Haylee Self-London

December 1, 2016

W. Smith
Educ 2301
Field Experience
Wolfe City Middle School

This semester for my field experience I had the opportunity to travel back to the
Wolfe City Middle School to observe the four teachers who make up the 6 th through 8th
grade Math and Science departments. The teachers I observed all taught differently,
with unique classroom management styles. This school year the campus is adjusting to
many new changes. Mrs. Williams, who I observed last fall as a Science teacher,
became the Principal. She runs the school with a more hands-on approach from the
Principal before her. She has started many new programs with not just the students but
the teachers as well. Most of the teachers in the Middle School technically have two
conference periods. One is for their normal conference time, while the other is for their
extra duty of the day such as UIL coordinating or Test Coordinating. For the students
they have started an Honors class program that uses the students scores in the subject
the year before with their STAAR scores in the subject to see where the student should
be placed.
On my first day I began in the Math Department observing Mrs. Davis and Mrs.
Northcutt. The first half of the day I spent in the classroom with Mrs. Davis, who I had
the opportunity to observe last fall as well. This school year makes Mrs. Davis third year
in her own classroom. This year she is teaching half of the 6 th grade class and 8th grade.
Mrs. Davis classroom is still run with a laid back approach. The students come in, and
get to work. They do not seem to stress coming through the door or even when she

begins the new lesson for the day. Even though the classroom atmosphere is relaxed,
the students still knew that Mrs. Davis was the teacher and the authority in the
classroom. Mrs. Davis starts her classes with a bell ringer that the students work
independently on for the first 5 minutes of class before they discuss and work through
the problem as a class with Mrs. Davis. After completing the bell ringer the class
moved in to grading the homework from the night before. Mrs. Davis had the students
trade papers and grade with the answers projected on to the board. She let the students
work through this on their own while answering any questions they had while grading.
After grading the students gave the papers back and then were given the opportunity to
ask her to work some of the problems out if they needed her to explain the process in
depth. When Mrs. Davis began her lesson for the day the students followed along in
their textbooks that double as a workbook where they were able to complete the
example problems on the board as she worked through them on the board. This class
layout and management style was used throughout her classes and different grade
levels throughout the day.
I was able to spend both of Mrs. Davis conference periods with her as well as
two class periods with students. Her first conference is during 2 nd period which is her
normal conference time with her extra immediately following during 3 rd period. For her
second conference time she is the Mentor Teacher for the many new teachers that are
on the campus this year. She helps them with any questions they may have as well as
helping them set up their email, grade book, attendance, lesson plans in Eduphoria, and
their teacher binders. Since the school year has already started and the newer teachers
have begun to catch on to their daily activities and are needing less help, Mrs. Davis

spends extra time with some of the 8th grade students who are beginning to make the
transition from resource math to the general math class. The high school does not offer
a resource math class so they are making the transition now and receiving the extra
help so that they will be ready during the next school year.
The other half of my first day of observing I spent with Mrs. Northcutt who
doubles as the testing coordinator for the campus. Mrs. Northcutt is from Wolfe City and
majored in Biology in college, but received a math job for the Greenville High School
when she graduated. She spent a few years at Greenville teaching Algebra I and
coaching the cheerleading squad before moving to Wolfe City. After 5 years she moved
to the Bonham school district where she spent 2 years teaching middle school math.
This is her first school year back at Wolfe City. She is certified to teach 6-12 Math as
well as 4-8 general studies. Now Mrs. Northcutt teaches the other half of 6 th grade and
7th grade. Mrs. Northcutt was my 8th grade math teacher when I moved to Wolfe City,
and her classroom management and teaching style has not changed. She begins her
classes with a bell ringer and then takes up the homework from the previous night, if
she gave any homework. Then she moves in to taking notes for the new unit while
completing the example problems from the students textbooks as they follow along
before assigning in class problems for the students to complete. If they do not finish the
problems they become homework. I remember from her class that Mrs. Northcutt hardly
gives homework that was not class work to begin with. She wants the students to learn
the material in class while receiving help on their work versus taking notes all class then
struggling through problems on their own that they have to take home to complete.

