John Dimmick - WordPress.com ·  · 2012-04-12John Dimmick 10738 Preston Drive 317.531.3855 Indianapolis, IN 46236 [email protected] Candidate Work …

John Dimmick

10738 Preston Drive 317.531.3855Indianapolis, IN 46236 [email protected]

http://dimmickportfolio.wordpress.com

C a n d i d at e W o r k S a m p l e

I.  Contextual  Factors  

Shortridge  Magnet  High  School  is  an  urban  school  near  the  center  of  Indianapolis  

that  serves  both  middle  and  high  school  students  (grades  6  –  11,  though  expansion  to  the  

12th  grade  is  expected).  As  a  magnet  school  for  law  and  public  policy,  Shortridge  draws  

students  from  many  different  areas  of  Indianapolis,  and  the  total  enrollment  at  the  school  is  

approximately  600  students,  88%  of  whom  are  eligible  for  free/reduced  lunch.  

The  classes  I  taught  in  were  all  9th  grade  world  history,  and  all  of  the  classes  were  

following  the  same  curriculum.  Although  Shortridge  does  utilize  ability  tracking  in  some  

classes,  all  of  my  classes  were  of  mixed  ability,  with  students  from  many  different  areas  of  

the  spectrum  in  every  class  and  one  class  with  several  mid-­‐level  ELL  students.  This  made  

planning  lessons  easy  in  one  sense,  as  I  could  create  a  single  lesson  and  reuse  it  multiple  

times  as  I  saw  each  of  my  classes;  by  repeating  the  same  plan,  I  was  able  to  hone  and  

modify  it  so  that  it  improved  as  each  class  went  by.  The  downside  to  teaching  the  same  

lesson  is  that  it  was  sometimes  easy  to  be  tempted  into  the  trap  of  becoming  complacent  

about  the  material;  I  attempted  to  minimize  this  by  constantly  reminding  myself  that  each  

period  I  was  in  front  of  new  students  who  needed  and  deserved  my  best.  I  also  had  to  focus  

on  the  responsiveness  of  each  class;  each  group  of  students  responded  differently  to  the  

various  methods  I  used,  and  I  had  to  adjust  my  instruction  to  meet  the  individual  needs  of  

each  class.  

Shortridge  was  in  the  midst  of  an  administrative  turnover  while  I  was  there,  which  

meant  that  there  was  some  confusion  in  both  the  teaching  staff  and  the  students  as  to  

exactly  what  was  required  of  them  in  many  areas.  As  the  school  was  on  an  improvement  

plan  to  raise  standardized  test  scores,  each  student  had  to  attend  a  daily  “Success  Period”  

that  was  tracked  by  scores  on  ISTEP/ECA  tests.  My  cooperating  mentor  urged  me  to  take  

over  his  Success  Period  twice  a  week  (he  taught  an  “enrichment  class”  of  students  who  had  

higher  scores),  which  was  a  fairly  open-­‐ended  class;  as  long  as  test-­‐taking  and  writing  skills  

were  emphasized  and  practiced  in  some  way,  I  had  a  lot  of  freedom  to  create  lessons  on  

essentially  any  topic.  

II.  Learning  Outcomes  

Overview/Goals  

This  unit  was  designed  to  cover  the  major  figures,  events  and  relationships  in  European  

cultures  from  the  Middle  Ages  through  the  advent  of  mercantilism.  Students  in  the  

Indianapolis  Public  School  district  are  required  to  take  acuity  benchmark  exams  in  several  

subjects,  and  the  content  that  I  covered  in  this  unit  was  largely  determined  by  this  

assessment.  Because  the  preparation  time  for  this  unit  was  extremely  short  and  the  

amount  of  material  was  fairly  large,  my  main  goal  was  to  front-­‐load  as  much  schema  

development  as  possible  for  the  material  in  order  to  create  a  broad  knowledgebase  so  that  

the  students  had  some  familiarity  with  all  of  the  topics  covered  in  the  benchmark.  In  order  

to  continue  building  proficiency  in  these  topics,  the  aim  was  to  return  to  several  of  

standards  after  the  test  and  conduct  more  in-­‐depth  study.  

