This course gave the opportunity to observe many different teachers with a large range of teaching styles and philosophies. Through observing many teachers I was able to begin to discover what I liked and would do and the techniques I would never use. I also visited schools in the area that I never had and found myself impressed. I spent a lot of time in the schools during the first portion of the semester. I then found a cooperating teacher to allow me into her classroom and work collaboratively with me to teach solo for ten consecutive days. I did my ten day solo in a seventh-grade Language Arts classroom. I observed the class for several weeks before my solo to acquaint myself with the school, the students and the teacher.

During my solo I taught the students through two science fiction stories. I taught the characteristics of the science fiction genre, vocabulary, theme, setting, mood, and tone. We explored these concepts through the stories as we created posters and constructed an essay. Each day I began the lesson with a writing prompt to hook the students’ interest and set the tone for the day. The students responded very well to the prompts and were eager to share theirs with the class. I found that the classroom lacked a sense of community and I decided I wanted to be the catalyst to change this during the time I spent with these students. I had the students work in groups of four to five in many of the activities. I explained the benefits of working with a group and gave them group roles. The students loved having a job and being responsible for their own actions. I chose the group randomly during the first week then began to allow them to choose their own during the second week. I also created centers for the students after their work was completed. I had five centers set up in the class. The centers were a big hit in the classroom and the students were engaged in learning after the assignment was complete. The centers were a book poster, creative cartoon writing, short story writing center, vocabulary game, and the listening center. Every center was mobile and allowed the students to work independently or with a partner.

Through this experience, I discovered that I need to work on my making my transitions smoother between activities, time management and noise level. The classroom management was in place, and I was able to maintain it. I will focus on these skills during my student teaching.