Running head: Practicum Journal Entries

Practicum Journal Entries

Stephen T. Barnhart
Seton Hill University
Practicum for Elementary and Secondary Education
Dr. Monsour
December 6, 2015

Practicum Journal Entries (Due Oct. 1)

Session 1: Wednesday, September 16, 2015~ 3:005:30 p.m. (JAYS Program)
Mode of Thinking: Technological Thinking
Objective in Mind: Introduce basic chess moves.
Instructional/Pedagogical Techniques Used: Using Quesioning Strategies, Direct Instruction,
Separation, Reward System, Guided Practice, Peer Collaboration
Reflection: As I embark in writing this first reflection, I consider the summation of my
experiences for the first session of the JAYS program. To be honest, the first day was a little
more chaotic than I had anticipated, considering it was the first time Ms. Penny was working
with the students for that year, as well as a new crew of student interns. It became obvious to me
very quickly that the children we were going to be regularly working with would be loud, full of
energy to release after a long school day, and often belligerent with one another. My first instinct
was to use classroom management strategies I have learned in class, as well as those I used in my
summer camp job working with 6-10 year olds. I quickly learned that Ms. Pennys approach to

Practicum Journal Entries

2
managing/crowd control is very different from what I have typically come to know and learn.
She uses a much more forceful tone, and was not hesitate to raise her voice in order to get her
point across. To my surprise, this group of students responded surprisingly well to Ms. Pennys
more forceful commands than any other strategies I observed.
Allow me to describe the process of a typical day. All of the students signed up for the
JAYS after school program would gather in a designated section of the cafeteria at approximately
3:15 p.m. Ms. Penny would instruct them to sign in before anything else, but most of the children
(especially that first day) neglected to follow her directions. They set down their belongings on
these benches and proceeded into the cafeteria food line, where they would be able to get some
sort of snack and drink. They were then able to socialize until 3:40 p.m., which was around the
time they would transition from the cafeteria to their designated homework areas. Some children
would get student interns to tutor them, while other would not (this variable being dependent on
the child and the number of available practicum students from UPG and SHU). Those students
that are assigned a tutor work in the Art room with their designated professional, while the rest of
the students file down to Ms. Pennys room. Depending on the week, I will sometimes be in
the art room, or I have also been helping Ms. Penny in her room (Ill get to that more in a bit).
This homework time lasts until 4:30 p.m. (although, they usually need about ten minutes to
transition from their homework to Educational Activity time). After tutoring, we go into these
activities, which each of the student interns runs. My particular role is the facilitator of the Chess
Club. This lasts until 5:15, when we are excused to leave for the day. After the students help us
clean up these activities, they eat Supper, get some gym time (or participate in Robotics Club),
and then get dismissed to board the buses a little after 6 p.m.
So my role the first day was a little different from what I have been normally doing.
During the gathering period, I actually helped organize students to sign up for the various

Practicum Journal Entries

3
educational activities. In order to organize those students, I asked them to line up against a wall,
and called them up by twos if they were being quiet and respectful. This seemed to be very
effective, and the students responded well to this strategy. During the tutoring portion, I was
assigned to work with a specific student. Jason, an eighth grader and football player, was my
assigned student for the entirety of the JAYS program. As it so happened, Jason has had football
practice after school on Wednesday for the past few weeks, so this was the one and only time I
have worked with him so far this year. Furthermore, Jason had already completed all of his
homework during school, so we didnt have anything to work on during the time allotted for
tutoring. Instead, we had a conversation, which bore much fruit. I actually found out that he was
an avid chess player, and would often play his uncle. He showed me a way of playing chess with
just pencil and paper, which was a unique way for us to connect and for me to show him so
helpful tricks. Unfortunately, there wasnt space enough for him to sign up for Chess Club, so
that was my only chance to instruct him on my newly developed expertise. Nevertheless, I reflect
back on that moment as an effective teaching moment, not only for him, but also for me. During
the actual Chess Club, I met two of the members (there are four total): Nathan and Nathaniel.
Both are talkative, silly, and VERY energetic, which made it easier for me to get them excited,
but also more difficult for me to reign in their enthusiasm at times. I had to use a number of
teaching strategies with them, including separation (I would sit between them at a corner of a
larger table), laying out an anticipatory set (which included telling them that we would first go
over how each chess piece moves, and then proceed to play a game with instruction). Laying out
how we were going to do things was effective in giving them an understanding of how we were
going to proceed for the next half hour. Giving them those expectations increased their attention
to my directionsthat, coupled with reminding them that the less they interrupt, the quicker we

