Running Head: MY STUDENT TEACHING EXPERIENCE

My Student Teaching Experience

Lisa M. Gibbons
University of Saint Thomas

MY STUDENT TEACHING EXPERIENCE

My student teaching experience found me in a situation that took me completely out of

my comfort zone. Growing up in a small, predominately white, farm town I was not accustomed
to the metal detectors, daily fights and gangs I encountered at my host high school, Saginaw
Arthur Hill. Each student at Arthur Hill High School receives free lunch every day due to the
high poverty and low income levels of their families (Arthur Hill High School 2014). The
students backgrounds consist of 73 percent African American, 13 percent Caucasian and 14
percent Hispanic (Arthur Hill High School 2014). Student teaching opened my eyes to a different
socioeconomic status, where I leaned just as much about the hardships my students faced as I did
about how to be an effective teacher.
At the university I attended, students in the College of Education student teach the whole
year, starting the first day of school and ending early May. At Arthur Hill I was assigned to teach
four classes of freshmen academic biology, one class of freshmen honors biology and one class
of junior/senior anatomy. Prior to the first day of school, my host teacher prepared me for the
year to come, asking me questions about how I would run the classroom and handle discipline;
she also advised me to dress comfortable and have thick skin. Although I was nervous I thought,
How bad can it be?
The first day of school answered my question and I remember thinking, If I can teach
here, I can teach anywhere. When I entered the building I was escorted by security guards
through a metal detector. I had heard that some high schools were implementing these safety
measures, but I never thought I would step foot in one. My host teacher, who was tough as
nails, introduced me to the students the first day but lead the class the first two weeks. Right
away she struggled with defiant students and I was shocked by their eagerness to talk back. I
worried if she grappled with classroom management, I did not stand a chance. For those first two

MY STUDENT TEACHING EXPERIENCE

weeks I watched her carefully, learning as much as I could about discipline and being tough.
When it was my turn to take over the morning classes, I did the best I could to stand my ground
and build rapport.
After a few weeks of getting to know the students, things got easier but every day
brought new challenges. For example, gangs were a problem in the area, especially between
Arthur Hill and the high school just north of the river. At least once a week we started our
morning on lock down because a car full of students from the other school would drive through
our parking lot, when everyone was getting to school waving guns, threatening our students.
Another problem was the high percentage of student parents. During the year, one of my
freshmen, I will call her Whitney, found out she was pregnant. She was upset because being the
youngest of four, all her older siblings dropped out of school for one reason or another; her
young, single mom turned to Whitney to be successful and she did not want to let her down. I
watched her struggle every day making related decisions as well as getting teased from
classmates. In addition, three students in my anatomy class already had at least one child. I
remember one day Leticia, a bright, small-framed junior came into class late with a pass. When I
asked her where she was, she said her baby was sick so she took him to the doctor. Not knowing
she had a child, it took me a minute to process what she was saying. It was then I realized her
future was probably going to be much different than I originally thought. Students with children
would miss school frequently either because day care would not take the kids when they were
sick with a fever or because their parents were not available to babysit.
Another issue was male students being pulled out of school for various reasons. Marcus,
one of my freshmen students handed me a piece of paper and asked for my signature. It was a
progress report from his parole officer (PO). He wanted me to write him a good note so he could

MY STUDENT TEACHING EXPERIENCE

have his tether removed. The next day he was absent because he was due in court to meet with
his PO. Later I discovered Marcus was not my only freshmen sporting a tether; neither student
ever told me the story behind their accessory and I never asked. Another freshmen, Joey,
completely shut down second semester; I could not motivate him to do any work after a
successful first semester. He finally said he would not try anymore because his birthday was at
the end of January. I had no idea what he meant but after some research, I learned he was turning
20 and the state does not allow freshmen to continue school once they reach that age.
Motivation was difficult for many male students. The year before, a graduate of Arthur
Hill left college after his sophomore year to be a first round draft pick in the NBA. Therefore,
many students refused to try academically because they were going to be rich, professional
basketball players too. I remember one student, Daren, stood about five feet one inch tall and had
not played basketball since sixth grade; he was convinced that if he was eligible he would be a
star on the schools team and even without playing basketball throughout high school, he would
be drafted the summer after his senior year.
My time at Arthur Hill was often disheartening to realize the situations my students
faced. For example, the budget at Arthur Hill was minimal; I wanted to do a dissection with my
anatomy class but specimens were too expensive. My host teacher suggested getting approval to
use hearts from the deer her brothers killed hunting. Permission was granted and the students
were truly excited. Since our classroom was not equipped for dissecting we went into a separate
lab room, which looked like it had not been used in years. Some of those students wanted to
work in the medical field; I cannot imagine them going to college without ever having done a lab
or dissection. Also, two weeks after my assignment was complete in May my host teacher called
and said Charles, one of our first period freshmen, was shot and killed in a gang related drive by

MY STUDENT TEACHING EXPERIENCE

that Sunday afternoon. I remembered Charles being a difficult student with a rough home life. I
had gotten the feeling he was being pressured to join the gang but was resistant. Not having
another support system he eventually succumbed.
Student teaching taught me more than just how to be an effective teacher. I learned that
not every student wakes up and goes to school fully prepared with adequate supplies and then
comes home to supportive parents and a cooked meal. Growing up, I never knew these hardships
and took that for granted. For many students in the lower social class, school comes secondary to
daily survival.

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Reference

Saginaw Arthur Hill High School. (2014). High School Website. Retrieved from
http://pub.spsd.net/arthurhill/index.html