Field Blog Post # 10

Mrs. Kelm AP Stats

NDCL High School

My final field blog experience of the semester was interesting. I came on a pretty bad day, the class was taking a evaluation of the class. I thought I could not do anything but I talked to Mrs. Kelm. Her and I had a typical talk about college and everything. She was telling me how she knew she wanted to be a teacher when she was in her other profession. She said that she was not happy going to work, working over 50 hours a week not having a good time. She said she could be doing something better with her time. That really connected with me. She told me you are only 18 years old it is fine you do not know what you want to do yet. Yes I want to be a teacher but I am not 100% convinced this is what I want to do for the rest of my life. But that is what made me feel good is she was able to change her job. We discussed why I like it and why I do not. She told me about her experience. Not everyday is the best, some classes are difficult to try and connect with the students. But that is the cool part. Figuring out different techniques that work for you and your future students. She also told me that her co workers are the best their, they are all kind and helpful.
Even though class was not really going on this day it was one of the best field experience yet because I could just talk to her about everything going on which was very beneficial.
I truly enjoyed going class to class, teacher to teacher. Picking up on ways to teach, and ultimately good life skills in the field of teaching and the field of life. They were helping me think through problems and ideas I could not get my head around. So I am glad I went on these Field experiences throughout the first semester.

Field Blog Post #9

MR. Stoffl Geometry

NDCL High School


This time when I came to visit Mr. Stoffl he told his students he was going to give them a quiz when class ends. The students were all complaining. Mr. Stoffl told all of the students that they were going to review the whole class for what was on the quiz except for the last 20 minutes. The last 20 minutes were for the students to take the quiz. While I was in high school geometry was not my best class, partially because my teacher never explained it well and it was difficult to understand him. But I watched Mr. Stoffl explain everything. He even gave me a quiz at the end of class. I finished the quiz in 5 minutes getting everything right. I am not saying I am super smart or anything but if the students followed what he said it was a very easy quiz. That is coming from someone who has not taken any type of geometry in three years.
After class I talked to Mr. Stoffl and he told me that he saw a good amount of students with a very poor score. He said the students just do not care at all. He said he tries to help them out as much as possible. He said"Come to talk to me whenever you have a problem I will help you. You can come during activity, or after school I will help you."  He then told me the students just do not care, they do not pay attention in class. It was difficult for to see him that because you could tell a part of him felt as if it was his fault. He tries everything but the students do not seem to really care. It really is unfortunate for Mr. Stoffl.

Field Blog Post #8

Mr. Stoffl

Freshman Algebra
NDCL High School


He started the class with a prayer asking any of the students if they had any intentions. He then went through a quick review of what last class was about. He then gave a quick quiz about the material from the previous class. If the students did not understand the information that was given the first time he would go through it again and explain it more in depth. Sometimes he even did an example. It seemed to help the students big time.
There was a certain situation where he called on a student to try a problem. The student said I have no idea how to do this I'm going to get this wrong. He responded right away saying "just take a chance on it." The student ended up getting the problem right. He then told the class afterwards to always take a chance. Even if you get it wrong it is okay nobody is perfect we will get something wrong throughout our lives. Then he made a joke that made the whole class laugh saying "except for myself of course." It was a great job of him building the classes confidence.
When Mr. Stoffl started a new topic he would go through the information a couple of times to make sure everyone understood what was going on. It seemed that the students were understanding the information very well. Mr. Stoffl had a great student-teacher relationship, they all liked him a lot and some stayed after to talk with him.

Field Blog Post #7

Mr. Looman Government
Block 8
Mayfield High School

In Mr. Looman's block 8 class there were only about 15 students. It was much easier for him to control the class. He used the same information with this class as he did with his previous class. He was able to get through all the information much quicker. They all were paying attention asking good questions. I knew that Mr. Looman's keys to success with his class was to be yourself, and to be confident while teaching. While he had the notes on the screen he let the students write it down first and then he would expand on what was on the board. It seemed like a good technique because the student would actually listen to what he was saying. When they got through all the information he would play give them time to work on homework. It was a reward for the students. Then he talked to them as friends at the end of class. He was talking about how he saw this video online of a moth stuck in someone's ear and he even played it for the class. He would joke around with his students in a very positive way. A way that brought the students closer together to him.
Mr. Looman is a great teacher and one that I would hope to be like one day. The way he is able to give information and connect with his students. He is happy all the time while teaching, always smiling. The sign of a good teacher is to be in a good mood, have energy and try to engage the students into the class.