Practicum Journal Entries

4
would be able to play chess. Since I was only coaching the two of them (and on, Nathan, had
previous experience playing Chess) I decided they were prepared enough to begin a game with
some assistance. If anything, my biggest surprise in teaching Chess was how quickly they caught
oneither I did something right in the way I was instructing, or I underestimated their ability in
picking up a game that I always thought was difficult for even adults to learn. In response to the
speed of their learning, I decided that it would make sense to actually begin playing the game,
which was something I hadnt planned on doing until at least the second or third week of JAYS.
Session 2: Wednesday, September 23, 2015~ 3:005:30 p.m. (JAYS Program)
Mode of Thinking: Situational Thinking
Objective in Mind: Apply basic chess moves to game play.
Instructional/Pedagogical Techniques Used: Coaching, Peer Collaboration, Direct Instruction,
Question-Based Inquiry, General Scaffolding, Vocabulary Training, Re-teaching, Modeling
Reflection: The second week ran much more smoothly than the first. The students understood
more fully the routine of first signing in, and then grabbing their snack and sitting down. For this
gathering period, my job was to manage the children as they transitioned from the food line to
their seats at the tables. I would continually remind them (in a pretty loud voice) that once they
picked a seat, they were not to move around. Some of my peers suggested that for this week, it
might be better to greet and get to know the students better, rather than simply ordering them
around. I concurred, and although that strategy didnt have as much of an immediate effect on
childrens behavior, and think it will ultimately be a better strategy long-term in earning their
trust. I was also asked to monitor the sign-in binder, in order to ensure that all the students were
signing their names before proceeding to get a snack. Most of the children signed in, but after
doing a final count, I realized that one forgot to sign in. When I found which child had not signed
in, I proceeded to take the binder over to him, since he was already seated and eating. Ms. Penny
abruptly stopped me from carrying over, and told me that these students, in transitioning from

Practicum Journal Entries

5
their elementary years to high school, need to learn to independently function, which is why it
was an important teaching moment to allow this child to come over himself and sign in. At the
start of the second week, Im beginning to notice Ms. Pennys emphasis on developing the
childrens work ethic and ownership of personal responsibilities. I like this emphasis, but I think
that I need to make it work with my own teaching style/abilities. The simple fact of the matter is
that Im not a yeller/direct enforcerand Ms. Penny is. I need to learn a different approach reach
the same end goal.
During the tutoring portion of the day, I was able to assist a 5th Grader by the name of
Daniel. I was informed Daniel has high functioning Autism, so I was excited to get to work with
him in completing his homework. He seemed to be academically very proficient for fifth grade,
but lacking the normal social awareness developmentally appropriate for his age. For example,
he would insist on reading all of the directions out loud, and would talk himself through all the
problems. This seemed to be the best strategy for him in completing his homework, so I let him
do that for the first portion, but challenged him to at least whisper to himself towards the end. In
addition, I had to really keep him on task by motioning to the questions needing answered,
helping him in talking these problems through, and steering our conversations back to the
homework at hand. There was also a moment where he talked a little bit about his home life,
which seemed rough. It reminded me of the fact that for many of these children, our interactions
with them are the healthiest/safest conversations they will be having during the course of the day.
This made me even more determined to do my very best in acting charitable to these students,
even those who act out constantly.
For chess club today, we had another new student join us. Since there were a total of
three students (and myself, making four), I decided that we could split our group into two
different games: the two young gentlemen I worked with last week played one game together,

