Robin Glicksberg

4/19/2016
ED228
Field Experience Journal
***I want to preface this journal by noting that I was not introduced to my focal student
(Zellman) until March 15th, so all of my observations until that point are focused on the
classroom in its entirety. ***

February 2nd
Shortridge High School is located in an urban environment at 3401 North Meridian Street,
Indianapolis, Indiana 46208. It is a public high school that was opened in 1864. It is the oldest
free, public high school in the state of Indiana. It has an International Baccalaureate (IB)
program. Essentially, the IB program stresses international understanding and respect,
assessment, and rigorous academics. At Shortridge, they want to challenge their scholars from
diverse socio-economic and cultural backgrounds to become lifelong learners. What does that
mean? They want their students to have personal and social awareness. The more aware you are
of your own surroundings and culture, the more open you will be to understanding global
cultures. Shortridge has grades 9 through 12. There are only about 370 students in attendance,
but they do plan on expansion. They have means to expand too. Currently, the majority of their
classes only take place on the third floor leaving their second floor basically vacant. For my field
experience, I was placed in an English classroom, Mr. Gawdziks freshman English class to be
specific.
February 16th
Today was the first day in Mr. Gawdziks classroom. We got to introduce ourselves to the
students in the beginning, but we spent the remainder of the class period sitting in the back of the

room, simply observing. I liked that we just sat in the back and observed for our first day because
it gave us a chance to observe the classrooms environment and see what the students are like in
action. Mr. Gawdzik is working with a tough age group. According to Erik Erikson, his students
are right in the middle of transitioning from childhood to adulthood (2013). These students are
obsessed with fitting in and figuring out who they are. This is pretty life-changing stuff, of
course, theyre not going to be on their best behavior. I noticed that it took Mr. Gawdzik a little
while to get the students focused. Id say it was a good five minutes before he had everyones
attention. Even after that, students continued to interrupt him throughout his teaching. It was
interesting to watch him interact with these disruptive students. Theres one kid who stood out to
me: Paul Turner. Paul has the hardest time staying focused and staying quiet. He likes to interject
whenever he can. The first couple of times he interrupted class, Mr. Gawdzik would joke with
him a bit and then tell him to pay attention. Mr. Gawdzik would act this way with all of his
students. He started off as the friendly cop, but if a student got too disruptive he would ultimately
have to play the bad cop and tell him or her to quiet down or else. I liked observing the
relationships Mr. Gawdzik has developed with his students. You can clearly see that he has
gotten to know each of them on a personal level due to the way hes able to jokingly interact with
them. Despite this, he still manages to play the role of authority when the class starts to get off
track. Thats the kind of teacher that I want to be. I want to be a friend to all of my students, but I
also want to be someone they respect when it comes to authority figures. I think when teachers
are friends, students are more willing to pay attention to them when attention is required.
February 18th
Today was an interesting day. Today Mr. Gawdzik was not in the classroom, so there was a
substitute. I feel bad for substitutes because I think theres a secret student handbook where

weve all agreed to not pay attention in class when the teacher isnt there. Remember Erik
Erikson: these students are learning to become fiercely independent. I think the lack of Mr.
Gawdziks authority and presence encourages them to test out this independence. Ive witnessed
the students be disruptive, and Ive witnessed them be distracted. In both of these cases, Mr.
Gawdzik has the ability to get them back on track. During class, the students were supposed to
read chapters 25-27 of the book they were reading and then complete a worksheet on it. I think
maybe five students were actually reading the book. I saw multiple students on their phones and
computers. I saw plenty of students with headphones in too. This made me confused. The
substitute explicitly told the students that the worksheet was to be turned in at the end of the class
period. Why werent they doing their work? Werent they concerned about getting zero credit? I
get it. Sometimes I have days where Im more productive outside of the classroom, but thats
when the teacher makes it clear that the assignment can be turned in another day. We were
simply observing the students today, and it was certainly an experience. It makes me wonder
what kind of classroom environment my class will have when Im absent; it also makes me
worried. In situations like these, as a teacher you have absolutely zero control. Youre giving
your students over to your substitute and hoping that the two will work well together. Today also
taught me that there are multiple ways for students to be disengaged. I think the substitute
thought the students were engaged because they were quiet. She didnt realize they were quiet
because they were distracting themselves with their phones and cellphones. Many teachers only
recognize that their students are disengaged when theyre being loud and disruptive. Silence isnt
always a sign of productivity in this day and age.
March 1st

