Discussion 1: Introductions

Introduce yourself to your peers. Please include the following:

Name, year in school, expected graduation and transfer from RVCC, your teaching interest
(grade level/or subject), your experiences prior to this class in the field.
Be thorough. Be professional. Be thoughtful with all you post.
Hi, my name is Joselyn Navarro. I am currently a sophomore at Raritan Valley
Community College and I expect to graduate at the end of the Spring 2020 semester. I have
not explored many transfer options as of now but I know it is something I have to look into
soon. The one school that has piqued my interest is Centenary University specifically the
program they have available on campus for education majors. I think it would be the
smoothest transition, but I am still keeping my options open. As for my grade level interest, I
am looking to work with children in 1st to 5th grade. Most of my experience ‘teaching’ comes
from being a peer leader in high school, tutoring, and assisting my mom in Sunday school. I
have always been surrounded by kids and have had many opportunities babysitting them. I
loved being at my observation site during my foundations course and it made me more
excited to be in a real school setting since that was only daycare.

Discussion 3: Administration
1. What is the administrative structure where you are observing?
2. Have you met them? What are they like? Who seems most in-charge regardless of title? Who
is definitely NOT in-charge?
3. How does your teacher feel about the Administration? Do they like all involved? Does the
teacher have an issue with anyone and if so, why?
4. Did your teacher give you any tips about dealing with administration?

5. How do you feel about what you have gathered from your teacher?
6. Reply to 1 of your peers' posts?
My observation school aligns with the common expectations of a public school
administration. Overseeing the building is the principal who has a vice-principal for
assistance. My teacher really likes the principal and finds him very easy to get along with. I
have been lucky enough to meet him before and he is just as friendly as I imagined. As for the
vice-principal, I have not had the opportunity to speak with him but my teacher does not find
him very helpful. It is unfortunate to hear that the relationship between the teacher and vice
principal is not that great in terms of assistance. The situation can definitely be irritating
when you feel that you can only rely on one person within the administration.
Discussion 4: Preparing for a school year
1. Talk to your teacher about preparing for a new school year.

2. What is it like? How long does it take? What is the best part of it? The worst part?
3. What do they suggest you do to make the preparation smooth?
4. Ask them if there are any tips of what NOT to do?
5. Make sure to reflect upon the answers he/she gives?
6. Reply to 3 of your peers' posts. Be thorough in your replies.

After speaking with my teacher, he said that it takes a solid week for him to get his
physical classroom set up. The aspect which is most time consuming is figuring out the
placement of everything (posters, desks, etc.). If he is in the same classroom as the year
before he follows the same classroom set up that he previously used as long as it worked
efficiently. However, this year the sixth grade had to move to a different school, so my
teacher needed to adapt to the new classroom environment. He had more room this time
compared to the prior space. The most difficult facet in his experience is figuring out the desk
arrangements. Sometimes you may want the desks in a specific format but depending on the
number of students you are given and the dimensions of the classroom, you have to alter
your plans. This was especially complicated for him as the number of students on his roster
kept changing days before classes began therefore, the desk arrangement had to be
constantly modified. In regards to lesson plans, he uses the same ones from the previous year
but goes over them to see if anything can be updated or approved.

The advice given to me on setting up a classroom was to start lesson plans as soon as
possible. When you first start teaching this is what will take up the most time and if you do
not keep up with them, it will be extremely overwhelming. Any free time can be used to add
something to a lesson plan so that you may be ahead or at the very least on track with
handing those in to the administration. Taking one day out of your week to work on them will
avoid the stress of doing it last minute.
I think that the advice I was given on lesson plans is very helpful and has a lot to do
with time management. As a teacher you have to multitask and in order for you to do your
job properly and have a smoothly run class, you must practice good time management. Along
with that you should always be prepared for unexpected situations like in my teachers case
with the changing number of students. Figuring out an arrangement of desks for the
maximum capacity of students could possibly alleviate the stress if you need to remove a few
later on.

Discussion 5: What is back to School night like?