Practicum Journal Entries

6
while I taught the newcomer the basic rules of chess and squared off against him. Although this
model worked, Nathan and Nathaniel would often get distracted and sometimes knock pieces off
the board. Nathan would normally correct Nathaniel if he wasnt making a legal move, but if
both of them were acting silly, I had to stop working with Erik in order to address their behavior.
Aside from that, this system seemed to work, and by the end of our session, Erik really had a
basic understanding of the game of chess. I think the other two (particularly Nathaniel) are
learning more strategy. I liked when Nathan would give tips to Nathaniel during his turn
(although selectivelyhe always made sure he still won!).
Session 3: Wednesday, September 30, 2015~ 3:005:30 p.m. (JAYS Program)
Mode of Thinking: Technological Thinking
Objective in Mind: Apply basic chess moves to game play.
Instructional/Pedagogical Techniques Used: Scaffolding, Providing wait time, Cooperative
Learning, Small Group Instruction, Linking new information, modeling
Reflection: By week three, Ive come to really understand the ropes of my role in this afterschool program. Ms. Penny trusts me with certain additional responsibilities, which, although
Im flattered, Im not exactly sure why. Nevertheless, I have learned that Im in charge of
unlocking the cabinet with games, and will often serve as a substitute tutor or facilitator in
helping students not assigned with a regular tutor. The gathering period was a bit hectic today,
especially because Ms. Penny wanted us to spread the students out among the different tables
(they typically clustered at one or two of the given tables). Asking the children to change their
routine was difficult, which caused an unusual amount of feistiness from the girls, whose friend
groups we disrupted a bit in order to spread everyone out. They also seemed particularly jumpy.
My guess is that with the onset of colder temperatures, they have been outside less and have
more bundled up energy. Ms. Penny observed this and suggested that a few of the interns take the
students to the gymnasium to run a few laps. The children seemed pretty excited about this

Practicum Journal Entries

7
option, and it was ultimately a good decision for the entire group, as we were able to expend
their energy in a short amount of time, resulting in a much calmer and collected group of
students.
For tutoring today I was assigned to monitor Ms. Pennys room and help any of those
students working independently. About half way through this portion of the JAYS program, I was
assigned to help an eighth grade girl with math. When we started, the first thing she asked me
was if she could go to her locker and grab her calculator. I took at the math work that she had to
complete and told her that it looked like work that didnt require a calculator, so I asked her to try
at least a couple of problems without using the device. She did a few with my assistance, and she
really did quite well, but grumbled and complained until I finally gave in. Im not sure if I should
have given in to her attitude, but I figured that this wasnt necessarily as rigorous a setting as the
actual classroom environment, and therefore, wouldnt necessitate needing to challenge her in
that way. Still, it was pretty disheartening to see an eighth grade student so attached to their
calculator that she felt like she needed it for functions as simple as 14 minus 8 (that was the
hardest problem she had to calculate). I also felt some animosity from her, so I tried to smooth
things over by creating conversation about her favorite parts of school and the craziest things
that have happened in school so far this year. She was eager to give me the scoop on her eighth
grade class, so I was happy she at least felt comfortable enough with me to share a little about
her personal life. I feel that although she had been annoyed with me, she seemed to not mind me
so much by the end of the homework period.
Chess club today was in the cafeteria, which is a different local from the previous two
weeks. One particular reason I liked using the art room was because its square tables provided
me with a nice corner to not only play against one student, but to also easily monitor the other
match. The long, rowed tables of the cafeteria didnt allow me to see the other match happening,

Practicum Journal Entries

8
so my I had to adjust myself so that I was actually sitting on the other side between the two
matches. I decided to start by playing against Nathaniel, since he will often distract the other two
students in our group. Plus, this was a good opportunity to see his progress firsthand. I allowed
them to choose a setting in playing against me. Since we were able to get two games in, he
asked that I go easy on him for the first game, and medium for the second. I saw this gradual
duration as good for Nathaniels learning process. I also taught the class a unique move called
castling, and explained why its an important move to make at some time during the course of
a chess match. I think for next time, I will play our most advanced student, Nathan, to give him
more of a challenge. I have yet to play him because I liked to pair him up with his peers so they
could learn from him, but I think it might be a good idea to really challenge him.
Session 4: Wednesday, October 15, 2015~ 3:005:30 p.m. (JAYS Program)
Mode of Thinking: Deliberate Thinking
Objective in Mind: Begin developing chess strategies.
Instructional/Pedagogical Techniques Used: Peer Tutoring, Monitoring, Coaching, Give/Take,
Collaboration via Technology
Reflection: It feels good to get back in the swing of things here at the JAYS Program. I saw a lot
of new faces today as a different set of children have joined the program mid-way through the
semester. Things are still pretty loud and chaotic, but it is far better today than during the
previous session, as I saw more children seated. Spacing of the children continues to be an issue,
and although Ms. Penny asks that they sit five to a table, but a lot of the children would continue
to refuse to listen. Ms. Penny relies on their better judgment and maturity in listening and
following directions, but I dont believe this end can be achieved until certain parameters are set.
Although this is not my call, I think more clearly presented objectives for the program are
important for the students to understand in order for them to respect Ms. Pennys authority, and
in turn, that of the interns and assistants. On a more positive note, I did observe Ms. Penny task a

