Student Teaching Reflections

Jessica J. Brauer
Doane University | Initial Certification Program | Tommy Bender, Cooperating Teacher
Oral Communications & Holocaust Literature | Lincoln Southeast High School | Lincoln, NE

4 January 2017

First day today! Already, I can tell this is going to be a MUCH different semester than last
semester. Mr. Bender is a LOT more relaxed in the classroom than Mrs. Martin was. Its a very
loosey-goosey feel to the class, which makes for completely different classroom dynamic.

In Oral Comm today, we went over the syllabus, and spent very little, if any, time on
classroom expectations. This was also different from Mrs. Martin, and also not how I think I
will approach things in my classroom. I think its important to make expectations clear and
spend time on that, to avoid needing to reteach those expectations too frequently later on.
After discussing the syllabus, Mr. Bender introduced the first speech the students will
present already starting on Friday. Its an introduction speech. 2ish minutes. The students
bring objects to represent their past, present, and future. Mr. Bender has created an outline
that each student will use that maps out proper speech format, but he spent no time
explaining it. I wonder if this was strategic on his part?

In 5th period, we have an IEP identified student who began talking right over Mr. Bender as
he introduced the first speech. The student refused, loudly, to speak about himself (which is
the entire point of this assignment). Mr. Bender engaged him briefly, but when the student
didnt stop, he shut it down. It will be very interesting working with this student, but I think
I can manage with a little relationship building. His IEP explains that he needs to know
what the expectations of every assignment is in detail. And most of his interjections, Ive
noticed, are related to that idea. While he could be a challenge, I am eager to get to know
him and work with him.

There is also a student in 7th period who fits the definition of class clown to the letter. He
was very loud and distracting in class, and again, Mr. Bender engaged for a bit before shutting
it down. Im not sure I would have let the student continue to be disruptive for so long but
my training and experience have taught me there is a REASON for why the student is acting
up. He does not have an IEP or any other type of documentation, so this is definitely a
situation where I would (and likely will, when I take over) ask the student to stay and chat

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after class about whats going on and how I can help him be successful.

Holocaust Literature is an interesting class, and it sounds like it will be more of a team-
taught class. I was most excited about this class because the Holocaust has been of particular
interest to me since I first learned about it in middle school. I think its SO imperative that
we continue to teach about this, especially as our primary sources (survivors/liberators, etc.)
are dying. I expect teaching this class to be a great learning experience for me in general
and I am definitely looking forward to it! The students all seemed very eager to be in the
course, though a little struck and not quite sure what to expect.

Overall, today was a good day its going to take some getting used to, but Im excited for
this experience! Here we go!

31 January 2017

I had my first observation of the semester today! And, wouldnt you know it, I ended up
completely reworking everything I had planned for today last-minute. We have been working
through the Listening Unit, and today, I had activities planned to demonstrate the
importance of active listening and practice the skills weve been discussing. I had planned to
begin with the Telephone Game, but when I came in this morning, Mr. Bender explained a
way hes liked to use the game in class thats slightly different. I loved that idea, so I decided
to go with his version instead it was a version that would get students more involved in the
process and discussion, and would be more entertaining (hopefully). Rather than have all the
students pass a single message around a circle, instead, I selected four volunteers. Two of the
volunteers (C & D) stepped outside the classroom, and the other two (A & B) stayed in.
Student A told a scar or memorable story to Student B and the rest of the class out loud,
then sat down. Student C was called in, and Student B had to relay the story to Student C.
Student D came in and had the story relayed by Student C. Finally Student D repeated the
story to the whole class. We did this twice, and after each time we discussed what made it
difficult, and introduced the idea of using active listening skills. I think, if I do this activity
again, I will introduce other ideas like have random students in the class start talking as
each person tells a story. Or have them ask a bunch of questions or start talking en masse as
the new person walks in. It will be an idea to work with anyhow. The second activity we did
was a drawing activity, where students were given instructions to draw a chicken. The
instructions were fairly simple, and the students werent allowed to ask questions the first
time. After the first round, I explained the instructions again, and the students were allowed
to ask yes or no questions. More students were successful the second time. We then

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discussed what made this task difficult and how active listening and communication is a two-
way street. To close class, students completed a reflection on the listening unit.

