My Teaching Experiences

I was excited to finally receive a placement, seeing as how it felt like the BSU office forgot all about me. After my first day at the school I checked my email and I had finally received my West verification with my contact name for the school. Not very well timed, but better late than never, I suppose.

The night prior to my first day I spoke with a friend of mine who teaches special ed at a middle school in Phoenix. I told her I would be working with seventh graders in the Read Naturally program and she offered me two pieces of advice. First, she told me that seventh graders are not real people, but rather maniacs in seventh grader bodies. Secondly, she told me a little about the Read Naturally program with definite skepticism.

Going into the school with Hannah's words in the corner of my brain, I met Ms. Gratton. She seems like a nice woman who is concerned about her students and positive about what she teaches. When I told her that I work at Hays Shelter, she told me that many of the kids in the two periods I would be helping with would be similar to the kids I've encountered at Hays.

What I found in the classroom was a small group of students who were not nearly as bad as I had anticipated after talking with Hannah and Ms. Gratton. The only thing that reminded me of kids at Hays was, other than the age, their unwashed appearance. Otherwise, they appeared to be what I expected 12-year-old kids fresh from lunch to be like in a reading class in a computer lab.

I worked with many students the first week, circulating around to whomever was ready to take a test or needed help. I feel like I've started to get a grasp on some of their names and figure out how to work with them on their level.

My Teaching Experiences
I'm a graduate student at Boise State University just starting to work with the school districts. This no-frills blog is my account of my experiences in the school setting. Archives: January 2006 February 2006 March 2006 April 2006 September 2006 October 2006 November 2006 January 2007 February 2007 March 2007 April 2007 May 2007	Tuesday, January 31, 2006 I was excited to finally receive a placement, seeing as how it felt like the BSU office forgot all about me. After my first day at the school I checked my email and I had finally received my West verification with my contact name for the school. Not very well timed, but better late than never, I suppose. The night prior to my first day I spoke with a friend of mine who teaches special ed at a middle school in Phoenix. I told her I would be working with seventh graders in the Read Naturally program and she offered me two pieces of advice. First, she told me that seventh graders are not real people, but rather maniacs in seventh grader bodies. Secondly, she told me a little about the Read Naturally program with definite skepticism. Going into the school with Hannah's words in the corner of my brain, I met Ms. Gratton. She seems like a nice woman who is concerned about her students and positive about what she teaches. When I told her that I work at Hays Shelter, she told me that many of the kids in the two periods I would be helping with would be similar to the kids I've encountered at Hays. What I found in the classroom was a small group of students who were not nearly as bad as I had anticipated after talking with Hannah and Ms. Gratton. The only thing that reminded me of kids at Hays was, other than the age, their unwashed appearance. Otherwise, they appeared to be what I expected 12-year-old kids fresh from lunch to be like in a reading class in a computer lab. I worked with many students the first week, circulating around to whomever was ready to take a test or needed help. I feel like I've started to get a grasp on some of their names and figure out how to work with them on their level.