Practicum Journal Entries

9
returning student with showing the afternoon routine to a new member of JAYS. I liked this form
of delegation, as it not only lightens the individual responsibilities of a frighteningly busy Ms.
Penny, but also gives this returning child an opportunity to develop socially in showing the new
child her routine.
Today, I was assigned to monitor 8th grade students in the computer lab. Its interesting
how much more motivated they seemed working on the computers, as oppose to the homework
they normally do at their traditional desk settings. The inevitable trade-off is that they are much
more easily distracted. Most of them were working on short stories assigned by one of their
teachers, but there was disagreement among formatting between the secondary English interns
and what the students said their teacher expected. As a result, there had to be some negotiating
about what the format could look like to both meet teacher expectations also be professionally
presented. This same process of negotiation was necessary when the 8th graders exchanged each
others essays for revising. The interns (rightfully) saw it imprudent to have all the eighth graders
revising one of the groups papers at the same time. Nevertheless, the students insisted that they
wanted to work on revising together. In light of this, the interns provided guidance to each of the
students editing, assigning specific writing parameters for each child to focus on so that two
children editing werent editing the same short story at the same time (which was part of the
initial problem). Later on, we (the interns) logged on to our own Google accounts to help them
with their revisions. It was a system that worked out during the tutoring portion of the program.
At chess club, I continued to further review the rules of chess for chess, while also
beginning to explain certain opening strategies that will help them later in the game (getting your
knights out early, allowing space for your bishop to move, castling, etc.) I dont think they really
applied any of my new suggestions, so for next week I am going to work on specifically
monitoring the chess games and suggesting when they can use these new moves.

Practicum Journal Entries

10
Session 5: Wednesday, October 21, 2015~ 3:005:30 p.m. (JAYS Program)
Mode of Thinking: Dialetical Thinking
Objective in Mind: Begin Developing Chess Strategy and Introduce Basic Chess Moves
Instructional/Pedagogical Techniques Used: Scaffolding, Coaching, Positive Reinforcement,
Probing, Reward System, Direct Instruction
Reflection: Today, JAYS ran differently than normal. Ms. Penny believes that the children should
get time to burn off extra steam, especially while its relatively nice outside. Therefore, the new
model for JAYS involves going outside to play some outdoor game or walk on the track (or
indoors in the gym if the weather is too cold/rainy) before tutoring beings. It also encourages the
children to eat their snacks promptly in anticipation for forthcoming fun. Since today was an
exceptionally nice day for late October, we played kickball and Collin and I were in charge of
selecting teams, pitching, and calling people out. It was good fun, and as pitcher, I had the
opportunity to ask each child their name before throwing down the ball, helping me to better
learn names and begin to make new, meaningful connections with students I interact less with. It
required me to think on my feet, including as trash cans as bases, making everyone feel involved
by assigning positions out in the field, and asking each child if they were ready before pitching
the ball. After this activity, we moved back into the Cafeteria. This was pretty chaotic because
the 21st Century Grant Program had taken up part of the allotted space in the cafeteria, leaving
our group to occupy a small space. So many middle school children in a confined space did not
work at all, and a distracted, disoriented JAYS group that was still wound up from kickball
received Ms. Pennys harsh admonishments for not listening.
Once the children moved to their tutoring locations, I was assigned to the room where
Ms. Penny monitors students without tutors. There, I assisted a student, Hakeem, with his math
homework. Hakeem seemed to know what he was doing, but was not motivated to being
working. In light of this, I simply guided him with his first problem, and from there, he
continued to work. At one point he asked if he could use his calculator, which I allowed because