Despite the adjustments, the activities went fairly well today. 2nd period was the most
difficult to adjust to, simply because they were the first of the day. I only had one group
complete the telephone game, but then we had much more of class left than I anticipated. I
took what I learned from 2nd period and adjusted for the later classes by having two groups
complete the telephone game, and the timing worked out better. The students all seemed to
enjoy the activities, and they worked well on the reflections at the end of class. I am going to
start introducing the logical fallacy speeches tomorrow, and Im excited!

22 March 2017

It has been a trying couple of weeks lately. I am finding that I am falling into some of my old
patterns of struggle with time management (my own very personal brand of kryptonite) again.
Trying to explain these struggles to anyone without ADD is really hard, because they seem
like things that should be simple fixes, but they arent. This has caused some tension
between my cooperating teacher and myself, I think. He assures me things are okay, but Im
not happy with myself and my own performance lately. The day to day is going fine. Im
having trouble balancing the grading and outside work that I need to do, and it all came to a
head as grades were due today. I was able to get everything into the grade book in time, but I
dont think my CT believed that I would. And I will admit, I should have been more on top
of it. I am not proud that this has caused me trouble, but I have learned a great deal over the
last week and especially the last couple days that I will adjust for the future. Primarily, it will
be very important for me, when I have my own classroom, and for the rest of this semester, to
make a specific effort to dedicate an hour or two to grading every night. At the very least, I
will need to make an effort to set time aside each day to take care of the logistical side of
teaching. Being in front of the class is so much more comfortable to me now I need to be
more diligent about my time management for my work outside of the classroom. We cant all
be perfect right? The important thing is to learn from the mistakes and challenges and move
forward, so that is exactly what I will do.

As I mentioned earlier, the day to day is going fairly well. I am beginning to get very anxious
and wishing I had my own classroom already! Not because of anything Mr. Bender does or
says I absolutely appreciate his advice and expertise. But none of the classes truly feel like
my class. Not that any class is really my class. They really all belong to the students, after
all! But, there are just so many things that Id like to do that I dont feel would be right to
implement just because of the nature of how the class has been. I hope that I will be able to

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find a job before the summer, and have an idea of what I might be teaching, so I can have
some good time to prepare and work out some lesson ideas. However, I do know this isnt
necessarily a guarantee, so I will continue to take it one day at a time!

As for students, 2nd period as a whole is a challenge. Most of the students in that class (I
would say around 90%) are in the class to pass, and arent motivated much further. Its been a
challenge to keep them engaged. I have done my best and gotten several ideas from my
cooperating teacher. Mostly, Ive been trying to make it clear that I want them to succeed. I
only hope some of it may sink in for them at some point! In my earliest journals, I
mentioned a student in 5th period on an IEP who might be some trouble. While he has,
indeed, presented some challenge, I do feel Ive been able to do some relationship building
with him and it has helped quite a bit. He has calmed down quite a bit, and he no longer
interrupts class with his questions. Instead, he raises his hand, which I acknowledge and
either answer his question, or express to him that I will answer questions after explaining the
assignment. I have learned that for him, a problem is that he sees the assignments as much
larger than they really are. So, I have talked with him about breaking some of these
assignments into smaller pieces and thinking of them that way. That has helped quite a bit. I
make an effort to meet him where hes at each day. Its an effort for sure! But these
relationships are the ones that I live for in the classroom. Those students who are frequently
dismissed by others I want them to know they are welcome in my class and that I will do
whatever I can to help them be successful.

7th and 8th periods are likely my most fun classes. The students are more talkative and
interact with each other more. And they are more likely to engage in discussion with me. Its
really refreshing to end the day with such energetic classes! I know this wont always be the
case, so I am enjoying it for now!

I have had some stress lately, but as I think about my students and the work they are
showing, and the effort they are putting in, I am reminded that that is what Im here for. Its
really all for the students in the end Im here for them!