Julie Konen

9/9/2015
ED-201
Lawrence
Reflection on Effective Teaching
Teachers as Influences on Future Educators
If any of my peers or college instructors today were to meet the student I was in
high school, there isnt a chance they would recognize me. In the midst of my sophomore
year, my family moved from Kenosha to Racine, and I was put in the position of having
to change schools. I went from a newly built and thriving choice school (Indian Trail
High School and Academy) to a historic, urban-located public high school (William
Horlick High School) in Racine. The change was drastic. I went from block scheduling
and four classes a day to an eight period daily schedule. I went from seeing familiar faces
that Id grown up with, to being the new kid amongst a large body of students who had
grown up together themselves and already formed their ideal groups of friends. The big
change in routine changed my interest in schooling and education altogether. I became so
apathetic. I would stay home from school just because and I found myself failing classes.
Inside, I had lost all motivation.
I got by with decent grades, overall. I met my graduation requirements, partook in
some extra-curricular activities, and finished decently. I was never a problem child in
class; I would participate and never distracted from the class, but I could tell teachers
were confused. Based on discussions wed have in class, they could tell I was at least
listening, but then theyd see poor test scores and a lack of submitted assignments
combined with a rather lousy GPA, and wouldnt understand what my deal was.
My senior year came around, and while other kids were dreaming of prom, all I
wanted to do was get my diploma and get out. I had had enough. I had a shortened school
day because I was getting credit for working at a hospital job that I had secured through a
program at my school.
It was recommended that I take AP-Human Geography by my Sociology teacher.
I had taken an AP-History course earlier in my high school career and hated the constant
memorization and quizzing, but my teacher did a good job at convincing me that the
teacher for this course was excellent and would make the experience worthwhile. Im
forever grateful that I decided to take this course, because not only was the content so
intriguing, but the teacher and the way it was taught was perfect for my needs. Mr. Eick
not only inspired me to want to teach, but he also got me hooked on social studies, a topic
I otherwise had spent nearly my entire student life dreading. It was that class and his style
of teaching that brought me here to Alverno, majoring in Social Studies Education with a
support in Secondary Education.
Mr. Eick had a reputation around school for being a very different teacher with a
unique approach. He was engaging, yet relaxed. He had a very random and funny
personality that made high school students relate to him and see him in ways they didnt
see other teachers. Even more so, hes also pretty reputable around the community for his
work in defending teachers rights and ensuring stability for students in a district that took
some pretty tough hits with budget cuts over recent years. He participates in groups that
defend immigrant, minority, and low-budget workers rights. Since our school has a high

population of low-income students as well as a high population of minority students, I

think it meant a lot to everybody to see him interacting with and defending families just
like their own.
I remember the first day of class, when it became pretty apparent that he was
much different than teachers Id had in previous years. He was introducing himself, and
he was very honest. He talked about how he grew up attending Case High School,
another public high school in Racine, where he dropped out and moved with some older
friends around the country, working minimum wage jobs. He eventually received his
GED and made a deal with his parents to come home and attend school. I think his
different route of education combined with his honesty made students interested in what
he had to say. I always felt that the fact that he was from the very city he taught in made
him more personally relatable to everyone in the class. He would speak about Racines
history and talk about places and locations we were all familiar with. Because of his close
relationship to the city, he could even take global concepts from our class and relate them
back to Racine, which for many, made the curriculum much more understandable.
He also conducted his classroom very differently. There were little things he did
that helped students see him as someone they could relate to; someone they could trust. I
always found it interesting that when we were having an open group discussion, hed sit
at a student desk. I felt like getting down to our eye level now and then helped us see him
as someone we could open up to and have serious conversations with. He also made the
most of our 45-minute class periods without jumping straight into discussion right away.
Several times a week, wed start class with a five-minute walk around the school or
outside, weather permitting. Reflecting back on this, I can see several reasons for why
this was done and why it was so effective. First, it helped us walk off some energy and do
a little talking with our peers so we were ready to focus on discussions in class once we
returned. Secondly, when we got to go outside, it was often refreshing because for many
of us, it was our first breath of fresh air since we arrived at school. Finally, I also believe
walking around the school helped put us in the perspective of thinking about our location
and socioeconomic status as represented in our school, since he was constantly relating
discussions back to Racine and Horlick. Other days, hed start the class off with a
philosophical question to ponder. Wed write about it in our journal, then share with the
class. Questions like, If you were given a choice to live as long as you want, how long
would you like to live? and others would be great openers to class and often times guide
the theme of discussion for the period. He would share his opinion, too, and students
were always interested in hearing what he had to say.
In addition to classroom procedures, he had a unique approach to academics, as
well. Mr. Eick didnt agree with grades, for very similar reasons Alverno elects not to use
grades. However, since this was a public school and grades were required, he ended the
semester by having a one-on-one discussion about key ideas in the class, our important
discussions, and overall, what we would take away and use in the future. Afterwards, he
asked each student what grade they felt they deserved based on their effort. Their answer
combined with appropriate reasoning would ultimately be their final grade in the class. In
a way, this also reminds me of Alverno because it was a good 15-minute discussion
assessing our progress throughout the class. Since we didnt receive homework (often, he
would tell us to take 10 minutes to think about a certain concept or idea and be prepared
to have open discussion on it the next day) or tests, our reflections mainly focused on our

participation and group projects. And because he was so easy to talk to and made
discussions so engaging, open discussions would really involve everyone. I watched
students who were shy and timid in other classes come out of their shell and debate
controversial world issues. I also watched students who often shut out or were disrupting
in other classes become so interested and attentive. Even though he didnt have rules on
phone usage in class, you would watch students put down their phone when they became
interested in a topic and keep it down for the entire class- all voluntarily. The way he
brought an entire class of individuals together as a family or a community to discuss
oftentimes rough subjects was amazing, and never before have I seen anything like it. I
later went on to learn that Mr. Eicks AP Human Geography classes continuously had the
most diverse racial makeup of all AP courses in the district, and to me, thats a sign of
doing something right.
With Mr. Eick as my most influential teacher and also my reason for pursuing a
degree in education, I have decided that my goal for this semester is to begin learning
how to take classroom concepts and ideas and make them relatable to the age group I am
working with. I want to learn how to make those connections on my feet so that students
can comprehend topics that they otherwise may not have any other way of truly relating
to. Ive found throughout my years of education, the teachers I did best with were the
ones who were great at making the content relatable, especially at the middle and high
school level when it seems like students are always asking when will I ever use this? or
whats the point of learning that? I want to have an honest yet effective answer to that
question every single time. Furthermore, one day I hope to make it so students are better
at making those personal connections themselves.