Practicum Journal Entries

11
it is precedent at Jeanette Middle and because he demonstrated that he could do these particular
problems by hand. I feel my role is to often teach children to become less dependent on
technology, and in the case of mental math, it will ultimately benefit a promising student like
Hakeem to understand mental math and simple ways of estimating before resorting to a
calculator (particularly for simple, two-digit addition and subtraction problems). Furthermore,
the problems in Hakeems set would get progressively more difficult, so I thought, given the
increasing difficulty of the math, allowing him to use the calculator at that time was a fair
judgment call.
For chess club today, we got some new members who will be a part of the club until the
end of the year. These three new members are Dalton, Damien, and DeShaun. Two of the
members from the beginning of the semester, Nathan and Nathaniel, will also continue to be part
of the group for the remainder of my practicum experience. This leaves six chess players total
(including me), so I needed to scrounge around the cabinet to find a third chessboard. Chess club
today had to take a couple steps back in order to teach new member the basic rules. Of the three
new players, one (Dalton) was already at the same level as Nathan (who already has a mastery of
the game and knows basic strategy). The other new players needed this introduction. My mistake
with this session was putting the two beginning chess players together for their first match. My
initial reasoning for choosing this match-up was to have two students of equal ability play
against one anther, but in doing so I failed to realize that they would have no idea how to play a
well coordinated match since they had just begun. I came to this realization in hindsightmy
original thought in writing this section of the journal was to lambast student behaviors, but that
wouldnt get to the core of the issue, which was my mistake in matching these two students who
had just learned chess. The behavior problems were actually a direct result of my decision.
Making this observation about a bad choice I made was a good learning opportunity for me.

Practicum Journal Entries

12
Session 6: Wednesday, October 28, 2015~ 3:005:00 p.m. (JAYS Program)
Mode of Thinking: Dialetical Thinking
Objective in Mind: Begin Developing Chess Strategy
Instructional/Pedagogical Techniques Used: Scaffolding, Separation, Give Choices
Reflection: JAYS had to be condensed today because the buses were coming early to pick
everyone up. Nevertheless, the time allotted for physical activity remained the same. And so,
from the gathering period until 4 p.m., we played kickball outside. This proved to be
problematic, since the football team was using the practice field. As a result, we had to adapt and
play on smaller version of the field than what we were used to. Some of the students were able to
walk on the track, which the girls preferred over the boys. Gathering everyone to line up after
these outdoor activities was especially difficult, and when I was attempting to get some of the
girl to line up, I had one girl (probably in 6th grade) who simply stated that I couldnt boss her
around because I was a guy. To be honest, I had know idea how to respond to her remark, so I
asked her why that was the case. Again, she reiterated that I shouldnt be telling her what to do,
and simply went about ignoring me as I responded that, as a student intern, it is my job to assist
Ms. Penny, which I as doing in that capacity in asking her to line up.
I was helping to monitor the children in Ms. Pennys classroom. Today, students were
split up based whether they had homework (art room), didnt have homework (Ms. Pennys
classroom), or needed to work in the computer lab. So, my job in Ms. Pennys classroom was to
keep everyone quite as they did silent, sustained reading. I was on my own for most of this time,
and to be honest, the other student intern wasnt particularly helpful. There was a boy who kept
distracting the other kidshis name was Erik. Every time I would go over to Eriks desk, he
would sit up and say that he wasnt up to anything, or make some excuse for his behavior. After
so many times of having to go over to Eriks desk. I decided that we needed to have a talk, and
so I took him out into the hallway. Before I proceeded to have a conversation with him, Erik

Practicum Journal Entries

13
opened up to me about his ADHD, and said with conviction that his disorder is part of the reason
he struggles some much in class. This was a very powerful moment for me, and although I had
suspicions, I was really appreciative of the fact that he felt comfortable sharing his diagnosis
with me. In light of this new information, I asked him to try his very best to concentrate for
whatever amount of time was left before special activities. I still told him that if was to act up
again, I would have to inform Ms. Penny. Fortunately for both of us, he was well behaved for the
rest of SSR.
At chess club today (which began earlier at 4:30), I decided to match everyone up a little
differently. Dalton played Nathan, Damien played Nathaniel, and I versed DeShaun. I also
decided to begin calling them the names that friends and family call them. I think it is stunting to
growth of individual identity to continue calling them their official name if it isnt the one they
normally use. And so, I began calling DeShaun Mason. I had the match-ups done in a way that
matched students of equal ability with one another, and I was better able to monitor Masons
behavior by playing him. It was during this session that I come to realize Masons potential,
noticing that he was actually quite good at chess and problem solving skills when to riled up by
his peers. I think Damien had used this to his advantage of Masson the last time they played each
other. All in all, chess club ran quite smoothly today. The only hiccup came in the form of not
being able to find one of the chess sets, and so Damien and Nathaniel played checkers for this
session.
Session 7: Wednesday, November 4, 2015~ 3:005:30 p.m. (JAYS Program)
Mode of Thinking: Dialetical Thinking
Objective in Mind: Begin Developing Chess Strategy
Instructional/Pedagogical Techniques Used: Scaffolding, Modeling, Challenging Gifted Student,
Setting Realistic Behavioral Goals, Mottos
Reflection: You can tell its getting near the end of the semester. The interns are tired, Ms. Penny
is getting tired, and quite frankly, Im getting tired. Nevertheless, there are students who need us

