PBH 586 - Journal #2

Henry Reyes Professor Dipzinski

PBH 586 September 26, 2023

Journal #2

It has now been a little over two weeks since school started. During this time, I have been exposed to how the supervisors of the school handle student schedule changes. The school takes the start of the school year to see if rosters will work out the way they have been set. If a teacher flags a student(s) and informs the administration that the student might benefit from moving to another class period, or additional services, the school will work hard to redo the student(s) schedule to one that would be more beneficial to the student. This means that teachers from the same department or grade must all be on the same page with one another along with the administration of the school. This school works hard on communication and working together to support students the best way possible so that they can feel comfortable learning and are set up for success and not just “coast” by.

A quality that I will try to emulate is the strategy of constant communication. For example, the 9th-grade students that my SBTE currently teaches for health are not the roster of students she will have all school year. She currently meets with students for health class daily until the spring term. The 9th grade as a whole is comprised of 115-120 students in the grade (some students are still on my SBTE’s roster, but it isn’t clear if they are still enrolled in the school or not). This means that the group of 9th-graders that my SBTE sees now is not the entire grade. The other half of the grade is currently enrolled in music class and in the spring term the health and music roster will be swapped. I’ve noticed that my SBTE and the music teacher Mr. Farruggia, are constantly talking with one another about the rosters that they are currently teaching and will eventually be teaching. I think this a great quality to emulate because it can help you understand and connect with your students when teachers are informing each other about anything that might be going on with the students inside and outside the classroom, understanding their ever-changing backpack area.

Something I would do differently than them in the future might be to make sure that as well as communicating with other teachers, I am also looking to see if the students have IEPs or 504s and if they do, making sure that I read them. If the students are receiving services, like, executive functioning services, speech services, and PT/OT services, I am also communicating with those specialists, so that I am aware of what they are working on with these students and the extra support that they might need in my classroom. This is important because, in addition to being aware of how the student is doing academically or in your peer's classes, it is also important to know and understand any known difficulties and strengths they might have so that you can best support them while they are in your health class, both, academically, and emotionally.

These qualities and behaviors stand out to me as a future health teacher because I believe that communication is one of the most important things needed in life, especially, when you are an educator and student. As a student, it is important to communicate with your teachers about anything that might be affecting your learning or experience in the classroom or other environment. However, it is also important that the teacher take the time to foster a classroom community of trust and understanding, without this it might be difficult for students to communicate. As a teacher, it is important to communicate with your peers and students. When the students can see you as a leader out of respect, not fear, but even better, as a human being, they will listen to you, but even better, they will speak to you. The bonds that you can create with students, and they with you, can be lifesaving for not just some students, but even teachers.

My SBTE has yet to use any form of assessment in the classroom. However, the way she uses formative assessments is through observation and interaction and her summative assessments are usually a group project or individual project showing that the students understand and can implement the skill(s) that was taught to them. One low-stakes formative assessment that my SBTE performed was an observational one. What she did was that she told students at the beginning of the year to sit where they would like, as classes went on, she noticed/paid attention to, who sat where, who spoke with who/didn’t speak with, how long they spoke, etc. After a week the teacher told the students that where they chose to sit would be their current “non-assigned” seats and that if they wanted to move seats, they just needed to let her or myself know. For my SBTE, this is a great way to learn about students, who they gravitate to, who they don’t gravitate to, etc. When students are sitting next to someone they know or someone they just met, this allows students to feel in control of something in the classroom which can help them feel safe. I like and appreciate the style of my SBTE and how she does formative and summative assessments. At this time there is not anything that I would change that my SBTE does in her classroom.

Lab HS has started using a school-wide mastery-based learning grading strategy. Because they are using this grading policy, the administration has instructed all teachers to make sure that their lessons are all student-centered and not teacher-centered. Due to this, I should be seeing teaching strategies that involve cooperative learning, student-centered inquiry, differentiated instruction, and visualization. This aligns with skills-based health education and the guidance document because a student-centered classroom is also skills-based. For the teacher and student to assess if there has been any growth or learning happening the student must demonstrate certain skills, in health, these skills can be found in the NYS guidance document. Students can partake in many different student-led lessons, activities, and assignments, where they must show to the teacher what they know, and how well they know it, but most importantly, if they can replicate or demonstrate those skills in safe-realistic practice scenarios, eventually transferring those skills into the real world and their everyday lives.

I would say that my success has been that I have been able to curate a good relationship with my SBTE that is still professional. In addition, students have begun to show interest in me being in the classroom and have begun talking to me as just another teacher in the room, which is nice. A challenge that I would say I currently have is being able to attend informative teacher meetings due to my work and family commitments. I usually have to run out of the school when I am done with health classes, and this can sometimes make an end-of-day rundown impossible or difficult. Every Monday after the last class period teachers meet in “grade team” meetings to discuss as a grade team anything and everything about the grade they teach. My SBTE attends the 9th-grade team meetings since she teaches 9th-grade health. I would like to attend these meetings because my SBTE informed me about a lot of information that she learned at these meetings about our student's academic and social backpack area.

These past two weeks at Lab HS have been eye-opening. I've seen firsthand how the school handles student schedule changes and the significance of constant communication among educators. Lab HS's dedication to tailoring schedules to students' needs is impressive, highlighting collaboration and a student-focused approach. I'm inspired by the ongoing communication, like my SBTE's discussions with fellow teachers. In the future, I'll work on my communication skills, ensuring I stay informed about students with IEPs or 504s and collaborating with specialists for comprehensive support. My SBTE's student-centered approach to assessments and Lab HS's move toward mastery-based learning resonate with my vision as an educator who fosters trust, understanding, and meaningful learning. I'm excited to apply these insights and strategies in my future classrooms, creating an environment where students and teachers can thrive together.