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Gabriella Erestain

Dr. Flannagan

UED 406.01

April 1, 2024

Weeks 11 & 12 Reflection

During Weeks 11 and 12, I fully took over Ms. Conrad’s English 10 courses. This

placement is quite different than my placement at Salem Middle School primarily because each

English 10 teacher is moving at her own pace. During PLC meetings, we check in and discuss

which unit we are teaching, whether our students have taken the district-provided assessments,

and what we are looking to teach next. On the other hand, 6th grade English at Salem Middle

School was in lockstep, where two teachers made the lesson plans, and the other 6th grade

teachers had to teach them. We all shared a pacing calendar and tried our best to follow it,

especially since most lesson plans were only one day long. Being at PAHS is difficult because I

am making every lesson plan from scratch with the help of some resources, yet I am enjoying the

content level and age group of my students so much. The work that I must put into my lesson

plans is worth it since I am truly enjoying what I teach.

In addition, Week 11 allowed me to experience many shifts and setbacks in my schedule,

which is something that will inevitably happen during my teaching career. On the Monday of

Week 11, the guidance office came in to teach a career planning lesson, which took 30-45

minutes. On the following Tuesday and Wednesday, the eleventh grade writing SOLs took place,

which caused the whole schedule for the day to be altered. I had my Block 1 for 2.5 to 3 hours,
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while I only had my Block 3 for one hour. For a few days, Block 3 fell behind, which was

interesting since they are the Honors English class.

Because of testing, my Block 1 also had to move to a different classroom on both

Tuesday and Wednesday. Ms. Conrad and I did not have time to set up or look at the classrooms

beforehand, which helped me practice teaching in an unfamiliar environment on short notice. On

Tuesday, I taught in a chemistry classroom, which was quite dirty and unorganized. On

Wednesday, I taught in a portable located at the back of the school. Although I encountered some

setbacks, such as having to shift desks around and the Smart Board disconnecting because of a

loss of Wi-Fi, none of the classroom changes prevented me from teaching my lessons.

On the other hand, I began noticing some strong differences between my CT and myself.

Ms. Conrad is quite easygoing and has admitted that she teaches at a naturally slower pace than I

do. During Week 11, I had to complete my data project, and during Week 12, Ms. Conrad asked

me to begin and finish the literary essay unit. Week 11 was full of activities, yet we also had a

shortened amount of time due to reasons explained previously. When prepping for Week 12’s

literary essay unit, Ms. Conrad explained that she would be absent on that Monday and that I

should pace the unit so students would have their final draft finished by Thursday or Friday.

On Monday afternoon, Ms. Conrad and I called, so I could review how the day went. I

explained that my Block 1 students were falling behind and would not be ready to begin their

body paragraphs the next day. Ms. Conrad advised that I slow down and should work on adding

time for the clerical needs of the classroom, such as having students read and check their grades.

This advice was quite confusing to me, for she was quite adamant during the previous week that

the students finish their essay before Spring Break. After I expressed my confusion, she and I
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worked to make a new pacing schedule for that week, and we later found that had to keep

adjusting it.

Similarly, I told my students that their literary essay organizer must be completed by the

end of class on Friday, for I would check each organizer and give each student a completion

grade. Before doing so, Ms. Conrad told me that I could wait until after Spring Break when every

student completed their full rough draft. I explained to her that if I told the students they had a

hard deadline, and I was going to give them a grade, I needed to follow through and be

consistent.

From these experiences, I learned that I must adjust my pacing schedule according to the

needs of my students. After Ms. Conrad told me that I must have the students complete their

entire literary essay in four and a half days, I knew that this would be quite difficult for my Core

students. This could have been adjusted if I planned the short story unit better, allowing for more

time for the essay unit. However, Ms. Conrad is also correct in the fact that the pacing of my

lessons is quite fast, and I am not allowing myself enough time to grade or complete the basic

housekeeping needs of the classroom. To improve this during my first year of teaching, I will

look at the provided pacing guide and the schedules of other English teachers on my grade level

to understand how long certain units should be taught. While doing this, I can still adjust the

lessons to meet the needs of my students.