Taylor Sides

Associate Teaching
Mary Betzoldt
5 - 7 January, 2015
Week 1 Journal
This week I started student teaching with Ruth Lyons at Sand Creek Junior High (whom
I had observed last semester). I spent the three days we had school this week getting reacquainted with the school and the students among other things. The majority of my tasks
throughout the three days were grading, inputting grades to e-school, and working on learning
all of the school policies and emergency procedures (my own homework from Ruth).
I think that my biggest obstacle upon returning is remembering all of the students
names, especially since we split the 6th and 7th graders throughout the week so I was already
struggling with their names. My 8th graders I have almost all of the names memorized now. One
of the tasks that Ruth has had me doing is attendance when she is busy, entrance tickets when
they are required, or signing kids up for Pass that have incomplete or missing work. By doing all
of these things I am forced to match students to their names and am slowly picking more names
up. I also like to do the Good Things at the beginning of each class period. With the 8th
graders, who I have taught before, I have taken more responsibility and have been picking up
the lesson for the afternoon classes after watching Ruth teach it once.
Ruth and I have been very busy using the schedule for the 14 week program and making
it fit for my 12 weeks. Additionally, we have talked about my first two lesson plans and have
gone over the content together. All I really have left to do is work on lesson plans, finish my
checklist, and catch up on a few students names. Overall, I had a great first week back,
especially since a lot of the students remembered me and were eager and respectful towards me
when I was at the front of the room.

Taylor Sides
Associate Teaching
Mary Betzoldt
12-16 January, 2015
Week 2 Journal
My second week in the classroom was actually a really hectic week. The first three days of
the week, we were coming back from two snow days and the last two days were exams and
records day. Because of the snow days, the students were behind on their class work and had to
work on finishing that for the semester as well as receiving their exam reviews. It was truly a
hectic couple of days in the classroom.
I spent the majority of my time this week doing attendance for Mrs. Lyons and starting
the classes off. I also worked on getting my lesson plans ready for this week, organizing exams,
grading final homework, and using the new scantron machine to grade exams. The week actually
flew by and it was kind of nice on Thursday and Friday to have the last half of the day to just
relax, grade papers, and get things organized.
One of the only issues that I am having is still getting the students names down. I have
all three hours of my 8th graders memorized because I see them five days a week, however, I
only see my 6th and 7th graders on alternating days, so it is harder for me to start learning
names (other than the 10-ish that I already know). Hopefully since I will start teaching the 7th
graders this week, I will learn the rest of their names, and then after that can work on the sixth
graders. Other than that, I really havent had any issues in the classroom. Sometimes it is hard
to get the students focused and ready to go, but by using the school-wide hand symbols, I have
an easier time managing that now.

Taylor Sides
Associate Teaching
Mary Betzoldt
19-23 January, 2015
Week 3 Journal
My third week in the classroom was absolutely nuts! The first three days were fine, I
spent most of my time helping Mrs. Lyons get caught up and getting my stuff ready for my
lesson plans. Thursday was my first day that I would be teaching the 7th grade and I was
completely ready for it. However, Thursday Mrs. Lyons was sick so I then had to teach the 8th
graders also. I ended up subbing for Mrs. Lyons and teaching all day. While I didnt have a hard
time, it was exhausting! My lesson plans with the 7th graders actually went really well though,
and I am very proud of myself.
Friday I also ended up subbing for Mrs. Lyons. This time we had a visitor from the LISD
who was working with the students on updating their educational development plans (EDPS).
The students were good for the most part but I did have some trouble with students not being
respectful/talking the whole time. After a few reminders, they eventually behaved themselves.
By the time Friday was over I was so lost in all of the stuff that I had done/still needed to do that
I got a little caught up in trying to reorganize myself.
On a really positive note, I finally have most of the students names memorized and only
have a few more in each class to work on! I am proud of myself for this as well because names do
not come easily to me.
My biggest problem this week was managing the kids who didnt want to listen to
instructions, although most of them did after a while. It is really hard to manage them and to
figure out lesson plans and stay on track at the same time. Im sure that over time I will get
better at it though.

Taylor Sides
Associate Teaching
Mary Betzoldt
26-30 January, 2015
Week 4 Journal
This week at school was actually really interesting for me. First of all, I taught four hours
of classes every day this week and had everything ready for the rest of the week on Wednesday.
Thursday we had a snow day and I got absolutely nothing accomplished. Coming back on
Friday, even though I had all my materials ready to go, I was running around like a chicken with
my head cut off and kept feeling like I was forgetting things. Moral of the story: snow days arent
really fun when youre a teacher.
One of the problems that I had this week was with my 4th hour (7th grade). They are the
only class that continues to challenge me and refuses to listen to me on occasion. The biggest
problem is that they are a huge class, so when they do talk (which is often) the noise level sky
rockets. Along with that, it is hard to make sure that all of the students get a chance to speak
throughout the lesson, especially since there are three or four boys that are constantly trying to
contribute, always raising their hand, and often times blurting out instead of waiting for
someone to be called on. Two of these boys are already on what Ruth calls a Three question
rule, so after they ask their three questions or make three comments for the day, they are done.
I know that managing this class is going to be my biggest challenge in the coming weeks and I
have been taking steps that Ruth has suggested, along with knowledge Ive learn from my
previous courses, to try and combat some of the defiance I have within the class.
Other than that, things have been going very well. I had one student write on her letter to
me how much she loves when I teach, and one of my 6th grade boys brought me a chocolate bar
on Monday! It is nice to feel appreciated and tends to even out with the bad things.

