Field Experience Daily Reflections

Name: Sarah Ball
Date/Time: March 08, 2021

Daily Hours: 12:00-3:00 (3 hours)
Total Field Hours Thus Far: 3 hours
Host Teacher(s): Mr. Brian Brown
Grade Level(s): 10th Grade
Subject Area(s): American Literature
School: Grove City Area High School
School Address: 511 Highland Ave, Grove City, PA 16127
The main thing I observed today was the importance of building personal relationships
with students. Mr. Brown and I had a conversation upon my arrival about teaching strategies; I
made a comment about teaching literature seeming like leading discussions until you die.
Although Mr. Brown did affirm that discussions are a crucial part of teaching literature, he
highly emphasized the importance of forming personal and fun relationships with students.
These relationships will make students feel comfortable in the classroom; this comfort is what
leads student to participate in discussions and grow as learners. This idea of building
relationships with students raises the question of how to do. I know it’s nearly impossible to
provide a straightforward answer on how to build relationships with students because each
student is unique, and therefore has individual ways to facilitate deep connections. Mr. Brown
had such a deep, personal, and fun connection with each of his students that I can only hope to
reflect such great teaching strategies one day. As the students were entering the classroom, Mr.
Brown greeted each one individually. This is a strategy I will implement in my classroom; doing
so allows for students to know their presence is appreciated in the classroom and paints the
classroom as a place where they are valued.
Besides diving deep into the importance of building personal relationships with students,
observing Mr. Brown’s classroom for the day gave me insight into pedagogical strategies for
teaching literature. To ensure there is basic comprehension of the story, which is the baseline for
any future learning, he would review major plot points with his students. I absolutely love this
idea. Going over the plot with the class makes sure students are all on the same page of what is
going on in the novel, meaning everyone can start from the same place in their learning. Mr.
Brown integrated the use of small group and partner discussion into the whole class discussion.
According to Mr. Brown, doing so allows for students to converse with one another and stay
engaged in the discussion rather than drowning out the teacher. I had never considered this
aspect of small group and partner discussion before. In my mind, partner discussions were
important because they allowed for students to have a chance to voice their opinions without the
pressure of the whole class listening. Although this probably still rings true, the idea of offering
students a change of pace within the realm of discussion is equally as important to consider.
Today’s observation led me to have several major breakthroughs in the realm of
understanding how to be an effective teacher. First and foremost, I was exposed to the
importance of building personal relationships with students. Professors constantly remind their
classes of how important this is, but seeing it firsthand helped solidify why, exactly, doing so is
so important in order to be a teacher of impact. Secondly, I was exposed to new methods and
reasons for pedagogical decisions. Making sure students leave class with a basic understanding
of the plot of a novel must occur before any other learning or growing in the topic can take place.
I had never considered this idea before, rather was going to rely on students bringing their own
understanding to class. Although, yes, students do need to have their own understanding, briefly
making sure every student is at the same beginning point will ensure effective learning. Lastly,
Mr. Brown opened my eyes to another reason why utilizing small groups is important in the class
discussion context. Instead of spending an hour listening to the teacher lecture, breaking students
into small groups to discuss keeps them engaged in the flow of the classroom.
***
Name: Sarah Ball
Daily Hours: 12:00-1:30 (1.5 hours)
Host Teacher(s): Mr. Meyers & Mr. Brown
Grade Level(s): 9th-12th, 10th grade
Subject Area(s): Special Education (Special Education log), American Literature
The first half of this day was spent in a special education classroom.
I know this is going to sound strange, but one element of this day’s experience that
resonated with me is the idea of the physical orientation of classroom. Today, Mr. Brown made a
brief, and probably insignificant to him, comment that discussing literature is more of a
conversation than a discussion. This comment got me on the rabbit trial of thinking about
conversations: they are an important and intimate element of human life. Since conversing with
one another is such an intimate activity, it is nearly impossible to foster an effective conversation
while spaced six feet apart. Mr. Brown’s classroom is, because of COVID restrictions, set up
different than his ideal (and normal) setup. There certainly are obstacles to teaching in this
manner: students are speaking to the back of their classmates’ heads, students cannot see one
another and make eye contact while speaking, think-pair-shares are immensely spaced out. Mr.
