STUDENT TEACHING WEEKLY LOG

Evelyn Lashley Week One: February 3rd February 7th

1. How did you spend your time this week? This week I taught all five of the English I classes and part of the Multicultural Lit period. All of the lessons I taught were planned in collaboration with Emily but organized by me. In Multicultural, I led a readaloud and response worksheet/discussion on a short story from the textbook. They have been introduced to their first summative assessment, which will be a narrative essay about their own cultural identity. In English I we are beginning our Romeo and Juliet unit, of which I will teach the majority. We started the week off with a teen problems activity (that Emily has used before and really liked) to brainstorm issues teens face today. They worked in groups and then put a list of top ten on the board. I went around and circled the issues that R and J face in the play. Students were surprised at how much they could still relate to those issues! I watched Emily teach the lesson twice and then I got to do it for three blocks the next day. Then we started a short research project on eight topics from the Elizabethan era to give students some background on Shakespeare and the time period. They worked in

groups and then presented information to the class on their separate topics. At the end of the week, we took notes about the play to give them a foundation for the characters and vocabulary.

2. What were your most satisfying and challenging experiences? My biggest challenge is Multicultural Literature right now. The class is very quiet and made up of upperclassmen, so it has been difficult to get them to participate. Emily and I plan to do an evaluation to ask the students what they would like to get out of the class to hopefully find out their interests and get more participation. The class is an elective, so we cant figure out why they would choose to take the class and then slack off. It is discouraging that they dont give much effort, and about half the class is skipping every day so we cant get all of the students on the same page. My most satisfying experiences have been getting to know my English I students. Since I have taught their classes all week, they are beginning to see me as a teacher. I have had some rowdy classes, but for the most part I think I am gaining their respect and having some good conversations with them. It is fun but also very tiring to deal with ninth graders!

3. What are the plans for the upcoming week?

Next week we will begin reading and watching Romeo and Juliet through various activities. This is the students first experience with Shakespeare so we will have to work through it rather slowly. Emily already has a schedule for the acts and scenes she wants them to read and the ones that we will just watch in the movie. She has taught the unit before so I will take her advice and then add my own adaptations for activities. I think things are going really well so far, and I have been working together with my data team since we have a great relationship already!

STUDENT TEACHING WEEKLY LOG

Evelyn Lashley Week Two: February 10rd February 14th

1. How did you spend your time this week? This week in English I we started Romeo and Juliet. The students choose roles and we read aloud in class. We read the prologue and the first two scenes in class and watched scenes three and four of the movie. It has been going fairly well so far, we have been doing quick writes and small discussions to aid comprehension. Multicultural Literature just wrapped up their first unit on identity and I organized a lesson about The Breakfast Club to help us transition into the next unit for next week about defining moments. We looked at the stereotypes in the movie and what moments helped break the barriers between the characters and change their perspectives.

2. What were your most satisfying and challenging experiences? My most satisfying experiences was teaching scene one of Act One. It is a little bit naughty and the kids were all giggling and having fun with it. The students got pretty into their roles and used funny voices to read for their characters. I liked seeing them begin to relate to the play and

comprehend the plot. We also had a substitute on Thursday and I taught the whole day, and the sub commented that she could tell that the students liked me. She said Youre going to be a great teacher, I would like to be in your class. That was a very gratifying moment for me. The biggest challenge was the end of the week for me. Students were ready for the weekend and really rowdy in class. I had some discipline issues in the last block on Thursday and two blocks on Friday, and I am struggling to know whether I am doing something wrong or if they just have a lot of energy. I am unsure if they are frustrated with the language of the play and choose to be off task instead, but it is difficult to keep them all focused once a few students begin to goof off. 3. What are the plans for the upcoming week? On Monday and Tuesday we will read and watch scene five in English I. I have planned an engaging love song activity for the end of Act One. I have chosen four songs and included the lyrics and response questions. Students will work in groups with one of the songs and compare the lyrics to the play. They will say who would be singing the song, to whom he/she would be singing, whether those two characters have a positive or negative relationship, and three lines from the play they can relate to the song. I think it will be fun! Multicultural will be starting their new unit, and I still need to do some

planning for that. We had very low attendance on Friday (8 out of twentysomething students), so we will probably have a lot of catch-up to do.