Taylor Sides
Associate Teaching
Mary Betzoldt
3-6 Febraury, 2015
Week 5 Journal
Well, the beginning of this week was really hard for me. I was very overwhelmed and
disappointed when second hour came in Tuesday and only 5 or 6 of my 18 students had their
outlines done. This pattern just continued for the other two hours and made what was already a
rough day (due to my grandma passing the year before) even worse. I was really discouraged
and wondering what I was doing so wrong. After talking to both you and Ruth, I felt a little
better but was still a little unsure of myself.
The next day saved me. I walked in and it was like a totally different class. I dont know if
it was my attitude that had changed, or the students that had changed. Either way, the rest of
the week carried on without any major drama on either side of the classroom. I was satisfied
with how my lessons went, and very surprised that my 6th graders did their homework a lot
better than the 7th graders. Im actually looking forward to next week now and seeing how they
are doing!
On another note, Ruth and I met Friday on our prep period to discuss my lesson plans
for the rest of the time with the 6th and 7th graders. I was very overwhelmed with everything
that I am trying to fit into such a short amount of time and was beginning to panic. Ruth helped
me kind of break it down and realize what I am doing that maybe doesnt need to be done, etc.
We also decided that next week she will make the lesson plans and will model for me 1st hour,
and then I will teach 7th and 8th hours. This plan made me feel a lot better because Im worried
that I wont give the 8th graders everything they need.

Taylor Sides
Associate Teaching
Mary Betzoldt
9-13 Febraury, 2015
Week 6 Journal
This week actually went fairly well! I think that I performed well when I watched Ruth
model the 8th grade lesson in 1st hour and then taught 7th and 8th hour. The hardest part of
that is just remembering the order in which she did things and making sure that I didnt miss
anything so that the other classes were not missing out on something that 1st hour learned. It is
an added bonus that 7th and 8th hour already knew me and have often had me incorporated in
their class so the transition went well.
My 6th and 7th graders were a whole other story this week. They both began typing their
process essays this week and it has been an adventure. The 6th graders are almost completely
clueless on the computer and they had to be instructed on every single thing. It was very
frustrating to me and left me unsure of where to go to get them up to speed. I was asked the
same question I had explained early about 20 times. With the 7th graders, they pretty much
knew what they were doing and most of them finished on the first day or early on the second
day, so they were way ahead. At that point, I just let those that were finished silent read until
other classmates were ready to peer review.
Thursday and Friday were slightly more hectic because Ruth was gone both of those
days. However, I feel like I handled everything well and that the students all behaved for me
(because they are used to having me in the classroom). I did have an issue with 1st hour not
working when they were told to (and instead having side conversations) but after I called them
out on it, telling them that they dont act like that for Mrs. Lyons, they were a lot better behaved.
On Friday in 8th hour one girl gave me an attitude about taking a boys book away (which Ruth
has given me permission to do if he was reading instead of paying attention).

Taylor Sides
Associate Teaching
Mary Betzoldt
16-20 February, 2015
Week 7 Journal
This was definitely the most weird week of teaching that I have ever had. We had
Monday off because of Presidents Day and then Thursday and Friday we had the day off
because of the wind chill. Tuesday and Wednesday were the only two spirit days that we actually
got to participate in. In addition to this week being crazy, next week I have two half days and the
wind chill is supposed to be really bad again.
Mostly, this has left me really stressed out because my 6th graders always happen to be
the ones that are affected by the days we close. They needed to type their final drafts on Friday
and did not get to. Hopefully I will be able to find lab time on Monday or Tuesday.
On the other hand, teaching the 8th graders Ruths lessons went really well those two
days. Now I am slightly terrified for the next three weeks of teaching them my own lessons
because I dont want them to miss out on anything. Because of this, I am kind of taking the
lessons for next week easy.
Side Note: I have parent teacher conferences this week, so Wednesday I only have
a half day. I also wont be at Seminar that night.