Standards  

• (WH.4.5)  Describe  how  technological  improvements  in  agriculture,  the  growth  of  

towns,  the  creation  of  guilds,  and  the  development  of  banking  during  the  Middle  

Ages  as  well  as  how  the  institutions  of  feudalism  and  the  manorial  system  

influenced  European  civilization.  

• (WH.4.8)  Explain  the  causes  of  the  Crusades  and  their  consequences  for  Europe  and  

Southwest  Asia,  including  the  growth  in  power  of  the  monarchies  in  Europe.  

• (WH.4.10)  Trace  the  origins  and  developments  of  the  Northern  Renaissance  and  the  

Italian  Renaissance.    Explain  Renaissance  diffusion  throughout  places  associated  

with  western  civilization.  

• (WH.4.11)  Describe  the  main  themes  and  achievements  of  the  Protestant  

Reformation,  including  its  impact  on  science,  technology,  and  the  arts.  

• (WH.4.12)  Analyze  the  factors  that  led  to  the  rise  and  spread  of  the  Protestant  

Reformation  as  well  as  the  reaction  of  the  Catholic  Church.    Discuss  the  

consequences  of  these  actions  on  the  development  of  western  civilization.  

• (WH.5.2)  Explain  the  origins,  development,  and  consequences  of  the  transatlantic  

slave  trade  between  Africa  and  the  Americas.    Analyze  and  compare  the  ways  that  

slavery  and  other  forms  of  coerced  labor  or  social  bondage  were  practiced  in  East  

Africa,  West  Africa,  Southwest  Asia,  Europe,  and  the  Americas  from  1450  to  1750.  

• (WH.5.3)  Explain  the  origins,  developments,  main  events,  and  consequences  of  

European  overseas  expansion  through  conquest  and  colonization  in  Africa,  Asia  and  

the  Americas.  

• (WH.6.1)  Examine  how  the  Scientific  Revolution,  as  well  as  technological  changes  

and  new  forms  of  energy,  brought  about  massive  social,  economic,  and  cultural  

change.  

Objectives  

SWBAT:  

• identify  and  define  key  Middle  Ages  vocabulary.  

• describe  the  importance  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  in  medieval  Europe.  

• illustrate  key  facets  of  life  and  social  arrangement  in  feudal  Europe  

• list  the  major  causes  and  effects  of  the  Crusades  on  European  society.  

• discuss  the  origins  and  cultural  effects  of  the  Renaissance  on  European  society.  

• describe  the  root  causes  of  the  Protestant  Reformation.  

• identify  and  describe  key  figures  and  terms  from  the  Scientific  Revolution.  

• discuss  the  process  of  the  triangular  trade  and  Columbian  Exchange  and  illustrate  

them  on  a  map.  

Assessments  

• “Shortridge  Magna  Carta”  (rewrite  short  section  of  the  Magna  Carta  to  reflect  

students’  desires  for  more  freedom  at  school)  

• Middle  Ages/Renaissance  quiz  

• Exit  tickets  

• Essay  about  a  well-­‐known  artist  from  the  Renaissance  

• Luther’s  95  Theses  activity  

• Benchmark  Test  

III.  Assessment  Plan  

Types  of  assessment  used  in  this  unit:    

• Quiz  

• Benchmark  exam  

• Essay  

• Exit  tickets  

• Web  quest  

• Informal  assessment  

Throughout  this  unit,  I  had  to  rely  on  different  forms  of  assessment  to  gauge  how  

well  my  students  were  learning  the  material  we  were  covering.  Alongside  the  more  

traditional  measures  like  a  quiz  and  the  actual  benchmark  exam  itself,  I  put  a  lot  of  focus  on  

informal  assessment  such  as  talking  with  students  and  questioning  them  in  class  to  see  

how  well  they  knew  the  material  we  covered.  Because  many  of  my  students  found  it  easier  

to  express  themselves  orally  (as  opposed  to  written  assessments),  I  was  generally  able  to  

glean  a  solid  understanding  of  their  abilities  based  on  how  they  answered  questions.  

