Observations in Newark 4

I was supposed to teach today but on Thursday night I was told that the students needed to test on Friday, so my lesson would be the following week. The student’s test was on material that I had helped prepare the week before, so I felt comfortable helping them with the test. I didn’t have to grade as many papers this time around but instead he wanted me to plan lessons for Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday of this week. I guess the students are learning from my lessons because he wants me to keep writing more for him.

                  Anyways, the test was on growth factors in a population and growth limiting factors in a population. The test was fairly easy and the students scored much higher than on the test 2 weeks ago. I have more of a presence in the classroom so Mr. N wanted me to help out answering student’s questions more. Two students stuck out to me in period 8, both weren’t there the day before for the review but they were there most of the week, so they had to take the test. They both refused to take the test and just sat there on their phones. I decided to approach them and just have a simple conversation to try and understand why they won’t take the test. They both said that they weren’t there the day before for the review so they shouldn’t have to take it. I stuck by Mr. N’s ruling and challenged them to just give the test a shot and if they need any help just call me over. In the end one of them got an 87% and the other got a 71%, both well ahead of what they expected. I’m feeling that the students just need a nudge sometimes and taking a different approach with them is definitely helping me connect to them.

                  In period 6 the students were testing and I noticed someone looking under the desk at what appeared to be the study guide from the day before. I let it slide because it wasn’t too clear if he was actually cheating or if he was just thinking. I saw him do it again and walked over to his desk and asked for the paper. He insisted he was cheating but then gave up the paper eventually. I wanted to take care of the issue quietly, one on one, but the other students noticed something going on and the class focus was gone. After a few minutes everything calmed down and I went over to the student who was cheating and asked if he needed any help and he declined but when he did need help he called me over.

                  Today was a day that I really felt that I’m connecting to the class, which is perfect because I’m teaching the whole day next Friday.