I recently went to Clay Middle School for a third time.

With a bit of change in being able

to pick which classes to go to. In the end, I picked three classes that I have observed before.
Which was Ms. Baker, Ms. Boyce, and Ms. Grace’s classes. All of them brought in different
information and observations that made me consider different things. Overall, I think the
experience like always, went well. After being here a couple of times already, there was a sense
of acceptance of returning and eagerness from the teachers to see us again. Since I was a bit
behind in trying to go into one of the classrooms I liked for an hour, I made sure to change for
next week to be in the two classes I have enjoyed so much and can’t wait for next week.
The experience I wanted to dive deeper into more was Ms. Grace’s 6th-grade math class
this week. I didn’t realize how different it would be this week on a white day for only the last 30
minutes of the field experience. This day was different since she introduced me to their Core+
block. This block is during the portion of the 6th’s grade lunch hour when they aren’t in lunch.
Clay Middle School surprisingly has two lunchtimes in a single period for each grade. I still
don’t truly know if it’s for spacing reasons, or for the best for students and staff to eat their
lunches and not have a full hour and a half to be in the cafeteria. Now as I write that out, I am
going to say a bit of both of my assumptions, but more of the second one. For Core+ this is when
students can work on anything that comes to mind of what needs to be done, unless otherwise
noted. This is very much like HLP #17 which reminds educators to leave clear instructions for
those who finish early. With this, students would have some free time, but still needed to be
respectful of the space for everyone else in the class. I could see some students playing on their
computers or talking to friends. The students had free reign but it was built on trust and
established procedures. Which is HLP #7 that recommends that teachers take time to develop
procedures and expectations for the class. It was very clearly worked on between Ms. Grace and
her class, and I am inspired to place that trust in my own prospective students.
Going more in-depth with Core+, this was something that I quite was intrigued by. Not
only was this a study hall of sorts for students, but there was also a collaboration between all the
teachers. This is because the moment I walked into Ms. Grace’s classroom, the projector board
had all of the subjects and assignments that were due soon. Ms. Grace spoke to me and explained
that altogether the 6th-grade teachers create this PowerPoint for Core+ to help keep students on
track and give them independence to complete their work. The PowerPoint slide for Core+ is
quite in line with HLP #19 since it explains, “Instructional technology is designed to facilitate
successful teaching and learning practices” (HLP 6:02). Of course, the projector is always a great
tool that can be used for educational purposes. I mean, I remember when the Smartboards started
to enter my own classrooms, and they changed the game in there. There was a time when
everyone was so excited to interact with the board or write on it if the teacher asked us to. I feel
that many technological things can be used to help students in their learning. HLP #18 agrees
with HLP #12 because it says, “Teachers can use technology to leverage student engagement.”
(HLP 10:10). Technology can truly be used to help engage students and work on other ways to
gain interactions and build knowledge. Whether it's for learning, or used as a guide.
Yet, this isn’t the only thing that I wanted to write about from Ms. Grace’s class. Like
before, I have become stumped by 6th-grade math. This time with the word: “class width” when
observing graphs that used histograms. One student came up to me and another classmate and
asked what those two words meant. I confidently read the question and replied with some
number I believed to be right. Automatically, she clicked submit and went, “Oh, that’s wrong.”
My shame crept through me again, I was not proud of myself for getting stumped by 6th-grade
math for the second time. Deciding to take more brain power and a different course of action, I
grabbed an expo marker and used one of Ms. Grace’s whiteboard sheets that was on her shelves.
Since, “Using manipulatives, graphic organizers, and other useful visual aids and tools, students
are supported in their organization of new information” (HLP 11:00) as HLP #12 says. Going
through the problem again and trying different solutions to figure out what the assignment
meant. My other dear classmate, Cara, told me what it was. With this new knowledge, I began to
feel confident again and helped the student with her math assignment. In the end, we completed
it and I did apologize to her for getting the both of us more confused before we solved it, she said
it was okay and went back to her desk. Once again, I am trying to remind myself that it’s okay to
make mistakes in front of students, and I still want to work on that for the future.
Of course, this classroom has always given me new insights of things to consider. One of
the professional development questions I wanted to write about was how the classroom
environment (procedures) impacts their learning. Not only did the trust built by Ms. Grace with
knowing her students would work on their assignments but there was also the procedure of
Core+ overall that impacted the students’ learning. The procedure and clear expectations help
reinforce the need for students to use their time wisely, which is always something good to have
to remind them. With that, another development question was how was instruction being
delivered. As previously mentioned, the projector was used to help show what “instruction” was
in place. But, Ms. Grace also was one to help develop what needed to be done in the classroom.
Such as reminders of using their time, when one student had a question about a subject, ask the
class if any of the students could help a student. Or working on helping with math questions one-
on-one.
Lastly, I wanted to write about teacher feedback I am taking to heart. This was more of a
conversation and the dialogue I’m taking to heart, than feedback since I wasn’t the one being
heavily involved in the classroom with the students. During a moment when a student didn’t
need her help or my classmates. She started to talk with us about more about this class and what
grades we wanted to teach. Afterward, she double-checked none of her students needed help and
explained that we should always have an open mind to what grades we may end up teaching. She
shared her story of how she loved 2nd grade and always wanted to teach 2nd grade, she ended up
being a 1st-grade teacher for some time, before assisting at a middle school and fell in love with
teaching 6th graders. In the end, she switched to 6th grade and explained she never would change
it and has been teaching 6th grade for quite some time now. The thing is, I appreciated Ms.
Grace coming to talk with us when she had a moment, and I loved getting to speak and get to
know her more. This made me very excited to be in her classroom again next week.