However  I  did  not  discount  written  assessment,  as  one  of  my  major  assignments  was  an  

essay  project  that  asked  students  to  research  the  Italian  Renaissance  and  address  it  and  a  

major  artist  from  that  time  period.  This  particular  assignment  gave  me  excellent  insight  to  

the  writing  abilities  of  my  students  and  also  led  to  the  planning  of  an  in-­‐class  activity  to  

bolster  the  students’  grasp  of  Renaissance  concepts  based  on  the  results  I  got.  Finally,  I  

incorporated  the  technology  in  one  of  my  assessments  by  creating  a  web  quest  that  

required  students  to  use  given  websites  to  complete  a  variety  of  questions,  charts  and  

graphic  organizers.  

IV.  Design  for  Instruction  

  Due  to  the  nature  of  this  unit,  many  of  the  subjects  I  covered  over  the  course  of  the  

five  weeks  only  had  a  brief  period  of  class  time  in  which  they  received  devoted  attention.  

By  necessity,  I  moved  quickly  through  the  curriculum  and  often  was  unable  to  spend  as  

much  time  as  I  would  like  on  individual  areas  of  study.  As  a  result  of  this,  I  had  to  be  very  

attentive  to  formative  assessments  and  ensure  that  students  were  actually  processing  all  of  

the  information  that  they  were  acquiring.  

  One  particular  example  of  instructional  decision-­‐making  based  on  formative  

assessment  occurred  during  our  coverage  of  the  development  of  the  Italian  Renaissance.  As  

a  way  to  promote  student-­‐centered  instruction,  I  assigned  my  students  an  essay  project  

that  included  a  lot  of  independent,  in-­‐class  research.  The  requirements  called  for  the  

students  to  produce  essays  that  included  a  brief  introduction  to  the  Renaissance  as  a  whole,  

as  well  as  further  paragraphs  focusing  on  individual  artists  and  their  achievements.  

However,  upon  receiving  the  essays  on  the  due  date,  I  saw  that  many  students  had  

struggled  to  produce  an  adequate  overview  of  the  Renaissance.  In  fact,  many  had  simply  

omitted  that  section  entirely  and  focused  on  the  artist  and  artwork  they  had  chosen.  

  In  response,  I  decided  that  the  next  class  period  had  to  include  an  activity  to  focus  

on  building  the  students’  familiarity  with  major  concepts  and  developments  related  to  the  

Renaissance,  as  this  was  a  topic  certain  to  

appear  on  the  benchmark  exam.  I  decided  on  a  

collaborative  idea  web  –  this  approach  allowed  

me  to  activate  students’  existing  knowledge  

about  the  topic,  get  them  out  of  their  seats  by  

asking  them  to  write  their  own  ideas  on  the  

board,  mix  in  some  teacher-­‐centered  

instruction  by  filling  in  some  gaps  they  missed  

and  appealing  to  different  learning  styles  by  

conveying  all  of  the  information  via  an  

interactive  graphic  organizer.  

  I  also  made  the  conscious  effort  during  the  course  of  the  semester  to  continue  trying  

to  reach  students  with  different  learning  styles.  At  the  beginning  of  my  time  at  Shortridge,  

much  of  my  instruction  was  very  teacher-­‐focused,  and  I  noticed  that  some  lessons  would  go  

over  really  well  with  some  classes,  but  fail  to  connect  with  some  others.  As  it  turned  out,  I  

believe  this  was  because  of  different  dominant  learning  styles  from  class  to  class;  when  I  

started  the  semester  doing  primarily  teacher-­‐focused  work,  some  classes  were  responding  

well  and  some  were  not.  I  began  shifting  gears  toward  a  much  more  student-­‐centered  

model  in  the  later  stages  of  my  placement  in  the  hopes  of  reaching  the  students  who  were  

struggling  with  the  work.  While  this  did  contribute  toward  higher  grades  for  two  of  my  

classes,  the  other  two  showed  a  slight  decline  in  grades  as  I  approached  the  end  of  my  time  

at  Shortridge.  