Field Blog Post #6

Mr. Looman
Government Block 7
Mayfield High School

When I entered Mr. Looman's block 7 class it was huge! There were 28 students. It was difficult for him to keep control because there were so many conversations going on at once. I started watching the students talk, I am not even kidding I looked at there were 7 different conversations going on not including what Mr. Looman was teaching. He had to raise his voice to get the classes attention.
He told me that this class was very talkative. He decided to print out notes with some blanks to go through the lesson faster. When trying to emphasize a point he pulled up a video about the certain topic. For the class that day it was about the Bill of Rights.
He went through each section then would give them real life examples, and ask the students if it was legal. An example he used was if they wanted to protest the Mayfield school district could they stand on the sidewalk off the high school property? All the students answered yes. When the were wrong, the reason they were wrong was because Since Mayfield High School is a public school anywhere people pay for the school is part of the school. The only was they could protest anything about the High school they would have to be outside of Mayfield city. I thought that is a great way to teach. One he described how it was against the Bill of Rights and it was a good lesson for the students. Also the one thing I love about Government is that it teaches the students so much. He used the example that an office needs a warrant to search anything that is yours. Majority of the students did not know that. That is something that could keep some students out of trouble if they are ever doing anything wrong. 

Field Blog Post #5


Mr Looman Government
Mayfield High School


When I first arrived at Mayfield I got a tour of the school from Mr. Looman. The school was divided up into different sections. The whole history and government department was right next to each other. They also had two different teacher lounges. One was for all teachers then they had a lounge for the specific department. I found that odd but it made sense. The one part I did not like about that is that a teacher could not meet all the other teachers, but just have a good relationship with their certain department. Mr. Looman and I talked about the transition from a private school to a public school. He said the difference is that he does not have the best relationships with his co workers. He is still in contact with teachers from his former school, but has not made any close teacher friends. We also talked about the students. He said that in a public school it is a little more difficult to keep control of the students. The class size is a lot bigger per class. We also discussed reasons for leaving. It was a better opportunity. Mr. Looman was a coach at NDCL but was freshman basketball, at Mayfield he was varsity assistance. Also we discussed a little bit of the pay of a public school. We did not get into to much detail because that is a bit rude. But he was telling me that the public school pay is better it is just a little more stressful, and he said he does not have the same connection with the students at Mayfield compared to NDCL. He said he loved NDCL but he had to look out for his family. That is a big decision maker in my choice as a teacher, how to make sure my family is well off.

Field Blog #4

Mrs. Kelm After Class

This time with Mrs. Kelm we talked about cheating, and how to deal with struggling students. She was telling me the way she avoids cheating is by making different tests. That with multiple test if they do cheat she can easily say that it was cheating. Also she was telling me during test she watches her students to make sure they are not cheating. When it comes to homework she says that she does not care that much because they are only hurting themselves. If they actually care they will do the work on their own. She said it isn't that much of a problem with her students. But she said overall with her the classes she teaches it is very difficult. The reason is an English teacher can see how someone just reworded what someone else said. For her the person can copy down the work exactly and how is she suppose to know. It is a tough job for a Math teacher.
We also discussed what to do about a struggling student. She told me when the student is not doing good she talks to the student first. Respects them enough to not get the parents involved. She tries to see if something is going on with the student. If the student continues to struggle she then will call the parents and let them know. She believes that these parents are paying a good amount of money and their child should be doing their best. Visiting that day was a long time, but very cool. I learned a lot about teachers in the classroom and outside of the classroom. How a teacher interacts with the student. Overall it was a great experience I was excited to have done it.