets down to BRYT, a program at WRHS to help students who have missed an extended period of time catch up in their classes. During some of my prep periods, I would go to the BRYT program and help her with the material. While doing this, we were able to catch her up on all the Quarter One material she missed and most of the Quarter Two material.

Parent Interaction

During my teaching practicum, I had the opportunity to participate in Parent’s Night. Parent’s Night at WRHS has two sessions: an afternoon (12pm-2pm) and an evening (6pm-8:30pm) session. Parents drop into their students’ teachers’ classrooms for five minutes and can ask questions and discuss their children’s strengths and weaknesses. Parent’s Night occurred about a week before the end of quarter one, so parents had a chance to find out their children’s grades before the end of the grading period and what could be done to improve grades. I was fortunate enough to meet the majority of my students’ parents or guardians.

Most of the parents were curious to know their students’ grades and if myself or Sam had any comments we would like to make about the student. However, there were a few parents who had more specific questions, especially if they knew their child were struggling. There were two students from Algebra I CPA that Sam and myself recommended to move down a level to Algebra I CP as we felt it would be a better pace for these students. Both students are still in Algebra I CPA and both of their parents discussed that possibility with us during Parent’s Night. In both cases, the students felt as if they were in the right class and their parents said they would support either decision.

During Parent’s Night, there were parents of students in Sam’s other class, AP Statistics, which I do not teach. In that class, the students complete many group projects in which the students all receive the same grade. In the beginning of the year, the students struggled with how to divide the work evenly and work in a group. This was an area of concern for many parents. By sitting in on these meetings with Sam, I was able to learn how to handle situations like these through observation. Sam discussed with the parents that the students were still learning how to work in groups, and she does take measures to ensure that each student is working on the project evenly. She also gave the parents helpful tips that they could pass on to their children while trying to help.