Name Mary Swick

Date April 21, 2015

Experience Number 209

Supervisors Name Professor Vudrogovic

Number of Assignment Reflection Paper

For my second early experience, I was in Steubenville High School. I was able to
observe a teacher in a math classroom for four periods in the morning on Mondays and
Wednesdays. The math classes I observed were two freshmen Algebra I classes and two
sophomore Honors Algebra II classes. I taught my lessons in the Honors Algebra II
classes. Though this was my second early experience, I was still a little nervous about going into
the classroom. The last school I was at, Buckeye Local High School, had a very different body
of students. Knowing that Steubenville High School was more of a city school made me a little
worried I would not be able to have success in managing my classroom. However, I observed
how the teacher controlled the class and was able to successfully keep the class on task during
my lessons. In my early experience, I saw how the teacher taught and how the students reacted
to the lessons and activities. I was able to identify several strategies and interesting techniques
that I used in my experience and will want to use in my future classroom classroom-both for
classroom management and for fostering a relationship with the students.
Throughout the course of my experience there were several behavioral problems and
classroom disruptions that often plagued the classroom. Some of these included students being
on their phone during class, talking while the teacher was talking, not doing work during
homework work time, and students frequently coming to class late. In each of these cases the
teacher regained control of the classroom by quickly addressing the student and continuing with
the lesson. He also used the disruption as an opportunity to reemphasize the classroom rules to
the students. For example, when students were on their cell phones during class, the teacher
would make a general announcement to the whole class reminding them that the use of cell

phones was not permitted during class. If the student did not put their phone away, the teacher
took their phone away and sent it to the office. When students were talking during class, the
teacher used quick phrases like Listen up and Lets get going to regain the attention of the
students.
In my lessons I was able to use several classroom management techniques. When
students were talking during my lesson, I would say things like Are there questions?, Listen
up, and Lets get started to grab the attention of the students. I was reminded of Kounins
Classroom Management Model that I learned about in my Foundations of Education class at the
University. By using these small phrases and then continuing with the lesson, I was able to
maintain smoothness in my lesson. I noticed in my experience that there was a serious problem
with students doing their homework. Most of the students would not do the homework. So the
teacher would give them time in class to work on it at the end. I did this as well. In planning my
lessons, I made sure that I incorporated time for students to work on their homework.
In this early experience I saw more teacher and student relationships. The teacher would
often ask how the students were doing. If they missed a class, or several classes in a row, the
teacher would call a student up to his desk and ask them why they were absent and if he could
help them get caught up on work. Almost every day, he would ask the students about their sports
and how their teams were doing. Lastly, he would talk with students one on one if the student
was lagging behind in the homework and make sure they knew what they were missing.
I recognize that building a relationship with the students is very important. It makes the
classroom environment more welcoming. In trying to make the classroom environment more
inviting, I would talk with students before class started, asking them how their day was and if
they had a good weekend. Before my lessons I would engage the students and talk to them a

little bit about how school was going and what was new. Before one lesson with the Algebra II
class we briefly chatted about the dress. It got the students excited and ready to listen and
learn. I will learn more about my students individually and ask them about their sports and
activities so that they feel special. I want to treat my students as individuals, and not as a mob
sitting in desks listening to the lesson. My teacher told the students that he will randomly call on
students in the hallway and at lunch to recite the quadratic formula for extra credit. I want to use
this in my classroom because I think it will get the students to memorize the quadratic formula
and promote a relationship outside the mathematics classroom as well.
In my early experience I observed and used several classroom management techniques. I
was able to recognize the importance of building a professional relationship with the students
that goes beyond the actual teaching of the lessons. I think that teachers should treat their
students as individuals, each with a different way of learning and different likes and dislikes. I
learned the importance of building a positive and welcoming classroom environment in my
University classes, and now know that a good way of doing this is getting to know the students.