My Experience as a Teaching Assistant

  05/23/2023 Today is the last day of Senior Project. This was a very light day for me, as I pretty much finished my project yesterday. I spent an hour finishing my presentation for Express Fest and then reflected on everything I have done over the past couple of weeks and everything I have learned about teaching. I think that Senior Project was a very transformative experience for me, as I started to look at classrooms from a teacher's point of view instead of a student's. I learned that students can be aggravating, but no matter what, you must persevere. I learned that the most effective way to teach is to work individually with each student, to better understand their individual strengths and weaknesses. I really enjoyed Senior Project, and I think that what I learned here will help me get a running start if I decide to go into the field of education. Hours Today: 1 Hours Total: 55

  05/22/2023 - 4:00 Today marks the start of the third week of Senior Project, meaning things are starting to wind down. I shadowed Ben during F and G blocks today, and both blocks were used for students to present their podcasts. I feel like helping Ben grade these podcasts really helped me learn about the specifics of grading, as I got to see him go through the process first hand. G block went pretty well, with most groups being prepared to present and presenting detailed overviews of their podcast. F block was more confusing, as students didn’t really understand the assignment as they had been looking for it in the wrong place on myProctor. We figured out the issue relatively quickly, and students were given 10 minutes to remedy their presentations. Unfortunately, presentations were still pretty rough, especially compared to G block. I also spent an hour this afternoon preparing for Express Fest, which entailed making my tri-color board, selecting pieces of work to display, and writ

  Weekly Reflection 2 (05/21/2023): This week I mainly focused on creating a lesson plan and then delivering that lesson plan to two blocks of US History. My lesson plan was on the topic of the Space Race, and the lesson was a short lecture followed by the students reading two sources and writing a short analytical writing response. I definitely could have done a better job during the first block (G), and after students began working Ben gave me some feedback, which was to be more assertive and to almost embellish the importance of my topic. I feel like a did a decent job implementing that feedback with F block, as my lecture was longer, more focused on the competition between the Soviets and Americans, and concluded with a detailed description of the assignment.  The prompt I cultivated for students to respond to was “What are some of the political implications (conclusions that can be drawn) of Apollo 11, and the space race as a whole?”. The only requirements were two pieces of e

  05/20/2023 Today I led a US history class in both F block and G block. Each class started with me lecturing briefly, then students were dismissed to read two sources and write a short analytical writing response. While students cultivated these I worked on this blog post, as well as some mock Official Notes I have due at the end of this weekend. G block was first, and so that was my first test on how well I could lecture. Both Ben and I feel as though I could have delivered my lecture more strongly, as I kind of downplayed it since I’m a student. My feedback was mainly around formalizing what I am doing because as a teacher you need to both command the attention of your students and almost embellish how important the topic is. I also spent two hours this afternoon working on the mock Official Notes and my 2nd weekly reflection. Hours Today: 4 Hours Total: 51

  05/19/2023 - 3:00 I shadowed Ben during G and F blocks today. Class started with students presenting the first 2 or 3 minutes of their podcasts, then got feedback from Ben and me. I think this was a good exercise for me in terms of delivering feedback in a way that helps students learn, meaning in a constructive way. I also took note of where students were in regards to completing their podcasts, as I have to write mock Official Notes this weekend on 6 students. I’m also going to be doing so mock grading this weekend, as my lesson plan for tomorrow involves a short writing assignment. I also worked for two hours this afternoon finalizing my lesson plan and brushing up on the Space Race and the moon landing, so I’ll be able to lecture effectively tomorrow. Hours Today: 4 Hours Total: 47