Brown does a fantastic job of working around these obstacles and still manages to interact with
his students despite everything, but it is not ideal. In a semi-joking manner, Mr. Brown made me
promise to never set my classroom up in the rows and columns manner that his. This is such an
important thing to remember: students cannot have effective conversations with their classmates
when they are speaking to the back of each other’s heads. Additionally, Mr. Brown is so far
removed from the students in the back of his classroom. There is no way this facilitates effective
learning for the students in the back of the class.
Besides my concerns with the physical setup of the classroom, I noticed that Mr. Brown
directly calls on students rather than waiting for them to volunteer an answer. The first
explanation for this is because it is often awkward when there is silence, and no one offers to
share their insight. Something about Mr. Brown’s energetic nature makes me assume that this is
not the actual reason. Knowing Mr. Brown, and after getting a very helpful piece of advice, my
best assumption as to why he does not wait for volunteers is because it varies which students
respond to questions. Mr. Brown told me to ignore the hand raisers. The hand raisers are the ones
who know the answer; it is those who do not raise their hand who need a chance to answer. By
calling on these students as well as the hand raisers, every student is reminded that their insight is
valuable. My only remaining question regarding this matter is that of why, exactly, this strategy
works for Mr. Brown. The students never seem frustrated that he uses this strategy; in fact,
everyone seems content. This could be because they have been dealing with this for several
months in Mr. Brown’s class, but my best guess is that Mr. Brown’s relationship with his
students allows for this to be an effective strategy. The better the relationship the teacher has
with his students, the more responsive his students are likely to be. All this goes to show the
importance of having good relationships with students.
Lastly, I want to take a moment on the fact that Mr. Brown gives his students the
remaining ten or so minutes to get started on their assigned reading for the next day. Although
this is, in theory, a good idea, I am not convinced that it holds up to its idyllic nature in practice.
More often than not, Mr. Brown’s students do not actually use this time for reading. I have
observed half the students on their phones during this time, some are talking to each other, and
very few students are actually reading. All in all, my question regarding the matter is if this is
really an effective use of time. Part of me understands why Mr. Brown does this. The students
who really want, or need, to get started on their reading will do so and the students who do not
will just have more homework. The other half of me simply thinks that perhaps these remaining
ten minutes would be better used for another activity that is actually productive. Maybe giving
students a chance to ask questions, extending class discussions, for example.
***
Name: Sarah Ball
Host Teacher(s): Mr. Anastasi & Mr. Brown
Grade Level(s): 12th & 10th grade
Subject Area(s): Contemporary Literature & American Literature
Today’s big lesson was on engaging students in learning. Well, my big lesson was on
engaging students in learning. I observed two different teachers today yet the thing that resonated
with me the most, from both classrooms, was how to engage students in learning. I know I have
mentioned several times how my biggest concern when becoming an English teacher is getting
my students engaged in the literature. I know English does not float everyone’s boat and for
those students, I feel impending doom on how get them psyched for learning in the same as
students who are passionate about English. Mr. Brown and Mr. Anastasi are both fantastic role
models on how to get students excited for learning about literature and I am, honestly, in awe of
their skill in doing so. The difference in their strategies to get the class excited to discuss
literature goes to show that there is no one correct way to teach English. It is all about the
students and how they respond to teaching strategies. Sometimes, as was the case this day, there
are multiple ways to get students excited to learn. Other times, teachers have to totally reassess
their teaching strategies and that is okay, too.
First, my experience with Mr. Anastasi gave me great insight into how to spark
conversations within the classroom so that students are engaged right from the beginning. For
homework students had to read three short stories and upon coming to class, Mr. Anastasi began
class by asking students two questions. One, he asked students which story was their favorite and
two, which line was their favorite. I absolute love this idea! From a student perspective, one of
the biggest reasons why students do not engage in class discussions is because they are worried
about offering a “wrong” answer to the class. If the question posed to students regards their
favorite line from a piece of literature, there is no right or wrong answer; it is completely
subjective to each student. Students were more eager to answer this question than any other
question Mr. Anastasi asked in class. I definitely plan on implementing this strategy when I have
my own classroom; the question of how to get students psyched for a class discussion is solved
almost immediately. Furthermore, Mr. Anastasi took the time to address each of the students’
favorite lines. I am unsure if there was a particular reason why he did this, but I think it
inadvertently goes to show students that their opinions about literature are highly valued and
respected in the class.