This  clearly  showed  me  how  not  only  how  important  it  is  to  have  differentiated  

instruction  and  lesson  plans  that  address  all  kinds  of  learners,  but  also  the  value  in  finding  

a  balance  between  teacher-­‐  and  student-­‐centered  work.  It  is  vital  to  play  to  the  strengths  of  

all  of  my  learners,  and  keeping  a  balance  to  most  effectively  reach  them  all  is  absolutely  a  

concept  that  I  will  incorporate  into  future  classes.  

'ndicators (Number & Words):\WH.4.10)Trace the origins and developments of the Northern Renaissance and the ltal ian Renaissance. ExplainRenaissance di f fusion hout places associated with western civ i l izat ion.

{ Independent Practice (You doi t , lwatch)

Activity 1Work on projectNSPECT & REFLECT/CLOSURE ACTIV|TY: (Assessment of students' learning that matches objective) (<10 mins. Each)

Turn in notes, essay and riti

1,;u-i,J>t

{ i \

r ' - i r r1--{;*l'v! i;t-lt-

,rr1, i",i i' ",l:7

.qr{ I

0i ,l ,^, L'i "t

; i l

$c,'"1 i\{

i+-ift,ag

-r riOt-t.i

"-&, i l , j^ :vr; it,,1fh y

Direct Instruction Lesson Plan TemplateTeacher: Adams/Dimmick Date:2/6/12

Cri t ical Vocabulary & HowYou Wil l Teach l t : Renaissance, humanism, "Renaissance man," perspect iveMater ials: Composit ion books, textbook, computerInstructional Technology (What & How Used): marker board

Student and Teacher Activities: SWBAT: explore the impact of individual art ists on the Renaissance.

SPoNGE: (what do students do when they walk in the door? B-5 mins.)Review assignment - what are we doing? What is due at the end of the period?INITIATE: (Engage, activate prior knowledge, review)Teacher: Be avai lable for quest ions/direct ions

Students: (3-S mins.)Work on project

INSTRUCT: (The gradual release of responsibility),/ Modeled Learning

Teacher: Be available for questions/directions

(<15 mins.)Students: Work on project

{ Shared Learning (l do it, you help)Teacher: Be avai la ble for q uest ions/direct ions

(<10 mins.)Students: Work on pro

{ Guided Practice (You do it, I help)Teacher: Be avai lable for quest ions/direct ions

(<10 mins.)Students: Work on proiect

Activity 3 (<10 mins. Each)

Types of Student Work: Differentiation/Student Choice/l nstructiona I LevelInvestigation (project), assessment (turn inAdaptations: Special Education/ EtL/ Remediation/Enrichment/ Non-ReadersELL - write shorter essay.l.E.P.: Individual/one-to-one attention, or extended t ime wil l be given to students who need remediation or furthersupport as specif ied in any documentat ion ( i .e.p.)

t : i

*| 'r"Tat l i ' i l t 'Li

' t"3-i" i, i 1. r J'14 ' '

ri fjtj}itr,i | ,. ,:J , t*:k* i,nrr,, l.{n ,ir.,lt

- - l !

_, ' - iU t . { . , ,* ; ' i i ,

'\ji,t/ rho,'r

rl i, li' i r -!*r1 ;'ur,{

- - t i . i

i . ,04{t '1 r ' * {V-.. * ; i

,J -1-dt" r t ^ ' Lt . r , . - .