  05/18/2023 - 4:00 I woke up early today and read Chapter 6 of Evolving Education , which was on competency-based learning. The main idea of competency-based learning is for students to learn at their own pace, instead of being rushed through or not challenged when working as a class. This helps students want to learn, as when they take things at their speed they are more comfortable. After reading Chapter 6 I headed over to F block, which was another in-class work day. While students continued work on their podcasts I continued working on my lesson plan, which is now complete. I’m going to start class with a short lecture on the Space Race and the Apollo 11 moon landing, then continue to introduce the assignment for class. The assignment is a short writing response answering this question: What are some of the political implications (conclusions that can be drawn) of Apollo 11, and the space race as a whole? Students will be given two sources to quote from while writing this response

05/17/2023 - 8:00 My Wednesday started with G block, which was another in class work day. While students worked on their podcasts I continued to develop my lesson plan, which started with developing the short lecture I plan to begin class with. After class, I continued working on my lesson plan independently for another 3 and a half hours or so, and I now have a rough draft of what my lecture to start class will look like. I also used today to read the next chapter of Evolving Education, which continues to explain what you can do as an educator to help students succeed. I worked for a total of about 4 and a half hours today. Hours Today: 4:30 Hours Total: 38:30

  05/16/2023 - 8:00 I started my day today by reading Chapters 4 and 5 of Evolving Education . Chapter 4 was about redefining what success looks like to students; Switching from measuring success through standardized tests and grades to measuring success individually with each student. I think this is a crucial part of education, as if students don’t feel like they belong where they are they won’t learn nearly as well. Chapter 5 was about the 10 Principles of Learning Science, which are prett much common sense to me. Things like providing a safe environment for students both physically and mentally, indiviually working with each student to better take advantage of their strengths and weaknesses, and learning is a process that is full of mistakes and lessons. I also worked on my lesson plan this morning, mainly developing the short writing response I’m going to ask students to write. This morning I worked for about 3 hours, from 9 to 12. I also shadowed Ben during F block, and since cla

  05/15/2023 - 8:00 Today marked the start of the second week of Senior Project. I spent last week in more of an observational role, only presenting to the class a handful of times, but at the end of this week, I will be teaching for a class block. I’m looking forward to this challenge, as while Ben is helping to guide me I’m responsible for creating the lesson plan and teaching the class. I started my day today by shadowing Ben during the first block of the day, G block. This was an in-class work day for students to work on their podcasts, so while they worked on those I talked with Ben and outlined my plan for the coming week. I’ll probably spend most of my time out of class working on my lesson plan, as that's kind of the keystone of my whole project. To that end, I spent about 3 hours working on my lesson plan, mainly coming up with alternate topics. That was from around 12:30 to 3:30. Hours Today: 4 Hours Total: 30

  Weekly Reflection 1 (05/14/2023): So far I am enjoying Senior Project, and I think I’m learning a lot as well. This week I’ve spent an hour or two every day shadowing Ben Bartoldus during his US History classes, and while watching him I’ve learned a lot about teaching. I’ve observed him lead students to the right answer instead of just giving it to them, have conversations with students that form connections, and motivate students to work by helping them realize their individual strengths and weaknesses. The second half of my day is normally independent work, things like writing mock official notes and reading a text Ben gave me, Evolving Education , by Dr. Katie Martin. I’ve also done a little bit of grading (which I enjoyed), and some research for Ben, things like finding Youtube videos that support the current curriculum topic. I’ve had some major takeaways from working with Ben this week. One big thing I learned is that you have to personalize your teaching approach to each s

  05/13/2023 - 8:00 My Saturday started by shadowing Ben during G block. This block was mainly an in-class workday for students to work on their podcasts, so I used the time to start writing my weekly reflection and to continue writing ON’s. I also know that I will be presenting my lesson plan on May 20, so I’m going to aim to have a rough draft done by Wednesday so I can meet with Ben to finalize my lesson before class on Saturday. In class, I tried to talk to two students who weren't using their time very effectively, and while I don’t think I got through to them this time I think if I keep working with these two I may be able to help them develop a better work ethic, as this is something that I struggled with over my time at Proctor. I also worked for about four hours this afternoon, writing both mock Official Notes and my weekly reflection. Hours Today: 5 Hours Total: 26

