In this post, please discuss how your Sophomore Block field experience helped you to move forward as an educator. That is, what did this opportunity allow you to do and how will this experience help you to make the next step on your journey.
Sophomore block was an experience where I was in a school, East De Pere High School, for four weeks in the month of April. I was with a cooperating teacher during this time, who showed me how to teach and observe computer science students. This experience was invaluable because I was able to gain a new perspective on teaching high school students computer science.
During this time, I was tasked with three different projects to keep in mind while observing the students. The first was to think about exceptionalities within the classroom as well as in the school. Such questions as, how did my cooperating teacher deal with students who had IEPs or students who were struggling but didn’t have an IEP, as well as how was the school accommodating to those with exceptionalities? The second project was all about culture within the classroom. Questions like, how was my cooperating teacher culturally responsive in her teaching, and were there any techniques your teacher used within the classroom that dealt with culture that you might like to use? The third project is about adolescent and childhood development. I was tasked with creating a norms chart for each of the classes and then write about five students in depth about their characteristics and the buckets of development (physical, cognitive, social, emotional, personal). Each of these projects helped me understand the different thought processes a teacher has to think about while lesson planning or while actively teaching in the classroom.
Before this experience, I was not in any well-structured computer science classes at the high school level, so this experience allowed me to see how a strong program worked and what can be achieved. Most of my cooperating teacher’s students understood the topics that were presented, and most were there because they wanted to be there. This experience allowed me to see what a day in the life of a teacher is by experiencing it myself. It was definitely tough at times, especially since with computer science I don’t just have class, I also have a lab, so I had to go back and forth from my school for both. I also had the three different projects to worry about, programs due every two weeks, labs due every week for computer science, not to mention I also was working one day a week at Kwik Trip. To say I was exhausted and overwhelmed is an understatement. This doesn’t mean that I don’t want to teach, but it provided an insight on how teaching might look, especially if my life is as busy as that. I want to continue in the education program because of the connections I made through this time. I also don’t typically quit something until all my options are explored as well. Options such as, I haven’t been able to see what middle school looks like, nor something at the college level (I love being a teacher assistant for computer science, however I hate writing and research). Therefore, I want to explore those options as well as student teaching before I truly decide what I wish to do. I feel that if this is my calling it will work out in the end, and if it isn’t then at least I have fond memories of connecting with students as well as a backup plan with my major.