On my second day I was able to observe in the Science Department. Both of the
teachers, Mr. Page and Ms. McCleese, are new to the district this year. Mr. Page spent
10 years as an EMT/Paramedic before some life events happened that took him out of
the field. He decided to go back to school, where he had begun to be an RN many
years before, to finish his requirements and receive his teaching certificate. This is his
first year in his own classroom. Ms. McCleese is in her third year of teaching but in her
first year with her own classroom. She spent her first two years in a DAEP school in
Sherman after graduating with a major in History. Mr. Page teaches half of the 6 th grade
as well as 8th grade while Ms. McCleese teaches the other half of the 6 th grade and 7th
grade. Mr. Page has an elective period every other week during 8 th period that is a
Health Sciences class. The High School campus has had the Health Sciences program
for many years now, but this is a new transition class for the middle school this year. I
was there on their off week for the class so unfortunately I was not able to observe it,
but I was able to talk to Mr. Page about the class during his conference. The Health
Sciences class, being an elective, has a mixture of students from the honors students to
the SPED students in it. He teaches the class more first aide techniques and knowledge
than the medical information for students who want to venture in to the Health Care field
so that all of the students can gain from the course work and material.
Mr. Page has a stern teaching style. The students, knowing that he is new to the
classroom, push their limits so he has to be stern to take control of the classroom. He
does this very well. The first 8th grade class period I was observing in his class he was
teaching over plate tectonics, which was a new unit for the students, so they were
reading the chapter together and then going to work through the worksheet at the end of

the chapter. The first class handled this task very well. They followed along and read
when called on, and he worked through the critical thinking questions that followed. In
Mr. Pages second 8th grade class, the students were uncooperative in the task. The
students were rowdy the second they walked through the classroom door. They were
coached through the daily processes of the class structure. In all of the classes there is
a bell ringer but they acted like they had never heard of such a thing and were not
taking the material or Mr. Page seriously. One of the students asked a question that did
not retain to the material being taught and when Mr. Page told him to do his work and
he would answer after class the student replied with, See Mr. Page, you dont even
know. Thats why you arent a real science teacher. Mr. Page handled this situation with
grace. Instead of getting mad and yelling, like I am sure most teachers would like to do
with a comment like that, he did not entertain the students comment. Instead he ignored
it, because the student was phishing for attention anyways.
Ms. McCleeses classroom was a fun atmosphere. The students were free to talk
and participate in class discussion. The first class I observed in was her 7 th grade
honors class. The students were learning the skeletal system, so the students began to
make a song while learning the bones to help memorize them better. The class as a
whole was excited to learn and needed little direction from Ms. McCleese. The next two
7th grade classes were a little bit more rowdy in the learning process. Ms. McCleese
used call outs, like EA Sports Its in the game, for the students to gain their attention
when they would begin to wonder from the lesson. Ms. McCleese would often bring up
material from the previous lessons or videos that they had watched to make the lessons
tie together. She would also do a short review from the day before with the students

before beginning the lesson for that day. Before the students left the classroom they had
an exit ticket activity to complete. For her classroom the door had laminated index
cards taped to door. The students were to grab an Expo marker and write at least one
thing that they learned that day. The students loved this. They all jumped up to be first to
the door and were excited to do this task.
I gained a great deal from my observation with Wolfe City Middle school in the
Math and Science Departments. In these two subjects that most students will struggle
with, you must make the material fun and engaging for all of the students in your
classroom. Some class groups will push their limits more than others, but how you
handle the disruptions is more important. You cannot always just yell and threaten
students with detentions. Your main goal is to educate the students in the coursework
the best way you can. Creating a class that has proper structures, and lessons that are
centered on actively teaching the students you will have the most success in reaching
each student that comes through your door.