1. Ask your teacher to describe their Back-to-School night format.
2. Ask your teacher to tell you about anything they give to the parents. Why?
3. Ask your teacher to tell of a time when something unexpected happened at Back-to-School
night.

4. Be sure to include your thoughts.

5. Reply to 1 of your peers' posts.
When speaking to my teacher about what a typical back to school night looked like, he
explained that the format usually involves a group presentation for all of the parents in the
gym. From there, the parents go upstairs and follow their child’s class schedule. They go to
their homeroom, ELA, math, etc. Each subject receives 7-8 minutes with the parents. For his
own classes, my teacher does a quick overview involving what will be covered throughout the
year, classroom rules, and how contact him. He does not give handouts because he is never
sure how many he should have prepared. Parents are not required to attend so there is no
guarantee that everyone will come therefore, printing one for each student’s parent may
result in a waste of paper. He does use visuals, using a slideshow in front of the class.
Communication is done primarily through the program, Class Dojo, so in terms of contacting
him he usually offers information on how to access that.

The first time something unexpected happened to him on a back to school night was
actually the most recent one. The new declaration on homework from the district has had a
lot of parents confused and therefore, was the most prominent concern of the night. One
parent specifically started yelling at my teacher, causing a scene and telling him that it was
completely absurd that he was not giving children homework and that he is the reason his
children will not do well in school. Other parents in the classroom had to alert him that this
was not something that came from the teachers but the Board of Education. In his 15 years of
teaching he had never gotten a reaction like that from a parent so initially it was very
startling.
I believe my teachers back to school night format is pretty good for a sixth grade class
. Generally, this is the age where parents are a little less hands on because their child is
getting older so they do not ask for every little detail. Having a PowerPoint presentation
really gets the information across that needs to be known without over explaining. While I do
agree with his view on the handouts I would personally keep a few on standby in case some
parents were not as technologically advanced and needed something in print. As for the
situation he had recently, I can not say I am very surprised because I know that the idea of no
homework is something that is very new to a lot of districts. Most parents had homework
when they were in school and it was not something that was questioned so it can be a little
difficult for them to wrap their heads around the concept. Additionally, whenever there is an
issue in the classroom people tend to point fingers at the teacher because they believe that
they are the ones who completely control what happens in there without realizing that there
is someone with higher authority dictating certain aspects.
Discussion #7: Observations by the principal and tenured faculty
1. Discuss with your teacher the system of formal observations they have to go through.

2. Talk to him/her about the anxiety they feel or the calm they feel.
3. Talk to them about the way the children act when she/he is being observe.
4. Ask them about the forms used and the post-observation. What is entailed in a post
observation? How has their's gone?
5. Reply to 2 of your peers' posts.

In my observation site, un-tenured teachers have to go though three observations a

year, two informal and one informal. My teacher has tenure so he only has two observations,
one formal and one informal. The informal ones happen at random times with no notice
given which my teacher prefers. He finds that he is more nervous when he is told ahead of
time that he will be observed because he has to anxiously wait until the assigned date. When
they do informal observations, it is easier for him to carry on with his lessons then to be
worried about being analyzed.
There is a post-observation meeting to discuss any positive and negative notes the
evaluator wishes to point out. My teacher’s observations have gone very well and the only
notable critique he has gotten is that there were too many posters in his classroom. The
evaluator said that the abundance of posters was distracting him, and he could only imagine
how it may distract the students. My teacher said that he did not take the comment too
seriously as he teaches two subjects and the posters are one opposite sides of the room,
separated by subject. As for the students, they usually behave the same and none of them
really act out. Who is in the room usually dictates the student’s behavior so they tend show
their best manners when a principal or superintendent is in the room.
Personally, I can understand the anxiety one might feel about being observed. By
thinking about your evaluation as a positive way to improve the quality of your classroom,
you may begin to feel a little less nervous. I do not believe the evaluators are out to get their
teachers, everyone just wants to create the most stimulating environment for the students of
the school to excel.

Discussion 8: Budget
Discuss the nuances of a teacher's budget each year. Talk to your teacher about this. State what
you would do to stretch your funds available or add to your small budget at school?
And reply to 3 peers' posts.

