Matt Sabatowski

Period 7 Cadet Teaching

Weekly Summaries

February 1st-February 5th

Describe a way that you were able to participate in the classroom This week I
performed my lesson plan for the class Making shapes out of other, smaller shapes.
This was completely on my own, so presenting the material, completing the worksheet as
a class, and performing my activity along with helping out when needed was all my
doing.
Type of learning in the classroom The predominant method of learning was visual and
tactile, as the topics this week involved spatial awareness (making generalizations about
shapes, making new shapes with smaller shapes, etc.). The students made use of foam
shapes as a way to visualize these concepts and emphasize a hands on nature/the ability
to manipulate shapes as necessary.
A student that surprised me One student that continues to surprise me is Lily due to her
newfound excellence in this subject of math. During the first semester, where we did
mostly arithmetic, she had a huge difficulty understanding it (I believe she has some kind
of learning disorder or mental condition, but I dont know what). However, this week, she
has been doing great on this set of lessons, such as rearranging shapes to make new ones!
In fact, she has been excellent at this whole unit involving angles, shapes, and other basic
geometry terms. I think shes found her strength, and thats really exciting to me!
A disruption in class schedule When I arrived at class on Thursday, I came to see the
entire class sitting out in the hallway led only by our student teacher. According to her,
we were outside because Mrs. Schermerhorn had to go home and take care of her sick
daughter, there was no sub to replace, and the student teacher didnt have a sub license,
so we werent allowed to be in the room as a result. The lessons were harder to teach, as
we couldnt use the projector or anything of the sort. As a result, we mostly did a hands
on learning approach, helping each kid separately instead of going through the worksheet
as a class.

Matt Sabatowski
Period 7 Cadet Teaching
Weekly Summaries

January 25th January 29th

Describe a way that you were able to participate in the classroom During this week I
took on more of a passive role, as math centers have been reduced in importance recently.
While students completed their Must do-May do assignments in place of centers, I
went around and helped out kids who needed it (ex. One of the assignments each day was
a problem solving worksheet involving numbers 0-9 only being used once.)
A situation difficult to handle During a teacher instruction during the Must do-May
do work time, one student became stressed and ornery and refused to work any longer.
After much discussion with the resource aid and Mrs. Schermerhorn to the student, he
still refused to respond or do the work. She made the decision to put him out in the
hallway until he chose to be ready to work again (I dont believe he ever came back in for
the rest of the day).
Favorite part of the week My favorite part has been working with a group to rehearse
their skits that are being performed in a few weeks. Each group is doing a different skit,
which is a spin on a classic fairy tale (My group is doing Spiderella). It is so much fun
to see all the kids get into their roles and have a good time practicing for the show. I cant
wait to see them!
Disruption in the classroom routine For our math centers on Tuesday, one of the
stations was supposed to be led by a volunteer parent, but when the time came to do these
centers, the parent was nowhere to be found. Thinking on the fly, Mrs. Schermerhorn
changed the groups objective to rehearsing their skit lines by themselves instead.

Matt Sabatowski
Period 7 Cadet Teaching
Weekly Summaries

January 18th to January 22nd

Describe a way that you were able to participate in the classroom This week we did
math centers for the most part, which were tricky this time around due to the new
material. Lots of kids had questions because the material was completely new to them
(angles, line segments, basic terms), so I spent a lot of time one-on-one with struggling
students.
Favorite part of the week My favorite part of the week with the students was the QR
code scavenger hunt that took place in one of the math centers. Students would use Ipads
and QR code scanners to complete a scavenger hunt that consisted of pictures around the
room (one would be a right angle, when scanned, it would say to find a line segment,
etc.). The kids loved it and it was a refreshing change of pace!
One idea that I would like to take into the classroom someday In my Music Theory
class, my teacher does something called Spirit Reading as opposed to regular Popcorn
reading. Basically, instead of having people pick one another, he sits and waits until
somebody feels the spirit and starts reading. I enjoy this thoroughly, as it is a unique
alternative to normal ways of reading as a class, and it allows for those who want to read
to read and those who dont to stay silent instead of having to worry about being called
on.
Behavior issues Ever since the beginning of this semester, the kids have gotten more
and more rowdy and off task than ever before. Wednesday was particularly bad, complete
with chaotic transitions and kids getting completely off task among other things. It
culminated with one student stabbing another with a pencil, which caused Mrs.
Schermerhorn to halt centers and go over the rulebook for the last 20 minutes of class
instead of anything fun (we didnt do centers for the rest of the week).

Matt Sabatowski
Period 7 Cadet Teaching
Weekly Summaries

January 11th January 15th

Describe a way that you were able to participate in the classroom One way that I was
able to participate in a unique way was grading social studies assignments. Normally, I
just lead a center and seldom grade, but this week, she needed some scores recorded that
she didnt have time for, so I was able to complete those for her a few days this week.
Favorite part of the week with students This week, they had to create catapults out of
popsicle sticks, tape, straws, etc. with a group and see who could fling a marshmellow the
farthest down a hallway. Watching each group formulate an idea of their own and go
through multiple drafts was intriguing, as I personally had no idea how they would do it
without simply flicking the spoon. Some of the ideas I saw were extremely elaborate, and
impressed me to no end.
Behavior issues During the construction time for said catapults, a lot of groups were
stuck as on what to do for their design. Once one design was completed and was shown
to have worked, suddenly every group had the same design! It was frustrating to see, and
Mrs. Schermerhorn had to pull up examples on the projector in order to show that there
was more than one way to do things (apparently, the students have been much more
creative in years past).
One idea that I want to take into the classroom someday One activity that I loved was
for the simple machines unit we were doing. Our assignment was to take a field trip
around the school and find simple machines such as wedges, inclined planes, etc. This
activity was very fun for students, as they were extremely excited, running around places
that they normally wouldnt be at (the lunch line outside of lunch), and it caused them to
think critically and understand the function and form of each of the machines, so the
activity was a huge success!