05/12/2023 - 8:00 I started today by shadowing Ben during G and F blocks, with a break in between the two for lunch. During G block I showed two videos I had spent part of my day finding yesterday. The videos were about a conspiracy in the assassination of JFK, specifically how many shooters were involved and what happened to each bullet. I briefly introduced each video, played them, and then broke them down/concluded them when they were done. While I was presenting these videos of G block Brian Thomas walked in and observed the class for a bit. This made me nervous, but I feel like I did a solid job presenting the two videos. I also focused on three students in each block as I have to write official notes on them this weekend so Ben can judge how well I can evaluate and deliver constructive criticism to students. I also worked on my lesson plan for a couple of hours this afternoon. So far I know I will start the class with an introductory video, then have a short reading so they can s

  05/11/2023 - 3:45 I spent today working alone, as my project mentor led a hike for Earth Day. One thing I did was look for two videos about the three shots conspiracy in connection with the assassination of JFK, as Ben asked me to do that so he could help reinforce the classes understanding by showing said videos to them. I also worked on my lesson plan and decided that the topic I will be teaching a class on will be 9/11. The classes I’ve been sitting in have been working on a podcast about conspiracy theories, so the lesson will be about whether or not the US government was responsible for 9/11. I spent a while developing my lesson plan and got to a point where I have a rough structure of how the class will go but I need to talk to my mentor to get his opinion before I move forward. I also read some more of Evolving Education today, I’m now through Chapter 3 of the book. I spent around 4 and a half hours working today, from 9:15 to 11:30 and from 12:45 to 3. Hours Today: 4:30 Hour

  05/10/2023 - 4:30 I got up today around 9:30 and spent F and G blocks shadowing Ben during his US history classes. During G block I got to grade for content and not just completion for the first time. This was something I enjoyed, as the paragraphs I was grading were mostly well put together, and for the most part, all earned high grades. During F block students spoke about a podcast they had to find last night, presenting the main idea as well as two takeaways. As students dissected their podcasts Ben helped dissect what they had found out about conspiracy theories around the world, and I helped fact-check things that the class or Ben was questioning. From observing Ben today I learned a lot about helping students come to a realization without just giving them the answer. I also spent a couple of hours this afternoon starting to compose my lesson plan, which I will probably teach sometime next week. I worked for about 4 hours total today. Hours Today: 4 Total Hours: 12:30

  05/09/2023 - 7:45 I worked on my senior project for 4 and a half hours today, spread across the day. I worked for about 2 and a half hours this morning from 9 - 11:30 reading about what a learner's profile is and how to help students figure out what their individual learner's profiles are. I also started working on a lesson plan for the end of my Senior Project. I haven’t yet picked a topic but I do have a general sense of what the class will entail. I also spent an hour today shadowing Ben during G block. I listened to the same lecture that he gave yesterday, and I tried to just fact-check as we went along in case there were questions he wasn't prepared for. After he let the students start working individually we discussed the first chapter of Evolving Evolution , a text about teaching that Ben gave me to help me understand more about the profession. We also talked about my plan for Thursday, which is to look for some videos on a specific conspiracy so that Ben can show

  05/08/2020: Today was my first day on Senior Project. I sat in on Ben Bartoldus’s (my mentor) US History class during the first block, and while he lectured I tried to pay attention to how he taught rather than what he was saying. After lecturing for about a half hour, he gave students time to work on their papers and talked with me about lesson plans, curriculum plans, and the nuances of both. After class was dismissed I did a more in-depth review of some examples Ben shared with me from his past lesson and curriculum plans, trying to glean information for a lesson plan I will be creating towards the end of the Senior Project. I also started to read Evolving Education , by Dr Katie Martin. The objective of the book is to get the reader to understand why a learner-centered approach (working with students more individually to better teach them) is superior to a school-centered approach (central curriculum with little deviation), and this an idea a agree with so this book is pretty int