{

Direct Instruction Lesson Plan TemplateGrade:9 Subject: World Civ. I Teacher:Adams/Dimmick I Oate: 2/7-8112Indicators (Number & Words):(WH.4.10)Trace the or igins and developments of the Northern Renaissance and the l tal ian Renaissance. ExplainRenaissance di f fusion throughout places associated with western civ i l izat ion.(WH.4.11) Describe the main themes and achievements of the Protestant Reformation, including i ts impact onscience, technology, and the arts.Cri t ical Vocabulary & How You Wil l Teach l t : reformation, Gutenberg, pr int ing press, indulgence, Mart in Luther, 95Theses, Counter-Reformation; voca b sheet, i l lustrat ionsMater ials: Composit ion books, vocabulary sheetInstruct ionalTechnology (What & How Used): PowerPoint, marker board

Student and Teacher ActivitiesObject ive: SWBAT: explain the impact of the Renaissance; descr ibe the root causes of the Reformation.SPONGE: (What do students do when they walk in the door? ( j -5 mins.)Col lect papers from yesterday, pass out comp books, discuss vocabulary.INITIATE: (Engage, activate prior knowledge, review)Teacher: Renaissance Art PowerPoint - in order toreview from artist assignment and reinforce art vocab,go through examples of Renaissance art

Students: (3-5 mins.)Listen and watch, answer questions, part icipate oral ly.

trl.i"r i{,{"ir l'r i't,' t1 .. , -.- , !, '''J i iha'i&1, ':r-i, - , r ^- . . t - ro,1 ! - . . . " t f . , ; - i i j i ' i . i i l { l - ' }

INSTRUCT: (The gradual release of responsibility)./ Modeled Learning

Teacher: Renaissance ldea Web - "Renaissance" in themiddle, areas of inf luence as the spokes. Cal l for studeqt.input (walk up to the board) to add to the web. ,K

j:f i/,.r.u t)".,.t r V u ,; "' (r1S minS.)

Students: Add things to the Renaissance web, get up andmovel A

- '4 1n{ ' ; ' t i t ' ! -

t ' ' t ' l

. I . - i ; . , i , , \ , ,_.: )-'

i- . i't . ..\ ,, u ".1 jo ittrr-

t

./ Shared Learning (l do it, you help)ieacher: tp,ress-was-l@ Refo rma ti o nlntrod uct ion/ l l lustrat ion, fol lowed by discussion -introduct ion of Mart in Luther, 95 Theses.

{ ' (<1-0 mins.)Students: Listen to i l lustrat ion, part ic ipate in thediscussion ..r^^ . i ., '3;. /!l i i i L

e .:.,1 :,' ., i* - -'l- '1,,|T

l ' . " ' y . Lu' , r l " ; , ' ' t r -

l ; , j^ , i , . - . i , r .{ Guided Practice (You do it, I help}

Teacher: Pass out vocab sheet - do the f irst couple inclass, and the rest are homework

J ' (<10 mins.)Students: Reformation vocab sheet

./ Independent Practice (You doit , lwatch)

Activity 1Renaissa nce artwork PowerPoint

Activity 2Reformation ldea Web

Activity 3 (<10 mins. Each)Reformation vocabularv sheet

INSPECT & REFLECI/CLOSURE ACTIVITY: (Assessment of students' learning that matches objective) (<10 mins. Each)Exit t icket - Without the pr int ing press, would Mart in Luther have been as effect ive?Types of Student Work: Differentiation/Student Choice/l nstructional LevelPowerPoint (v isual/auditory); graphic organizer (visual & kinesthet ic); vocabulary sheetAdaptations: Special Education/ ELL/ Rernediation/Enrichment/ Non-ReadersELL - wri te shorter essay.l .E.P.: Individual/one-to-one attent ion, or extended t ime wi l l be given to students who need remediat ion or furthersupport as specif ied in any documentat ion ( i .e.p.)