Taylor Sides
Associate Teaching
Mary Betzoldt
23-27 February, 2015
Week 8 Journal

This week was actually pretty normal and uneventful compared to other weeks, at
least in the classroom. Ruth let go completely after Monday and I taught my lesson
plans the rest of the week. It worked out really well because I was prepared and not as
stressed out as I had been in previous weeks. I also have modified my lesson plans to fit
with what my students need to do in the time left, since everything got moved around
because of the snow days.
I am really starting to get behind on grading but feel like I will be able to catch up
this week thanks to Adrian's spring break. Hopefully this means I will also be able to get
ahead and relax a little bit. I am a little bit overwhelmed with thinking about all I have to
do in these last three weeks but am working through it.
I also had parent teacher conferences this past week. For the most part, I think it
went really well. None of the parents seemed upset, confused, etc. with me or my
teaching. I think the hardest part was having to give some of the parents bad news about
their student's grades. It was even harder to tell a parent a bad grade when they had
smart kids who just were not performing at their usual level.

Taylor Sides
Associate Teaching
Mary Betzoldt
9-13 March, 2015
Week 10 Journal
This week was actually a fairly fun and simple week for me! I feel like all of my lessons
went really well and the students accomplished all of the things that they were supposed to. For
some reason, I just ended up in a really bad mood or just felt frustrated or upset because my
students were asking me the same questions over and over again (and the answers were on the
information sheet they were given at the beginning of their project)! I guess that is just
something I am still working on getting used to that is common at the middle school level.
I have also helped Ruth redo the room this week and did seating charts for the third
time! The students have stopped playing my favorite game, but I have noticed that they are
listening better. Altogether, it was a really hectic week but the students are starting to accept me
more. Too bad it will only last for another couple of weeks.
On a negative note, this week I had to fill out my first report. One day my sixth graders
were in the lab and I noticed some boys passing notes, so I went and took them. They resisted at
first but then eventually gave them to me. I returned to my desk and opened them It was some
type of game, and most of them were the innocent boyfriend/girlfriend middle school stuff,
but one of them had obscenities on it. I really didnt want to have to talk to 6th grade boys about
what is and isnt appropriate, but I sucked it up and took them to the hallway. The boy who
wrote that particular one admitted that he did it. I then told Ruth about it when I returned to the
classroom and she had me write a report to Mr. Hewitt about it and I talked to him about it
later. It was definitely awkward for me, but I am glad that I handled it the way that I should
have.

Taylor Sides
Associate Teaching
Mary Betzoldt
16-20 March, 2015
Week 11 Journal

I had a really great week this week! My students are actually sad that I will be
leaving, they listened to me for the most part, and two of them accidentally spilled the
fact that they made me something for when I leave! I am so excited to see it, but also
really sad because I dont want to leave my kids!
My lesson plans were fairly simple this week, but I think that they worked really
well for each of the grades they were taught in. Ive definitely come to understand the
importance of having a visual for my students when I am presenting information. I also
now understand the difficulties of having students in the computer lab, especially for
multiple days in a row. I think that is where I have experienced the most difficulty
because students like to think that just because they are in a different environment, they
dont still have to follow the classroom rules. That is something I know that I need to
work on for next time.
As of Friday, Ruth took the 6th graders back and we have been co-teaching AC for
about a week. Monday she will start teaching the 8th graders again and I will only have
the 7th graders on Monday, Tuesday, and Friday. I am very excited to get a break and be
able to sit down and grade all of the assignments before the end of the marking period.

Taylor Sides
Associate Teaching
Mary Betzoldt
14 April 2015
Final Reflection
Student teaching has been a wonderful and stressful experience for me. During
my time in the classroom, I learned three very important things: First of all, classroom
management is key; second, be excited; third, the toughest kids usually need you the
most.
In Mrs. Lyons classroom, before I started student teaching I was in awe of how
well the students behaved for her and she very rarely had issues. Because of this, I was
so disappointed my first week when I had so much trouble with some of my students.
After discussing with Mrs. Lyons, I took some of her advice and changed my demeanor a
little bit and started to really emphasize the classroom rules that all of the students
already knew. The second week, I was amazed by how much better my students behaved
for me. Anytime students were acting out, it really taught me to take a look at my own
classroom management and see what issues there may be that were causing students to
misbehave.
Second, I learned how important it is for the teacher to be excited about things,
especially in middle school. If the students sense that you arent excited, or if you come
out and say that something will be boring, then the students will find it boring as well.
When my students would see me get excited about what we were doing, they would get
excited about it too.

Lastly, I really learned that sometimes the toughest students, the ones you
have the most problems with, are the ones who need your attention the most. For
example, one of my students was always quiet and acting like he didnt care. He would
consistently be unprepared for my class and not have his work done. It was his second
time in 7th grade. When I asked about him, the teacher informed me that when he went
home, he became the parent to his younger siblings. After that day, I offered to hold on
to his materials for my class and he could work on them during academic center (similar
to a study hall). He was so surprised that I asked and accepted my offer. After that, he
was constantly working on his assignments when I gave him them and even after I
stopped holding on to his materials, he kept doing the work he needed to for my class
and ended up passing the semester. That really taught me that some students just need
that tiny little bit of extra attention from the teacher to be motivated to get their work
done.