Student Teaching Weekly Log

Name: Shannon L. Boshart Date: April 5, 2013 Reflections for week number:9 Class(es) taught or assisted in this week: Composition for Publication, Yearbook, Newspaper and English Connections Most satisfying experience(s): I had a great week in English Connections! We started reading Romeo and Juliet and its allowed me the opportunity to bring some fun strategies into the classroom. The students scored very well on their first assessment associated with the play so I felt good about their understanding level. Hopefully, it will take less and less support to get them to this level as we continue reading. Teaching techniques that worked (Why?): The students enjoyed writing sonnets. This type of poem mirrors the form of the Prologue of Romeo and Juliet. Students were required to read and translate the prologue and then write their own sonnet following the appropriate rhyme scheme and syllable count. Some of the students wrote amazing sonnets that followed and made sense. It was really gratifying to see the students connect with this writing assignment. Teaching techniques that didn't work as expected (Why not?): My Composition for Publications class started to struggle with the concept of transitions in writing when they started applying their knowledge. This reiterated how much modeling this class requires before they are able to tackle tasks on their own. Targeted areas of improvement: Next week, I plan to work heavily on the freshmen students translation skills. Its going to be a reading-intense week so students will have plenty of opportunities to improve. To do this, I will scaffold by modeling my own thinking when translating and give students plenty of graphic organizers.

Student Teaching Weekly Log

Name: Shannon L. Boshart Date: April 12, 2013 Reflections for week number:10 Class(es) taught or assisted in this week: Composition for Publication, Yearbook, Newspaper and English Connections Most satisfying experience(s): This week, I collaborated with students to get a lot done on various yearbook spreads. Im getting better at delegating tasks to students and monitoring their progress. In English Connections, I modified my lesson plans to meet the needs of my individual sections. It was very fulfilling to take note of the different needs of students and adjust my lessons accordingly. Teaching techniques that worked (Why?): Reading Romeo and Juliet in small groups was much more effective than reading it out loud in the full class. This gives students more individual responsibility when reading and helps keep them engaged. Teaching techniques that didn't work as expected (Why not?): My classes do not love reading Romeo and Juliet out loud at all! They are having a hard time staying focused and kind of zone out when they listen to their classmates read. Later in the week, I required students to complete a study guide in addition to reading in class. This helped them stay engaged during the reading and also gave them a study guide to help them prepare for their quiz. Targeted areas of improvement: I want to continue using a variety of instructional techniques while teaching Romeo and Juliet. Presenting information in a variety of different forms is so crucial to students understanding of this text. Next week, I will be presenting information through student acting. This project is going to take a lot of coordination, but I think students will ultimately learn a lot from watching each other act out different parts of the play.

Student Teaching Weekly Log

Name: Shannon L. Boshart Date: April 19, 2013 Reflections for week number:11 Class(es) taught or assisted in this week: Composition for Publication, Yearbook, Newspaper and English Connections Most satisfying experience(s): This week, I embarked on a large modernizing dialogue project with my English Connections classes. Students were assigned about 60 lines from Romeo and Juliet Act III that they had to translate and modernize into contemporary language. At the end of the week, students performed their scripts. To help scaffold students, we watched the film version of the play before they started writing so students would have a vague understanding of the plot. The result was accurate and creative performances! It was so cool to see that students understood the language and the actions. Teaching techniques that worked (Why?): The scaffolding I implemented for the modernizing dialogue activity really helped students. After receiving their line assignments, students had one day to skim their lines. At the end of the day, they turned in a graphic organizer outlining what they identified as the tone of the section, a list of the main events in their section and what props and costumes they wanted to bring in during the performance. The next day we watched a movie version of Act III. This helped students to visualize the play and understand the main events. Students then had two days to write their scripts and practice their performances. The timing worked well, and the assistance helped students understand challenging dialogue. Teaching techniques that didn't work as expected (Why not?): I tried a few lessons in Composition for Publications that required students to become an expert in a certain area and then teach their classmates about it. This worked for one topic (ethics) and didnt for another (the roles of a journalist). The difference between these two lessons was students previous understanding of the topic. Students were confident teaching something they had been exposed to before and didnt when it was a new topic. Targeted areas of improvement: I want to continue getting better at keeping up to date with grading and inputting grades into Infinite Campus. This includes scheduling make up work for students and checking in with the parents of struggling students. Now that Im confident about my teaching, I want to get confident about all the behind the scenes work.

Student Teaching Weekly Log

Name: Shannon L. Boshart Date: April 25, 2013 Reflections for week number:12 Class(es) taught or assisted in this week: Composition for Publication, Yearbook, Newspaper and English Connections Most satisfying experience(s): My third hour was very, very sad that I finishing up my time teaching their class. This made me feel like I really made a difference with these students. They may not have always loved Romeo and Juliet, but they at least knew that I cared about them and their learning. Im starting to get sad about leaving all my students! I also had the opportunity to prepare substitute notes for my absence on Friday. This was a great experience. I definitely see myself using the format in the future. Teaching techniques that worked (Why?): This week, I administered a unit exam in Composition for Publications. It was a great experience to edit the exam to reflect my lessons. To prep students to the exam, we played Jeopardy. The students really enjoyed this game. During the review, students filled out a study guide that they were able to use on the test. This helped students to stay engaged and interested. Teaching techniques that didn't work as expected (Why not?): This is a little detail, but I used playing cards to put students into group during English Connections. The freshmen could not handle it! They got so distracted by the cards that the transition into groups took much longer than it should have. I think for this age group, number off or just telling them which groups theyre in would be more effective. Targeted areas of improvement: As I transition out, Im working on getting all my grades done in a timely manner. This will especially apply to the Composition for Publication assessment I administered this week. I also need to continue following up with the parents of the students who are failing Composition for Publications.