Mr. Brown’s strategy to engage students in class discussion, although slightly different,
was equally as successful. In one of my favorite things maybe ever, Mr. Brown asked his class of
16-year-olds the following question: “what is love?” Of course, the sophomore struggled to come
up with a concrete answer; I am four years older than these students and I do not even have an
answer to that question. At first, I was unclear as to how this would engage students. Asking hard
questions seems to be counterproductive. Mr. Brown facilitated healthy debate over the matter.
When a student would offer some insight into the idea of love, Mr. Brown would challenge it by
presenting either a flaw or critique to their claim. During this class, Mr. Brown encouraged
students to do the same with each other. He facilitated and encouraged healthy debate within the
classroom. This is another idea that I absolutely love and will use in my classroom. I am a huge
fan of healthy debates in a classroom setting. Not only does it encourage students to grapple with
difficult questions and respectfully disagree with one another, but debates in the classroom is
also an almost surefire way to engage students. Since there is no concrete answer to the question,
students are more encouraged to participate because the fear of being wrong is eliminated.
Overall, I love the idea of debate in the classroom and plan on implementing this idea in my
future classroom!
***
Name: Sarah Ball
Host Teacher(s): Mr. Brown
Grade Level(s): 10th grade
Today I came to the staunch realization that lesson plans are not perfect. Being someone
who revolves around planning nearly every single aspect of my life, the thought of deviating
from lesson plans is, admittedly, slightly terrifying. I noticed that Mr. Brown “backed up” his
lesson to review elements from last class. He did this to make sure that students understood the
material before having them interact with it for assignments. Today, Mr. Brown reviewed the
same PowerPoint slides he introduced last Wednesday, but this time in a slower and more in-
depth nature. It was clear that students needed to go over what they learned last week, but this
time it needed to be slowed down because they struggled to grasp the material the first time
around. I love the recognition that sometimes, lessons plans, ironically, do not work according to
plan. Teachers create lesson plans, but sometimes they need to be adjusted to meet the needs of
the students. Not just lesson plans, but also the material presented in class, should not be set in
stone. Part of the Danielson Framework for Instruction is flexibility and responsiveness. This
domain is all about responding to the students’ needs and adjusting the plan for class
accordingly. Mr. Brown did a phenomenal job at this. When he recognized that students were
still having difficulty grasping the persuasive techniques, he flawlessly transitioned into
reviewing this material instead of fixating on how it deviated from his original. This is definitely
something I have to preemptively work on,
Another element of Mr. Brown’s class that I want to touch on is how he gives his
students choices on their final project. Persuasive writing, which is what his class is currently
working on, is only one option for their final project. I know from Educational Psychology that
giving students, and people in general, choice will motivate them to accomplish their work in a
more timely and effective manner. All in all, giving students choice on how to complete their
final project is a proven way to see better results. This does raise the question, however, of if it
works better in English classes compared to other classes. Mr. Brown clearly gives his students
freedom in writing assignments; I am wondering if this strategy works better in English classes
compared to other classes. There seems as though there would be more opportunities for this
sense of freedom in English classes, especially compared to a subject like science or math where
concepts are fairly concrete and there is little room for adjustment.
Finally, I want to take a moment and reflect on the test Mr. Brown gave to his students
today. During this period, I had the opportunity to look over a copy of the exam and jot down
some notes regarding the matter. Since most of the sophomore English curriculum is based on
passing the Keystone exam, Mr. Brown wrote one question per assessment anchor. This helps
both the student and teacher focus on the goals of the Keystone exam. Additionally, Mr. Brown
tracks with questions most students get wrong. By doing this, Mr. Brown can clearly see which
assessment anchors students are struggling with and he can teach the next piece of literature
more heavily through the lens of that assessment anchor. I think this is a fantastic idea. Every
aspect of the test is based on making sure students are as successful as possible in their Keystone
exam. Tracking student progress on assessment anchors is such a phenomenal way to center
lessons around the areas in which students are struggling which is a recipe for success! Lastly, I
want to comment on how Mr. Brown lets his students use their novels during the test. At first, I
was skeptical about this idea – it seems to take away their initiative to study and prepare for the
test. After talking with Mr. Brown, however, I have realized that in the real world, students will
have access to reference materials. If our job, as educators, is to prepare students for the real
world, what is the use in preventing them from learning how to effectively use their resources?
