DukstaFieldExperienceLessonVideo

Journal #1

My placement is in Berwick Area Senior High School. Upon contacting my mentor, I received the impression that he was a laid-back teacher. He was quick to email me once I reached out and was straight to the point in all of his emails. I did not know what to expect upon entering the building. Thus, I was quite nervous. With a notebook in hand, I approached the classroom and prepared myself for what was to come. Needless to say, there was nothing scary about the experience. The school district appears to have a great deal of funding, suggesting that all students have access to textbooks. The classroom also appeared to have a welcoming and warm environment. Few students were late for class, absent, or even disruptive.

I had chosen the 12th grade AP class almost instantly. Not only was this the first class of the morning, but it seemed to be the most cooperative and eager to learn. Mr. Phillips (my mentor) explained to me that the group I had chosen was a great group. He said that they had been very productive and wonderful writers. Being that I am a writing tutor, I instantly became excited to develop some kind of writing assignment for my future lesson. So far, I have taken notes on content (they are reading Beowulf,) classroom participation, policies, and diversity. It appears that there is an ELL student within this classroom, which provides me with the opportunity to exercise the strategies I have learned here at BU. I have not discussed a possible lesson with my mentor, as I have only observed twice. I hope to have the opportunity to discuss the future more in-depth once the class settles into the current marking period. I have high hopes that this class will not only develop the students, but also me. I cannot wait to work with such intelligent and knowledge-hungry students. I believe this experience is going to better prepare me for many challenges I will face as a future teacher.

Journal #2: During the past few weeks, students have been doing a lot of independent work (reading the text out loud, watching movie adpatations, and working on work that needed to get done for homework. I have been struggling a bit to find my place in the classroom in regards to getting to know the students.

However ! This week has been a bit better, because while students were performing a web quest, I was actively engaging with them. helping them with reading comprehension (answering some questions for them...ex. what certain paragraphs of the webquest coudl mean..(i tapped into my prior knowledge about the Cantebury Tales), and casually talking to them. (ex. asking them about their senior projects, joking with them, etc.) I also read through a few students' graduation packets and helped them to revise a few sections to make it a bit more clear and precise.

I also talked with Mr. Phillips about Maria and I's lesson for the class. We thought it would be neat to utilize the writing center at Berwick High school for a writing assignment, having a peer workshop and using the school's laptops to work on their writing piece.

We strongly believe that creating a lesson plan that involves the emergence of graduation would be relevant to them, since they are seniors with different plans after they graduate. I know that, from talking to them, a few students want to attend Bloomsburg, along with some other colleges while some want to go straight into the work force.

Journal # 3:

This past week, students were working on their college application letters and senior projects. I see that Mr. Phillips is balancing these types of things will reading The Cantebury Tales. I feel that this must be tough. To be perfectly honest...when i was a senior i had a REAL hard time focusing on school work. I spent most of my time at my after school job and the time in between freaking out about college and my future. I still didn't know where I wanted to go for sure or what I even wanted to major in. It was a really stressful time of my life. I appreciate that Mr. Phillips understands this, and gives them time in class to work on things that need to get done (ex. college applications, senior projects.) This is when I realized that it was essential to make maria and i's lesson relevant to them.

I just hope that we can make the students engaged.

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