STUDENT TEACHING WEEKLY LOG

Evelyn Lashley Week Three: February 17rd February 22th

1. How did you spend your time this week? This week we continued reading Romeo and Juliet and finished Act II. We did a variety of comprehension activities, including comparing the sonnet from Act I, scene v with Sonnet 130 by Shakespeare. Students compared and contrasted the messages between each sonnet based on how the men describe their mistresses. In Multicultural Literature, we only had one class period due to an early out. We read a short story and did reflection questions. We are in Unit 2: Defining Moments.

2. What were your most satisfying and challenging experiences? I had quite a challenging week. My English I students are getting frustrated with the play and have been pretty rowdy in class. I need to focus on classroom management and start to send disruptive students out of the room. It is so difficult to decide when to make a scene by asking a student to leave, versus just reminding them repeatedly to stay on task. I need to work on this in the future to avoid student disruption.

3. What are the plans for the upcoming week? Next week we will take a quiz for the first half of Romeo and Juliet and then act out the fight scene for Act III, scene i. It should be an interactive and exciting class period. I hope the quiz gives me a sense of how students are progressing with comprehension and allow me to differentiate as we continue with the play. In Multicultural Literature I am going to give them their assignment for the Unit 2 summative assessment and we will do some small group activities to vary instruction (weve been doing a lot of whole-class reading and it was getting monotonous, so I want to switch up the pace).

STUDENT TEACHING WEEKLY LOG

Evelyn Lashley Week Four: February 24rd February 29th

1. How did you spend your time this week? This week we finished Act III of Romeo and Juliet. I have been busy planning with my data team and on my own to schedule the rest of the unit. We need to be done with the play and the summative assessment by spring break, so it is a tight squeeze. We read the play aloud and did some acting with fake swords for the fight scene. It was a lot of fun. Multicultural Literature is still going smoothly.

2. What were your most satisfying and challenging experiences? I feel as though students were really connecting with the play this week. There is more action now, so even students that were complaining are now slightly entertained. I have one student that was very disengaged and rude to Ms. Bollinger who is really warming up to me. I can tell he likes the play because he raises his hand to answer things and laughs while we watch the movie. It is fun to see him actually enjoying something in English class. I have talked to a few disruptive students before classes and they seem to be

settling down and respecting my authority. One challenge has been formative assessment, and I have come up with a few ways to check student understanding in English I that should help guide my instruction.

3. What are the plans for the upcoming week? Next week we will finish the play and introduce the summative project to our English I students. I cant believe I only have two weeks left! I am going to search for some current event pieces for MC Lit in order to give them something more current and relatable to read (our textbook is getting monotonous).

STUDENT TEACHING WEEKLY LOG

Evelyn Lashley Week Five: March 2nd March 7th

1. How did you spend your time this week? In English I we finished all of Romeo and Juliet and introduced the final project. We have had a few quizzes/worksheets as formative assessments and I have been using those to guide the topics I need to cover more than once. I have been working very hard to plan the rest of the unit and my data team is

behind my classes so Im kind of working alone. Multicultural Literature is finishing up their unit on Defining Moments and listened to some spoken word poetry and short stories. We have spent time figuring out what each of them will be doing for their outsider event, and they will have time on Monday to prepare their presentations.

2. What were your most satisfying and challenging experiences? I have been working like a dog this week. I did not leave school before 5pm all week. This Friday and last I was at school until 7pm. I have been working so hard to plan this unit and feel like Im doing a lot independently. Its giving me a great perspective on what teaching will really be like. A big obstacle this week was getting yelled at by a student in English I. He used profanity towards me, caused a huge scene, and stormed out of the room. He has behavior issues and has acted out before, but it was definitely a tough situation to deal with. One of his friends came up to me after class and said, Im sorry that happened Ms. Lashley, I hope you feel okay. It was nice to have students care about me, and many of them have expressed their sadness that Im leaving in a week. When that student returned to class the next day, he was well behaved and polite. I started with a fresh slate and greeted him as always, and we didnt have any problems. It was rewarding to be able to show him and the other students that, as his teacher, I would forgive him and

continue to support him toward success. When I spoke with the Vice Principal today about it, she said, The students are learning a lot from you. That was a difficult test, and you passed. Im very proud of how things turned out, despite the fact that it was a very difficult situation.

3. What are the plans for the upcoming week? Conferences are next week, book reviews were due today, and two unit summative assessments will be due next week, so I have a lot to prepare for. I have been grading for about 7 hours now, and am finally up to date. Now I am preparing myself for the flood of book reviews in to my email! Next week will be mostly work time for all classes finishing up summative assessments. I cant believe I only have four days left!