***
Name: Sarah Ball
I always knew that my education was all connected. That everything I learned in middle
school was connected and necessary to my education in college, and that was more than proved
today in Mr. Brown’s class. In Mr. Brown's American Literature class, Mr. Brown was talking to
the class about John Quincy Adams and the importance of education. This sparked a direct
correlation between John Quincy Adams and his grandson, Henry Adams. Although this does
not seem like an important correlation, Henry Adams was a topic we spent extensive time in my
American Literature class. These students, who are five years behind me in their education, are
learning things in their English class that have a direct correlation to what I’m learning in my
English class. Students need to understand why they’re learning what they’re learning; once they
understand the importance of what they’re learning, they are far more motivated to continue
learning. In this case, and nearly every other case, learning is importance because it relates to
learning down the road. Had I known, as a Senior in High School, that the things I was learning
in my English class were going to become topics expounded upon five years later in my
education, I would have valued what I was learning much more deeply.
To further expound upon the idea of students needing to know the importance of what
they’re learning, Mr. Brown had an extensive discussion with me regarding this matter when his
class was working on their writing assignment. In this particular instance, Mr. Brown explained
to me why he always writes paragraphs on his assignments explaining to students why they’re
learning what they’re learning. In the words of Mr. Brown, students aren’t going to care if they
don’t understand the importance of a topic. This got me thinking about what motivates students
to learn. Of course, there are the obvious reasons like students are interested in a topic, or the
material was presented in a fun way, but there are underlying reasons as well. In this case,
students are motivated by understanding the importance of a topic. I don’t think I’ve ever really
taken the time to think about why this motivates students. It makes sense, though, that this would
be a motivating factor. If students think what they’re learning is meaningless, they will have no
incentive to learn. In order to combat this, Mr. Brown always relates his topics to real life
situations. With persuasive writing he reminds students that persuasion is a technique necessary
for every aspect of life. When dealing with transition sentences, jumping from one topic to
another is never an effective means of communicating.
Lastly, I want to talk about how Mr. Brown emphasizes the importance of students
learning independently. Especially in the context of discussing, and writing about, themes in
literature, Mr. Brown doesn’t ever explicitly tell his students what the themes are. He does this in
order to prevent students from “parroting” answers back when completing a writing assignment.
This technique, although not one I ever thought about, is truly remarkable and definitely
something I’m going to implement in my future classroom. Students, especially in English
classes, tend to write about what they know the teacher wants to read, and this cuts down on the
students’ independent thinking. Students will never learn how to think for themselves, and in
order to do this they cannot simply write whatever the teacher teaches them. If independent
thinking is facilitated by forcing students to think about the themes of literature without the
teacher directly telling them what these themes are.
***
Name: Sarah Ball
Date/Time: April 12, 2021
For the first hour and a half of today’s field experience, I had the opportunity to observe Mr.
Brown’s planning period. Although it wasn’t teaching, it was still such a blessing to be able to
see what a planning period actually looks like for teachers. Mr. Brown uses his planning period
for professional development (see the interview questions for a more detailed explanation of
this). Growing up with a father who works in the administration portion of education, I was
always influenced by the notion that professional development is “a scam” and an excuse for
teachers to get paid for doing nothing. After having the opportunity to observe Mr. Brown’s
professional development, I have to admit that this notion is incredibly false. Sure, I’m sure there
are some professional development courses, like the ones overseas, that allow for teachers to
travel and call it “professional development,” but for the most part, professional development
seem like a necessary part of education. I know that I am still just an education major student
who is still learning how to teach but observing as Mr. Brown went through the course and
asking questions, I learned something incredibly important: learning never stops. Even as
teachers there are opportunities to grow and learn how education is changing.
As for the actual class period, Mr. Brown’ class spent ample time going over the historical
background and history of authors, particularly Robert Frost (since that is what they’re reading in
class). I, for one, think it is very important to understand the context of the author’s writing.
Overall, I think students are more invested in learning and find it easier to connect to the writing
when they are given the background of it. I know for me, at least, learning that Robert Frost was
raised in New Hampshire made me more invested in diving deep into his poetry because I, too,
was raised in New Hampshire. If the main goal of education is to get students invested in
learning, which is what I think it should be, I think having a strong understanding of the
background of the material is absolutely crucial. I think learning the background of the material
is equally as important as the material itself because understanding the background is the basis
for learning. Having a solid understanding of the background of the material sets students up to
be far more interested in what they’re learning as opposed to being presented with just the
material.
