Journal 1

Over the next few weeks I will be posting some entries for various classes that I have. I will title them as Journals (for my EDSS 531 class) and Reading Responses (for my EDSS 530 and 541 classes). Most of them will be in response to a prompt which I will try to remember to post at the beginning of each update. Here is the first one!


Respond to the following questions: What is it like to be a student in my class? What is it like for a student to move through classes in a day at my (CPI) school?


Answering the first question is a pretty interesting endeavor I think. The primary reason being that I've never asked any of my students what it's like to be in my class (something I will endeavor to change when I start my Clinical Practice II). That being said, if I were to imagine what it's like to be in my class from the perspective of a student there are a few things I would say. The first is that I give a lot of work. I had constant complaints during my CPI (Clinical Practice I) about giving too much work. This is both a good and bad thing. It is good because my students needed a lot of help/practice with their writing but it was also negative because it made it more difficult for them to focus on the different projects that were given to them.


I do think students enjoyed my class. There were several instances where I received comments from my students that the subject matter we were discussing and reading in class was especially interesting to them. I try to give my students diverse assessments and subjects within the English content area so as to keep them engaged and interested in what I'm teaching them. I also think students were challenged in my class no matter what their skill level. I was careful to give special attention to those that needed it and push the more advanced students further by asking more of them.


As far as the second question goes, obviously this would depend on the student. Many students have many different experiences moving through school depending on what classes they have, what grade they are in, whether they are involved in sports or other extracurricular activities. There is definitely plenty of time for students to get from class to class. I think that because we are on 50 minute periods it makes it a little hard for students to give their full attention to each class. It seems like there is about 10 minutes in each class spent on getting the students to focus and closing/cleaning up after the lesson has been taught. It is my belief a block schedule would be more beneficial, at least to my specific content area as it would give the students more time to work on difficult projects and focus more on the material without being in a "constant state" of shuffling around the school. Interestingly enough this is something being discussed at the moment (changing the schedule to block periods) at my school and will probably be voted on by the end of the semester.