Journal 1

9th Grade Algebra with Mr. H

0700 Met with teacher and he said today will be a quiz day. Also, all teachers will
be having a potluck today.
0715 Arrived in to the classroom and there are 2 students working on assignments
for other classes on their Chromebook.
0717 We have hall duty with 4 other teachers.
0719 Bell rings for students to get into their classes for first period.
0720 1 student gets into an argument with another student and are in each
others face. The teacher steps in and tells them to break it up. They both go their
separate ways.
First Period
0730 18 students in class 9 female 9 male 1 para. Teacher walks in and asks all
students to begin working on their quiz and doesnt want to hear any noise other
than them taking their quiz. 2 male students are just sitting there not taking the
quiz. The quiz is comprised of 8 word problems that the students must show work
on.
0732 Teacher turns on music for everyone to listen to while working on their quiz.
Teacher catches up on grading and emails while students are working on quiz.
0736 Most students are working quietly on their quiz except for the 2 students just
sitting there not working on anything. One of those students is the student that was
mentioned previously that nearly got into a physical altercation with another
student. Will have to check with the teacher after class to see why the 2 students
arent taking the quiz.
0738 Teacher walks around class to check on students while they take their quiz.
He also writes on the white board the new school schedule that they are trying out.
Will have to ask him more about it.
0754 Teacher advises students that they have approx. 17 minutes left to take the
quiz. The first student to complete the quiz turns in their paper and returns to their
desk and begins working on the homework assignment.
0758 The next student completes their quiz and turns it in. However, they return
to their desk and are not working on anything else. The teacher is grading all
quizzes as students turn them in.
0802 The student mentioned earlier is now listening to music on his headphones
and the teacher warns him to put it away. 1 male student enters the classroom late
and begins taking his quiz. Half the class now appear to have completed their quiz
and most are just sitting there looking around, falling asleep, or reading a book.

0804 One student is caught by the teacher holding up a sheet of paper for other
students to see and is warned by the teacher that he will receive a zero if he holds
up the sheet again during the quiz. He was trying to give his friend the answer to
one of the questions.
0812 Teacher advises that there is only a minute and half left and all quizzes
should now be turned in. He advises students that they did excellent work that
most people received an A on their quizzes.
0813 Bell rings and most students leave while some stay to get their quiz results.
0815 Spoke with the teacher in regards to the two students that were not taking
the quiz and he said the students have just given up. He said there was nothing
more he could do for them other than just let them sit there. He said he tried to
reach them earlier in the year but the students have just given up. This seems hard
for me to accept. If a student shows up to school, there must be something in them
that wants to learn and some way that a teacher could reach them. Didnt want to
push the teacher any further with questions. He already seemed annoyed about
the students so didnt want to push my luck.
Second Period
0819 Class begins and teacher gives students some advice from what he learned
from mistakes made by the previous classes quiz results so far. There are 18
students in the class 6 female 12 male 1 special education teacher. All students
begin working on their quiz. The quiz is the same as the quiz taken earlier by the
first period class.
0832 Teacher walks around to check students work and gives them some hints on
what they need to look out for from what he has seen wen walking around. He
returns to his desk and continues grading quizzes and papers from his first period
and updates the grade book online so students will get automatic feedback.
0840 1 female student arrives to class late and begins taking the quiz. The first
student completes their quiz and turns it in and begins working on another
assignment on their Chromebook.
0845 1 student who has completed her quiz has her book bag up her desk while
she plays on her phone behind it.
0847 1 male student arrives to class late and begins taking his quiz. Teacher
gives warning to other students who have completed their quiz to stay seated
quietly so they dont disturb the other students taking their quiz.
0848 Half the class now appears to have completed their quiz. Most are working
on their Chromebooks.
0853 Teacher warns that there is 10 minutes left. He also advises that there is
homework and if they complete their quiz, they should get started on their
homework.

0903 Teacher advises all students that quizzes should be turned in at this time and
most people did very well on their quiz. Bell rings for dismissal.
Third Period
0908 Bell rings for homeroom class. Teacher advises that there are some students
taking a quiz so need everyone to be quiet and working on any assignments they
may have. 23 students in class 10 female 13 male.
0912 One of the students discussed in the first period about giving up is in this
homeroom class (from here on out will be named student A). He has his
Chromebook open but is just sitting there looking around. His book bag appears
torn and all his stuff is falling out and has two empty water bottles laying on the
ground next to his desk that fell out of his bag. 1 other student is sitting on the
floor and appears to be working on an assignment on his Chromebook.
0919 Student A now appears to be totally bored and is sitting there fidgeting and
playing around with his hands. Everytime someone would cough or sneeze, student
A would yell out bless you. The teacher is at his desk grading papers, updating
the grade book and does not pay him any attention.
0923 One of the students taking the test looks over and asks student A to give
her the answers to the quiz and passes him a note. I am debating whether to let
the teacher know or let them continue passing the note. She is also asking the
student in front of her for information which he displays on his Chromebook so she
could see the answer. All three are still passing the note and I think I will definitely
let the teacher know at the end of class what was going on. Spoke with the teacher
and he said its okay, he will take care of it. Again, I didnt want to push any further.
0935 Teacher starts the tic-tac-toe game which helps students learn math by
solving math problems.
0942 Student A is called to the front office and leaves the room. Teacher
teaches the students how to play the game mathematically in order to win.
0954 Bell rings for student dismissal.
Fourth Period
0959 Bell rings for start of period and teacher advises that homework was due
today and that there will be a quiz. 20 students in class 14 female 6 male
1005 Bell rings for lunch
1029 Students come back to class and start the quiz. 1 student sits at the corner
and is not taking the quiz. Rather, he sits and looks around the room.
1039 Teacher walks around the room and checks on students progress on their
quiz.
1102 Teacher warns that students have less than 15 minutes left.
1120 Bell rings and class is dismissed.

Today was a shortened schedule due to Spring Break.

Reflections
I learned that it could be hard to help some students like student A mentioned
above. I think the teacher truly believes that he has done everything possible to
help. I dont know what avenues he took to try and reach this student. However,
for the future, I would try to reach the parents, counselors, anyone that would be
able to help in getting a student refocused in the classroom. I could understand the
teachers frustrations and know that there are many more students to worry about.
However, I believe that I can never give up on a student. Once I give up, the
student knows it and will really not care. Also, It is evident that student A is very
bright. He was able to give the other student the answers to the quiz without any
help. I believe with the right approach, this student could have a chance for a
bright future.
In all, I believe that my mentor has every students best interest at heart. He does
a great job of creating the most effective learning environment for a diverse student
population by trying to engage them in multiple ways. He constantly reflects and
re-evaluates how he could better teach his lessons. I noticed that when grading
tests, he would keep track of the questions that the students missed the most, this
way he could find a better approach at teaching the lesson next time. I would
definitely use this strategy in the future. I would however not count the problems
that all the students missed against them. I believe that by still counting it against
all the students when every one of them missed it means that the student was at
fault. However, I see it as something I as a teacher could have taught better and
therefore I am the one at fault.