Today was a great day because it was the first time that we had the opportunity to interact with
the students. They were working on projects to present on history day. More specifically, they
were working on thesis statements, something every high school student just loves to do! I
thought the history projects were a cool assignment because the students were allowed to choose
a topic as long as it pertained to history. I know I always prefer to write about something thats of
interest to me. From the gist of what I got, the students chose a topic, wrote a paper on it, and
then presented it to a group of people on history day. The exact day of when the students
received this assignment is unknown to me, but from a few mumblings I think I heard that it was
assigned at least a couple of months ago. I wasnt surprised to discover that many students
werent very farat all. Hey, I get it. I can procrastinate with the best of them. Mr. Gawdzik
asked us to go around and look at some of their theses and help them construct them. I remember
helping Paul Turner with his. His thesis was a full paragraph and he had no so
what/why/because. I never realized how hard it was to explain a thesis statement until that
moment. Its especially difficult without putting words into their mouths or spelling it out for
them. Its hard not to talk to them like theyre children. According to Fisher and Frey (2004),
Student who feel they are being taught a watered-down version of the curriculum will not
value the tasks (p. 38). I dont want the students to feel like Im watering-down the creation
of their theses statements. The best strategy I found was having him talk through his argument
and helping him pull out his ideas piece by piece. That way I wasnt giving him the answers. I
also worked with Jos. His thesis statement was just his question in different words. I really
struggled to work with him because he wouldnt talk. I worked really hard not to explicitly say
what his thesis statement should be. Thats something thats going to be hard when Im a teacher:
not giving the students their answer and letting them figure it out on their own.

March 3rd
I really liked observing today. I felt like today was the first time that we got to watch Mr.
Gawdzik teach his content. Yes, we didnt get to interact with the students, but sometimes I think
observing the students is just as enriching as actually interacting with them. Mr. Gawdzik was
teaching a lesson on political cartoons. I was a little disappointed with him because he didnt try
to cover up which party he sides with, but Ive also noticed that problem with many of my
professors at Butler. The lesson in general was really cool because Mr. Gawdzik related it to the
book the students were reading at the time. He would first have them analyze the cartoon by
asking them questions about it; and then he would relate it back to their book and ask how the
cartoon applied to the book. I think that was a cool way to connect modern time with the time
period of the book. It keeps students focused on the lesson on hand because they can relate to it. I
know I always enjoy lessons more when teachers try and relate it to my life. Im always more
talkative in those types of lessons too. I also liked that he used a visual. According to Fisher and
Frey (2004), Visual displays of information such as graphic organizers provide readers who
struggle with a means to view, process, and manipulate information using spatial intelligence (p.
103). I definitely noticed a higher percentage of student participation in class today. Although,
that may be because Mr. Gawdzik would call on students randomly, which is my biggest pet
peeve. I cant tell you how many times I have been scarred by a teacher putting me on the spot
like that. Its something that I will never do in my classroom. Luckily, the students in Mr.
Gawdziks class werent fazed by him calling on them randomly, or if they were they covered it
up well. Its interesting to observe these teaching tactics because it makes you reflect on which
ones you will and will not use in your own classroom.
March 15th

Today was the first time that I got to interact with my student, Zellman, and it was quite the
experience! I got to talk to him for almost the entire class period. I sat down with Zellman to
discuss one of his papers with him, and it was like pulling teeth. I decided not to discuss the
paper with him because he had forgotten his outline on the day of the exercise, so he wasnt able
to write it to the best of his ability. I know how important it is to build a relationship with your
student, so I was excited to get to know Zellman. I was hoping hed be engaged and willing to
talk, but when I tried to discuss his likes and dislikes I received many one-word answers. He
avoided eye contact and even pulled out his phone at one point and started scrolling through
Facebook! It was frustrating and left me genuinely confused. I love when my teachers get offtask and start talking about things other than school. It breaks up the monotony of the day and
leaves me respecting and appreciating the teacher more. My first encounter with Zellman left me
with many questions. For example, why was Zellman disengaged? Was it because he feels I lack
authority? I asked multiple questions about his family, does that make him uncomfortable? Why?
Is this something that might contribute to his lack of focus in school? I know that when it comes
to student-teacher relationships, the ability to converse is unbelievably critical. Conversation
helps individuals make sense of their world. It helps to build empathy, understanding, respect for
different opinions, and ownership of the learning process according to Ann Ketch (2005) in
Conversation: The comprehension connection (p. 8). One of the reasons why Im unsettled by
my lack of conversation with Zellman is this. Conversation is the basis of learning. What a lot of
people dont realize is that the ability to communicate influences your empathy, thinking,
reading, and writing. Ketch informs us Without conversation, we are limited to our own
insights. With conversation, we can explore and expand our developing thoughts (p. 12). Thats
why being able to talk to your teacher and fellow students is so important. Communication is key

when it comes to taking your learning to the next level. Communication promotes deeper
learning and comprehension. We talked to Mr. Gawdzik a little bit today too about our lesson
plan. He cautioned us to make it simple since the students will most likely be checked out with
spring break around the corner.