Practicum Journal Entries

14
to be present and helpful, and so I will continue to put my best foot forward for the rest of the
semester. Gathering time was chaotic (as has become the norm), but somehow it has become a
more organized chaos. I think this is partly to due with the fact that Ms. Penny made arrangement
to have certain students who were causing a lot of the behavior problems to leave the program.
Todays activity was indoors, as the weather has gotten colder. The children ran around the gym
before getting assigned to their academic setting.
Again, I was assigned to monitor Ms. Pennys classroom (and this time, Ms. Penny was
present for the full amount of time). I could tell she wasnt feeling so well, and at one point while
we were attempting to get the children to quite down, instead of reprimanding the students, she
asked for my advice. She simply told me that she no idea how to control this bunch, and said I
could try whatever I wanted to help them quit down and focus on either their homework or
independent reading. So, I challenged the class to complete silence for five minutes, and then
they could go back to talking. Their incentive for staying silent for those five minutes was a
penalty system, in which I told them that they would have to remain silent for an extra two
minutes for every time I heard talking. To my surprise, this system actually worked. One boy did
attempt to challenge this new rule, and so I stuck to my original arrangement, and everyone in
the class remained silent for an additional two minutes. As a result, no one challenged the rule
again until their time was up. In order to show accountability on my end, I directed them to the
clock and told them that they could talk quietly again when it reached a particular time, that way
they didnt think I was making up arbitrary times.
At chess club today, my goal was to play Dalton, who had easily defeated Nathan last
week. Dalton was a challenge, and I narrowly beat him. At first he was somewhat disrespectful,
acting as though he would beat me easily. As the game went on, he finally began to understand
that my chess abilities were on par with his, if not better. The idea of having competition actually

Practicum Journal Entries

15
pleased him, and a good match was played and shaken upon. The only downside to playing
Dalton was that I wasnt able to concentrate on the other students. By this session, most of the
students understood that if there was a disagreement, they were to mediate it themselves before
telling me, and this really did help control most of the problems while I was preoccupied. Its
also good for these middle school students developmentally to try to fix disagreements with
adults telling them how. Also, whenever they would get to loud, I had developed a phrase for
them to remember. I would prompt them to repeat this phrase by saying guys, remember and
they would call back in unison chess is a quiet, sophisticated game! in British accents like I
had taught them from the beginning of the semester.
Session 8: Wednesday, November 17, 2015~ 3:005:30 p.m. (JAYS Program)
Mode of Thinking: Dialetical Thinking
Objective in Mind: Apply Chess Strategy to Tournament Play
Instructional/Pedagogical Techniques Used: Scaffolding, Monitoring, Direct Instruction,
Coaching, Cooperative Teaching
Reflection: Almost done! Actually, Im beginning to realize that as stressful as this Practicum,
has been, I will miss the students I have been working with. Anyway, today actually started off
abnormally, but in a good wayeveryone seemed to generally behave, and the volume, with
some general reminders, was pretty much acceptable. The weather was abnormally warm today,
so we went outside to walk around the track. Collin played soccer with some of the students, but
most chose to walk the track. We had to reprimand some of the students for piggy-back riding,
but otherwise they were pretty well behaved. A number of the interns were walking together and
reflecting on the program. I think we had some good conversations, and we all agreed that the
program has room for improvement.
Today, I took students Erik and Quentin upstairs to the computer lab to work on some
assignments they needed to complete. Quentin is a good worker, and I saw that he was
accomplishing what he had originally told Ms. Penny he needed to complete. Erik was working,

