I woke up this morning missing the 11th grade students at Kennard-Dale. I'm not entirely sure if that's normal; but, that's what happened. I feel really good about my experience there, and obviously I'm sad to see it end. Today I'm trying to re-cap on the best things I've learned from my field placement, and I've come up with a few noteworthy things ...

For starters, my co-op was excellent with classroom management; his students knew exactly what he was expecting from them and they never really acted out. Even when it was just me in the room or it was a substitute teacher, the students were on their best behavior. The interesting thing was, my co-op never yelled, and in the few weeks I was in his classroom I've only ever seen him give one detention -- it was his first all year. I asked him how he managed to do this, because, to be honest, I was astonished. He said it's all about respect ( which we've all been taught throughout our bloc classes). The students know what he expects from them, and in return they expect a lot of him. He takes the time to tell the students personal things about his life (like the fact that he's a vegetarian or what he did over the weekend). They get to know him in a way that makes him less of a "scary teacher". Still, he does not put up with their BS -- he challenges them to think every day, and if they are, say, a little sluggish on a Monday morning, he'll have them doing activities that get them out of their slump. It was incredibly helpful to watch this kind of management in action, especially because this was area that troubled me a bit.

When it came to technology in the classroom, my co-op admitted that he was not really a "21st century teacher". This would be something I would have to change in my own classroom. With all the projects and classes we've taken involving classroom tech, I think it would be next to impossible NOT to include it. My classroom had a smart board as well as a laptop cart, and the students loved it when they were able to use them. So I'd have to say, if there was something I'd change about the classroom I was in, it would be to include more technology to fit student interest.

I also learned a little bit about co-teaching while at Kennard-Dale. During first period there was a learning support teacher that came in to help the students with their work. She didn't always teach exactly, but she would circulate around the room to make sure the students were paying attention or would offer assistance to anyone who needed it. This teacher also worked with the students one-on-one during different periods of the day, so she knows what kind of students they are. It was really good for me to get experience working with more than one teacher.