March 17th
Today was the day that we were supposed to teach a content literacy mini-lesson. Unfortunately,
the students had a field trip that day, and it ran late. Their entire schedule was pushed back,
which prevented us from being able to teach our lesson. We never even saw the students that day
because they ended up going to lunch during the normal time that theyre supposed to be in
English class. It was frustrating for us since we spent time preparing for this, but it was also an
enriching experience. As teachers, were going to have days when our plans dont go
accordingly. We need to learn to be flexible. Part of being a teacher is having the ability to think
and plan on your feet when things dont follow your carefully thought out lesson plan.
April 12th
As with every day at Shortridge, today was an interesting day. It was presentation day for the
class. They were giving presentations on Iran because they were about to read the novel
Persepolis. The students worked in groups of about six students per group. I was hesitant going
into the presentations because Mr. Gawdzik warned us that they werent going to be good. Well,
thats not a good sign. The groups ended up using PowerPoint to present their information. Im
assuming it was suggested that they use PowerPoint because each student had a slide to himself;
it worked out conveniently. The presentations were an eye-opening experience. None of the
students had his or her information memorized. They each were allowed a notecard to read off of

and maybe three attempted to make eye contact. Some would read off of their card, some would
read off of their PowerPoint slide, and some would read off of both. A couple students struggled
to get their words out and Im not sure if its because they have difficulty reading, they couldnt
read their own handwriting, or they were nervous. It could have been all three too. I thought the
first group was shocking but then the second group presented. I think only two of five presenters
showed up. Mr. Gawdzik just clicked past their slides on the PowerPoint, but not before we saw
that the students didnt complete their slides. I noticed that Zellman my student- had half of a
sentence written. The first student presented and then it came time for Quincy to present his
slide. Quincy had an aid that day, which was weird because hes never had an aid in the class.
The aid had to ask Quincy multiple times to go present his information before he finally stood
up. When he did get up there he kept his head down until his buddy nudged his arm and told him
to present. I was shocked when he muttered to the class that we could read the slide ourselves
and then he proceeded to sit down. Mr. Gawdzik wasnt fazed by this behavior. Honestly, it was
probably a smart move on his part not to provoke Quincy. I think, as teachers, its important to
know when its appropriate and when it isnt appropriate to confront a student on his or her
behavior. Mr. Gawdzik ended class by reading Persepolis. It was the perfect transition, and I
loved that the students were reading the book in class. According to Fisher and Frey (2004),
When text is read aloud by the teacher, students with reading difficulties can access books that
might otherwise be too difficult for them to read independently (p. 58). I was angry my junior
year when we were required to read Crime and Punishment over the summer. I think that book
was too difficult to read independently. It would have been much more appropriate to read it
during class time like Persepolis.
April 14th

Today was the day! Today we finally got to teach our content literacy mini-lesson to the students.
For our lesson, we taught FANBOYS: for, and, nor, but, or, yet, and so. Essentially, our goal was
for the students to understand when it is appropriate to use a comma before any of these
conjunctions. We began with a video, which explained when to use a comma with the
FANBOYS. Marina would occasionally pause the video to test for understanding. Next,
Christine summarized the video, had students do a quick pair-share about 2-3 ideas they learned
from the video, and finally had them share their ideas aloud. Natalie and I ended the lesson with
an activity. We brought in pictures of celebrities and had the students in groups of 3-4- write
three sentences, using FANBOYS, about their celebrity. The students then shared their stories
aloud. Honestly, the lesson went pretty well. The students had a lot of fun writing stories about
their celebrities. I was very excited about Zellmans group. He worked with three other guys who
tend to not focus in class like him-, but they wrote a funny story about Kanye; and they used
their FANBOYS correctly! At times, we struggled to get students to participate, but in these
cases we would simply prompt them with more questions. The students are lucky that Paul
Turner is in the class because he tends to speak up whenever theres a moment of silence. I do
worry that our questioning wasnt effective though. According to Fisher and Frey (2004),
Questioning loses its effectiveness when teachers require students to regurgitate facts before
they have an opportunity to chew and digest information (p. 80). We hoped that in this case,
FANBOYS was a concept that was already pretty well understood by the students. That worried
me too: the students already understanding FABOYS. I was worried the students wouldnt like
our lesson, but as teaching always does it surprised me. You can never go into a lesson with
expectations because odds are things wont go according to plan. We did make a big mistake in
our lesson. We didnt manage our time well, so Marina ended up teaching the major portion of

the lesson, which Mr. Gawdzik pointed out to us afterward. This wasnt our intention, and we
realized we planned poorly after the lesson was over. Unfortunately, we all got pretty frustrated
with ourselves and focused on what we did wrong rather than on what we did right. I think in
terms of professional growth, I need to learn how to focus on the good versus the bad. Yes, I
believe theres always room to improve and you should try to, but remember to reflect on what
went well in a lesson plan. Lessons will never go perfectly, and thats something as teachers that
we need to understand to be successful.

References
Erik Erikson. (2013). Retrieved April 16, 2016, from http://www.simplypsychology.org/ErikErikson.html
Fisher, D., & Frey, N. (2004). Improving adolescent literacy: Strategies at work. Upper Saddle
River, NJ: Pearson/Merrill/Prentice Hall.
Ketch, A. (2005). Conversation: The comprehension connection [Editorial]. The Reading
Teacher, 59(1), 8-13.