\\ , r

*.i i i

t . t p

. r tit '1 ;."+ 1

i : t' ,)P.'{t ;r. i trq . ic- , ,i

, {t ,4^. ! . ; .6 . r {d.

r"_fl '1.'\ J\' i-,\r -

",^y, ,,",T lit i

jrri,t,l{ '.,i 11,

l** "91"{ {r.!,,o;,1 {nr;if !,t: ,,tt

'.4

, ' t+. 1

h#n*1'n*'--T*. i rl i , r i j r I

!. ,,*.,r,3'

. - l1E-i LI*

!i - ; tnf i . , \ r- ;vr- rr f *r \"-

- ' " ,i

1i .r ' lq,t .1,\". ut ; f i'.,

1 -"

,, ..t'"li

i t*.''i\lt

' t. r i . .9 '

n 'r t - 4,1

l)L

- l r\:.l,\(r !ir-L"r.

V.  Instructional  Decision  Making  

The  above  graph  illustrates  average  quiz  scores  from  all  of  my  9th  grade  World  

History  classes  at  Shortridge.  The  blue  lines  (“MA  Quiz”)  represent  scores  from  the  Middle  

Ages  and  Crusades  quiz,  given  in  the  3rd  week  of  my  placement,  and  the  red  lines  (“Exit  

Quiz”)  represent  the  final  quiz  I  gave  my  students  on  my  last  day  of  teaching  at  Shortridge.  

For  Periods  1  and  6,  scores  were  lower  on  the  Middle  Ages  quiz  than  on  the  exit  quiz,  

whereas  for  Periods  2  and  8,  the  scores  were  higher  on  the  Middle  Ages  quiz  than  on  the  

exit  quiz.  

After  giving  the  Middle  Ages  quiz  early  in  the  semester,  I  noted  that  some  class  

averages  were  lower  than  I  liked.  In  looking  for  ways  to  bring  up  the  scores,  I  looked  at  the  

objectives  I  was  trying  to  accomplish  in  each  class  period  and  determined  that  I  was  

focusing  many  of  my  efforts  on  teacher-­‐centered  instruction.  In  light  of  this,  I  began  to  

make  an  earnest  effort  to  come  up  with  lessons  and  write  objectives  that  were  more  

student-­‐centered,  hoping  to  raise  scores  across  the  board.  The  classes  with  the  lowest  

scores—the  ones  I  was  most  hoping  to  raise—did  indeed  show  improvements  by  the  end  of  

the  semester.  However  the  two  classes  with  the  highest  scores  on  the  Middle  Ages  quiz  

actually  declined.  I  will  examine  this  effect  in  more  detail  in  Section  VI.  

0  

5  

10  

15  

20  

25  

30  

Period  1   Period  2   Period  6   Period  8  

MA  Quiz  

Exit  Quiz  

VI.  Analysis  of  Learning  

Though  the  graph  shown  in  Section  V  would  seem  to  illustrate  mixed  results  of  my  

teaching,  what  I  believe  the  graph  actually  shows  is  my  shift  in  teaching  styles  over  the  

course  of  the  8  weeks  I  was  at  Shortridge.    As  discussed  in  Section  IV,  I  began  my  placement  

with  teaching  methods  that  were  largely  teacher-­‐centered,  and  ended  the  placement  by  

shifting  to  a  much  more  student-­‐centered  style  of  instruction  in  the  hopes  of  raising  

student  grades.  While  I  achieved  this  for  two  classes,  my  other  two  classes  showed  declines  

in  their  assessment  scores.  

Interestingly,  the  two  classes  with  the  highest  scores  on  the  first  quiz  (Periods  2  and  

8)  were  the  two  that  showed  declines  when  I  began  shifting  to  a  more  student-­‐centered  

methodology.  This  suggests  to  me  that  those  two  periods  had  a  greater  proportion  of  

students  who  learn  best  under  a  teacher-­‐centered  model,  while  the  other  periods  (Periods  

1  and  6)  showed  positive  shifts,  suggesting  that  they  had  a  higher  proportion  of  students  

who  responded  better  to  student-­‐centered  instruction.    

It  is  also  important  to  remember  that  this  graph  does  not  show  the  entire  picture.  