Practicum Journal Entries

16
but would get distracted pretty easily, so I helped him refocus throughout our time in the
computer lab. An intern from UPG joined our little with a couple of the students she tutors. We
teamed up to monitor these students, and together, helped give them warnings about how much
time they had left, logging off the computers, lining up, and walking back down to the cafeteria
(although one of the boys decided to throw his backpack down their stairwell, so that was swell).
Today marked the beginning of the chess tournament. At the last session, I informed out
club that we would begin the tournament today, so they were all pretty excited. DeShaun ended
up getting suspended from JAYS for a couple weeks, so unfortunately he was absent that day. I
had originally planned a five-person round robin, but simplifying to a four person single
elimination was ideal, especially given how much time I had left. So, via lottery, Nathan was
assigned to play Nathaniel, while Dalton was assigned to play Damien. As each match was
occurring, I would go back and forth between the games to ensure fair play and answer any
questions. Since these were tournaments, I would not assist as I normally do. In then end, Dalton
(unsurprisingly) beat Damien. What was more interesting was the upset between Nathan and
Nathaniel. Nathan, in an attempt to even the odds against his friend and less skilled opponent,
gave Nathaniel advice throughout the match and made move on purpose so that Nathaniel would
have an initial edge. Thinking he could come back against Nathaniel was Nathans unfortunate
mistake, and he ended up loosing. Nathan was pretty distraught, but I assured him that he was
very good at chess. I reinforced this by asking if he thought he could have beaten Nathaniel if he
not given any concession, to which he replied with a resounding yes. In asking him this, I
reinforced the idea that he had graciously given the game to Nathaniel, which ultimately boosted
his spirits. They shook hands and made amends.
I had a hard time controlling my guys towards the end of the day, especially Dalton and
Damien, because their game had finished so much earlier than Nathan and Nathaniels match. I

Practicum Journal Entries

17
decided to keep them occupied by playing hangman, which worked well.
Session 9: Wednesday, December 2, 2015~ 3:005:30 p.m. (JAYS Program)
Mode of Thinking: Dialetical Thinking
Objective in Mind: Apply Chess Strategy to Tournament Play
Instructional/Pedagogical Techniques Used: Scaffolding, Monitoring, Telling Stories, Small
Group Instruction, Positive Reinforcement
Reflection: Its bittersweet to be writing this last practicum reflection on my JAYS experience. I
have learned so much about the real world of primary education through this program, and have
bonded with a demographic I never thought I would be able to connect with. To be honest, I
didnt take many notes from this session, so Ill briefly describe the day. The only interns from
Seton Hill present were Michele Morgan and myself. As a result, it was a lot more chaotic than
normal. Ms. Penny tasked me with organizing and facilitating kickball in the gymnasium. Again,
I had trouble with certain girls who would not listen to my directions, but at least they were more
respectful than my last encounter a couple sessions ago. Some of the children were disappointed
that they didnt get the chance to kick, but we only had some much time before splitting off into
academic groups. I think next time I would have paid more attention to each child in the batting
order to ensure everyone had gotten a turn to kick. The teams were also pretty uneven, which
was part of the problem to begin with. Today I was monitoring students who were working
independently in the art room. Some 7th and 8th graders were talking, and I joined in with their
conversations. They thought some of my stories from middle school were funny, and we laughed
together. I also helped Hakeem with his vocabulary work by walking him through his own
thought process.
At chess club today, Nathaniel and Dalton were playing the final match. Meanwhile, with
the other two chessboards, I was showing a new group of students who didnt know where they
were supposed to go the basics of chess. DeShaun was back, so to make him feel included, I
played him, and in turn, showed these new students the basics of chess. In the end, things worked

Practicum Journal Entries

18
out pretty well, and a new group of students was intrigued to have learned how to play, while I
was able to maintain control of more students than I normally work with. Also surprising was the
winner of the chess tournament: Nathaniel. I was really proud of how much Nathaniel had
learned over the semester, and was frankly shocked that he had been able to beat Dalton. Dalton
had told me that he was distracted and made a couple blunders that cost him the game. Shaking
Nathaniels hand to congratulate him on his victory was the absolute highlight of my time here at
Jeanette Middle School. As I was leaving, Ms. Penny invited me to come back any time to help
assist her with the programand I intend to make a couple visits next semester.