Once again, I have questions regarding teaching the background of the material. I am
completely in favor of students having a solid understanding on the background of the author,
but I am wondering how to find a balance between the two. Obviously, teaching the actual
material and written works is equally as important as the background information. There does,
however, need to be a balance between the two. There are probably several factors that go into
determining this: how long the class will be learning about one particular author, etc., the
material itself, the previous knowledge the students have. If the class will spend a week learning
about one novel, I think it would be appropriate to spend an entire class period discussing
background information. If, however, the class will only spend two days on a topic, it would be
far more appropriate to spend only half a class, for example, on this background. It would make
sense that if the students are already familiar with the topic or novel or reading material, that less
class time would be spent learning about the background. For example, Mr. Brown’s students
had spent time with Frost’s poetry in the past, so they did not require as much focus on Frost as
students who had never read his poetry before.
***
Name: Sarah Ball
Date/Time: April 14, 2021
This was such an amazing last day to my field experiences because of two words: tech tools.
First and foremost, the class spent the first half of class on PearDeck! I know these tech tools
exist because they make learning more fun and convenient, but it’s strange to think of them
being used anywhere outside the education department at Grove City College. Certainly, because
I never used these tech tools as a student, it’s strange to see them being actually implemented in
classes. I also learned about a super awesome new tech tool: NoodleTools. NoodleTools is a
super convenient tool for research papers. Using this tool, sources are checked to be reliable right
on the site and are properly cited right there. This makes everything so much easier for students
because although they did learn how to cite sources previously in the year, it’s honestly not a
skill students will need to memorize how to do. Sources are uploaded directly to Google Docs
for when students write their essays, too. This is easily the best tech tool I’ve seen, especially for
high school English classes. A lot of the time, I feel like the tech tool I’ve learned about and
explored are far more equipped for younger students, but NoodleTools is something I hope my
future school uses.
What I noticed about this day was how it was such a chill day. Mr. Brown started the day by
asking each of his students what they hoped to do upon graduation. They discussed college,
choosing majors, trade schools, and everything that high school seniors typically think about. In
the words of Mr. Brown, “It’s never too early to start thinking about after graduation.” I really
appreciated Mr. Brown’s strong advocacy and support for trade schools instead of college. As
someone who is a product of the public school system, I know firsthand that public schools
advocate for college, but there is a stigma surrounding trade or vocational schools. Obviously,
I’m a fan of college. I do, after all, attend college. I support college wholeheartedly for students
for which college is the best fit. Trade schools, however, deserve to be advocated for more
strongly in the public school system. College isn’t the best fit for everyone; sometimes, trade
schools are the best choice and teachers need to support trade schools just as strongly as public
schools. In light of this, Mr. Brown gave his students practical advice for applying for college,
graduation, and whatever future plans his students may have. I love how Mr. Brown was willing
to have this conversation with his students, especially because they are only sophomores.
Lastly, I want to speak to the fact that Mr. Brown did have a chill day. At the beginning of class,
Mr. Brown explained that he would have a chill day because the pace was about to get crazy
with the upcoming Keystone Exam and needing to prepare for that. I think it is great to have a
time to relax. I know burnout is real; students can get overwhelmed and burnt-out far more often
than I think teachers realize. With this said, I wholeheartedly support having chill, relaxing days
in class. I do, however, wonder how often these days should happen. There is still a set of
expectations for teachers. There are standards teachers need to meet, topics they need to teach,
and students they need to prepare for their future classes. Clearly, these relaxing days should
happen far less often than once a week, and I’m not even convinced they should happen even
once a month. This is probably just something that I am going to have to figure out as I’m
teaching, though. (Oh, and I want to mention that Mr. Brown openly expresses interest in
attending his students’ games).
ADVICE FROM MR. BROWN:
- There is no lack of demand on your time

- You can’t afford to have a favorite student
o Each student deserves equal appreciation from the teacher. There is something
good to be found in every single student
- It’s going to take a few years to find your groove as a teacher. Don’t expect to have it all
together in the first year.

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Name: Sarah Ball

Date/Time: March 08, 2021

- There is no lack of demand on your time

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