My teacher said that at his location each of the instructors are allotted $100 for their
classroom. They are not required to use it all but they can not go a penny over the budget.
Even if they do not use all of it, they are still given the same amount the following year. There
is also a larger budget which I believe is shared with the grade that covers pencils, paper, etc.
I can imagine newer teachers have to use their own money for some classroom items.
I expect to invest some of my own money for the success of my classroom because generally
schools do not allocate a large amount of money to teachers. In order to stretch any available
funds, I would always be on the lookout for sales so I can find the best deal on items that are
necessary for my classroom. Garage sales would probably be a great source for furniture.
They usually offer affordable items that can be refurbished at a low cost. Depending on what
items I need, I could hold a donation drive. It is always important to remember that small
donations can lead to big savings with a tight budget. Emailing nearby community service
groups could be beneficial as they are always looking to help teachers/schools with
donations. I am currently doing this with the Rotaract club at RVCC. A few weeks ago, we
began to hold a book drive for a Bound Brook school library. We have collected a good
number of books which we know the school will appreciate greatly.

Discussion 9: Challenges
Please post about:
1. What is your biggest challenge you face in becoming an excellent teacher?
2. What did your teacher say his/her major challenge was?
3. What are some things you can do to get past this challenge or make it better?
4. Post to 3 of your peers' posts. Be thorough.

I think my biggest challenge in becoming an excellent teacher will be trying to manage

so many roles. I feel that teachers are stretched very thin in this position because they need
to offer constant support to students, give personalized attention, be a counselor, and a
parent considering how much time they are spending with their students. This job goes
beyond so much more than just instructing a classroom. Students have so many needs and
it’s our job to meet them. As for my teacher, he said that one of his biggest this year is
keeping the students motivated. There are some students in the classroom which go to the
entire day without focusing on what is happening in school. This is causing them to do poorly
on assessments. The issue is not with his entire classroom but it is something that affects a
significant amount of students. They receive a bad grade and don’t react in a way where
they are upset or determined to do better but just shrug it off and not really care. I think
that possibly giving the students a sense of control in the classroom could help. Asking them
what type of assignment they would like to do in the class can help keep them involved and
encourage them to do well. Another possible idea would be to help them find intrinsic
motivation. Having a conversation with them about personal reasons to do well in class could
be beneficial. Asking them about their future and the things needed to achieve that goal can
give them the boost of motivation their missing.

Discussion 10: Career Path

Please describe your proposed path from RVCC to your 4 year school, to certification and
graduation. Where are you now and where are you hoping to be? when? Who can help you
along the way? How will you make sure you will complete? Respond to 3 of your peers' posts-
be thoughtful and specific in your response to your peers.

I am currently a sophomore here at RVCC and I am hoping to finish next fall.

Originally, I was going to be transferring at the end of the spring semester but my academic
plan is behind where I intended it to be. In regards to transferring, I am not certain where I
want to go yet but I am very interested in the Centenary program available here on campus.
One of the things that really intrigues me is how students are dually certified in elementary
and special education upon graduation and if I decide to do the program I can finish my last
two courses here at RVCC (that I planned to take in the fall) while simultaneously starting at
Centenary. However, I want to explore my options so I will be looking into Kean University’s
education program and seeing what they have to offer. My main factor in deciding on a
school is whether the cost of tuition is practical for me. I would not want to get ahead of
myself and go somewhere out of impulse only to have to deal with the financial
repercussions later on.
RVCC has allowed me to make some great connections and I believe that these people
are the ones who can help me while I continue pursuing my degree. I have school teachers,
professors, and counselors who can offer a lot of advice along the path. Additionally, I have a
really good support system between my friends and family who assist me in many ways but
also help motivate me to do better.

Once I get my bachelors degree I hope to find a teaching position in a public school. I
had looked to become a teacher for students in 1st-4th grade but now I think my desired
grade levels shifted to 3rd- 6th. This change occurred because of how much I enjoyed the
class I was observing this semester. As for my masters degree, I do not think I want to pursue
it immediately after receiving my bachelors but I still have time to make that decision later
on.