Tayla Reynolds

October 22, 2014

EDU450
Students and Classroom
At Rocky, I am placed in a technology/shop classroom. The structure of these classes is
mostly hands on and student self-learning because the students are doing a lot of their own work
and making construction projects. Within this classroom, students do medal and wood working
projects, use computer systems and do engineering-related projects. I work with two classes at a
time and both classes are very different from each other.
The first class that Ill discuss is the morning medal class. This class consists of ten junior
boys, mostly White raced, that have taken previous medal classes and chose to continue. The
context of this class is a more in depth medal projects because they are instructed to create a
medal project that has certain dimensions and something that is extensive enough to take up the
entire quarter to work on. Because this is a Medals III class, the physical environment is very
noisy and often times dirty because the students are always using welders and grinders and in
result, can be difficult for me as a student teacher to really converse with them unless I stopped
them while working. This is a hands-on class with students that are highly skilled in medal
working because this is the third year of being in this technology program and working with
medal projects. I find this small group to be interesting because all of all ten of them are similar
with their development skills and abilities to create nothing into something. There is hardly any
lecture in this course so I have learned that they are all visual learners because they have all
watched a demonstration on how to make something and theyve done it if not better. Every

student in the class is very quiet, laid back and understand the task that is at hand and what needs
to be accomplished for the day before they leave class. There are two boys in the class that really
stand out because they are very particular in the work that they do. This makes sense to me
because they are both nicely dressed and always cleaned up even for being in a shop class. All of
the students are strategic when designing these projects as well as problem solving, and work on
their own projects while being helpful to the other students if they may need assistance. If
something is not right or working, each will somehow work there selves around it until the
problem is solved, even through trial and error. These gentlemen are always so respectful and
more than willing to share their ideas with me, catch me up on progress that they have made
throughout the week and are comfortable with asking me questions resulting in a classroom
climate and culture that is very calm and welcoming. Because they are all so self-motivated and
skilled, their teacher Mr. Ufer, is mostly a supervisor rather than a teacher. They have a great
deal of respect for Mr. Ufer and I and it is something I have learned to really appreciate. While
being in the class, I have noticed that there is one particular student that rather be on his phone or
may not be as motivated in completing his project compared to the rest of his classmates and we
never know when he will be in class or not. The majority of the class are always in class and all
time and strive to be successful. It is a class that I thoroughly enjoy being a part of and hope to
have students that are similar once I begin to teach.
Mr. Webers freshman class of thirty students, twenty-eight males and two females are
mostly White along with one Asian student and two Hispanic students, is another enjoyable one
for me. These students are ones that want to try something new and to push themselves beyond
their own limit, which explains the reasoning for being enrolled in the class. This class consists
of wood working, drafting, engineering and use of technology (solid works program). Mr. Weber

has the class structured to where he will lecture and go over material for two class periods than
the students will do hands-on projects in groups and/or individually. I have seen a trend in this
class because the students group up with their classmates that have similar interests and skills.
For example, the majority of the students are taking this class because they thoroughly are
interested in drafting and design, and the other hand full are a little less motivated and a part of
this class thinking that it will be an easy grade. Unlike the medals class that I just discussed, all
of the students are so different in terms of development, interests and abilities. There arent any
students in this class with unique needs such as IEP, but the majority of the class (including the
two girls) have similar abilities and are all near the same development level. I like to call them
outside of the box thinkers because they stand out to me the most and they all work on their
projects efficiently and effectively. Every individual strives to do their best on the project the
class is currently working on and in groups, they all are contributing members. The other handful
of students is the group that I personally struggle with. I know that all of them are very
knowledgeable and skilled students that sometimes dont always apply themselves to their own
capabilities. They tend to not be as effective and efficient on their projects during class time, and
then struggle to complete the project the day it is due. Along with these group of students, there
are three boys that hang together and always separate themselves from the rest of the class. They
are also very smart students that rather listen to their music and be on the computers and in
result, sometimes can be a power struggle for me. I can ask them several times to participate and
contribute, but I can never get their full attention. Being a first year student in this program, these
students have needed more guidance and assistance than the juniors that I am also working with.
This class use a lot of shop tools such as band and miter saws, and is important that they are
looked over carefully at all times. The climate and culture of this particular class is more strict

and guided because they are a more inexperienced group. Sometimes the classroom climate is
altered because the students tend to get a little restless and off task and can be difficult to keep
them motivated. The physical environment is often noisy too; not necessarily because of power
tools, but because it is a class of thirty freshmen that constantly need reminded to keep their
voices to a minimum. Overall, the climate and culture in the class is positive and exciting when
the students cooperate with us and become passionate about the project that they are working on.
Although these students are not as experienced, I have been amazed at the creativeness and their
ability to create projects from scratch at their age. There is always something new for the
students to learn and Mr. Weber does a very well with instructing the students and making sure
that they are in a safe, positive learning environment.
It has been an honor to be placed at Rocky Mountain High School for my EDU450
experience. I not only have learned so much from all of the students at Rocky, but a lot about
myself as a future educator. I hope that when I leave Rocky, I have made an impact on at least
one student and I hope that I can for my students in the future. After spending the time with these
students, I really look forward to teaching high school students and understand what is expected
of me. Overall, my experience thus far at Rocky has been a success.

Freshman Classroom

Computer lab

Computer lab that both

classes work in

Computer lab

Medals III Shop

Hallway Display