This  particular  piece  of  evidence  is  limited  in  that  the  quizzes  were  comprised  of  questions  

that  required  a  mix  of  prompted  writing  and  rote  recall.  While  fine  for  students  whose  

learning  style  lends  itself  to  that  type  of  assessment,  it  does  not  address  students  who  are  

kinesthetic,  aural  or  oral  learners,  so  it  is  somewhat  limiting  to  draw  conclusions  about  the  

entire  class  based  solely  on  these  pieces.  Additionally,  these  quizzes  were  not  the  only  form  

of  assessment.  I  also  strove  to  include  other  forms  of  assessment  in  this  unit  to  track  

student  progress,  such  as  essays  with  more  open  response  options,  a  webquest  to  integrate  

technology  and  frequent  informal  oral  questioning.  Though  these  forms  of  assessment  do  

not  lend  themselves  to  being  easily  graphed,  I  considered  them  when  making  decisions  

about  instructional  methods.  

Additionally  I  would  have  liked  to  include  scores  from  the  benchmark  tests  to  

provide  another  data  point,  but  this  information  is  controlled  by  the  school  district  and  was  

not  made  available  to  me.  

VII.  Reflection/  Self  -­Evaluation  

  After  my  time  at  Shortridge  Magnet  High  School,  I  learned  that  one  area  I  can  

definitely  improve  on  is  classroom  management.  I  had  a  fairly  good  opinion  of  my  abilities  

in  this  area  going  in  to  the  placement,  but  it  soon  became  clear  to  me  that  if  I  have  one  

major  area  for  improvement,  it  is  that.  Even  in  the  end-­‐of-­‐placement  evaluations  I  had  my  

students  fill  out,  classroom  management  was  consistently  named  that  as  the  major  item  

they  felt  I  could  work  on.  

  One  area  that  surprised  me  was  how  easy  it  was  for  me  to  form  good  relationships  

with  the  kids.  This  was  an  area  that  had  stressed  me  out  prior  to  starting  the  placement  –  I  

was  worried  about  being  able  to  actually  connect  with  the  students  and  as  it  turned  out,  I  

should  not  have  worried.  For  the  most  part  the  students  were  very  friendly  and  pleasant  to  

be  around,  and  I  realized  that  I  should  have  given  both  the  students  and  myself  a  little  more  

credit  in  this  area.  

  One  thing  that  I  would  change  about  my  time  in  Shortridge  is  that  I  should  have  

started  out  being  much  stricter  with  discipline.  It  is  much  easier  to  lighten  up  midway  

through  the  placement  than  it  is  to  get  stricter,  and  that  is  what  I  ended  up  having  to  do.  I  

needed  to  get  over  needing  the  students  to  like  me  much  earlier  than  I  did.  Though  of  

course  there  must  always  be  a  balance,  as  I  believe  that  students  will  work  harder  for  

teachers  that  they  like  and  respect,  I  realize  now  that  I  set  the  bar  too  low  at  first  and  need  

to  be  willing  to  set  it  higher  for  the  good  of  everyone  in  the  class.  One  specific  example  of  

this  was  my  willingness  to  accept  late  work  from  the  students  at  any  point  during  my  

placement,  even  when  I  had  set  deadlines  for  having  things  turned  in.  Accepting  the  work  

made  it  seem  as  though  my  deadlines  were  not  serious,  and  also  greatly  increased  my  

stress  load  near  the  end  as  students  hurriedly  submitted  several  weeks’  worth  of  work.  

  The  concept  of  different  students  having  different  learning  styles  was  definitely  the  

primary  theoretical  concept  that  was  reinforced  for  me  upon  getting  into  a  classroom  on  a  

full-­‐time  basis.  After  making  a  conscious  effort  to  move  to  a  much  more  student-­‐centered  

classroom  model  during  my  placement  and  seeing  some  grades  rise  and  others  fall,  I  

realized  that  instead  of  a  radical  change  in  methods,  what  I  really  needed  most  was  to  

provide  an  effective  balance  of  teacher-­‐  and  student-­‐centered  instruction.