Week 3 Reflection

This week was a lesson in how much students hate standardized testing. I'm unsure how much review they had done over the week in their other classes, but Mr. S was adamant in having the students review key concepts that would be on the test. One thing I noticed was that the things they were reviewing this week were things that had been discussed through their 3 writing projects the previous weeks. In math, it would be hard to continuously discuss the same concepts, but in an English classroom, it seems fluid to have all the concepts not only build on one another, but also go back and review each standard as you move on. The students were definitely not excited about reviewing for the test. Most of them preferred talking to another over doing their work. When the teacher saw how slack they were being on their assignments, he announced that he would choose one over the weekend to grade. This was a good way to get their attention because without knowing which assignment would be graded, they are forced to complete all of them. I also got the opportunity to look over some of the papers with feedback.  The teacher did a great job of giving constructive criticism and also building up their creative side. I noticed that most of the feedback was given during the writing process so that the students actually read the comments and took the time to make some changes. Students who got below a certain grade were able to rewrite their papers and resubmit them for a grade. While some students were doing the review sheets, one student was working on rewriting his paper. I thought that this would be an issue, but it seemed like the teacher was okay with it because at least the student was being productive. I got to lead a review session this week, which was awesome! It was cool to be able to go over the short stories and get the students to relate to them so they were interested. One of the short stories was about basketball.  I brought up the tournament and let the kids talk about who they wanted to win and how they felt about the games, then we moved on to answering the questions. By engaging them with the story and themes, the students seemed more eager to share their answers, but this could also be because I wasn't their teacher so they felt obligated to participate. One thing that I struggled with was that one student was willing to answer the questions, but did so even when I hadn't called on him.  It's tough because I wanted that student to continue to participate and be enthusiastic, but I also didn't want it to get out of hand and keep other students from participating. It's hard to find that balance of what's appropriate and what's disruptive, and it's difficult to find a reaction that is not discouraging. In the end, I made a joke about it and the student began waiting to be called on. Hopefully, every classroom management issue is that simple to deal with. I was worried that the students wouldn't respect me for whatever reason, but looking back, that seems like a silly fear that holds no truth. The students may not always like Mr. S, but they do respect him and they do the work for his class. The students that are known for acting up in other classes don't seem to act out as much in his class, perhaps because of the subject matter, perhaps because of the work, or perhaps because they just enjoy Mr. S as a teacher. Either way, I have loved watching this teacher lead his classes and I would love to be a similar type of teacher one day, that students will do the work for, but also aren't afraid to have a little fun. This week was a lesson in balance.