Burrilville Lens

Prior to my visits at Burrilville High School I had a particular view regarding the classroom management of students and the struggles I would have to face as a beginning teacher. Although I know my experiences at Burrilville will not be identical to my experiences elsewhere I can say that my fears and anxieties I have had about being in front of a classroom have definitely diminished only after two days spent observing with cooperating teacher, Ms. Ricci. Ms. Ricci is a RIC graduate and has been teaching at Burrilville high school for 18 years! On the first day my partner Faith and I got to sit down with her to discuss the culture of the school and her experiences as a teacher. One of the main points that she said she wanted to communicate to us was the importance of developing one’s own teacher identity and staying true to oneself no matter what. While observing classes on both Monday and Thursday I was shocked at how well-behaved the students were and how the need to manage the classroom was pretty much non-existent. Students quieted down by themselves and did not speak out of turn once. Additionally, I was impressed on how responsible and self-motivating the students were. They would approach Ms. Ricci themselves asking to double check due dates and to find out what was missed if they were absent, opposed to Ms. Ricci having to go up to the students and remind them. This school truly has a great group of students who take responsibility for their own learning and who have a strong personal desire to be successful in their schoolwork and in life. I know that this will not always be the case and that it is my job to motivate and challenge those students who need it the most, however it is comforting to see students who truly value the information you are teaching them. Even though it has only been two days I feel confident enough to stand up in front of the class and to start teaching as soon as I can. Faith and I will be teaching the Crucible during our “teach” week and I am ready to start considering possible fun and engaging lessons once I refresh my memory on the details this play.

I got to witness Ms. Ricci’s “WOW” lesson to this play, which involves a week long group project in which each group was assigned specific sections of research. For example, one group would research Puritan Lifestyle while another group would research the evidence that the accusations were based off of, and so on. After 5 days of research and outlining students will get together in jig-saw groups and share their findings as well as share their class outline, which will help them in the open notes quiz they will be given next week. Witnessing how Ms. Ricci preps her students for the reading by having them discover an abundance of background information allowed my-self to realize just how important frontloading really is and how it is can extend into a week-long activity if needed. I look forward to observing and learning from future lesson plans as well as gradually becoming active in the classroom and working with students more.

After all the comments I had received when telling people I am going to school to become a high/middle school teacher I think it is safe to say that I had prepared my-self for the worst but also hoped for the best. Comments such as “they are going to eat you alive” have definitely played a large role in one of the many anxieties that inexperienced beginning teachers must face. However, I am relieved and happy to say that the students at Burrilville have exceeded my expectations on what “the best” is and I hope that within the weeks to come I can exceed their expectations as my position as their student teacher.