Morgantown High School Week 1

My First Week at Morgantown High School

I have found out this week that walking the halls and teaching in a high school setting is completely different from walking the halls and teaching in an elementary school setting. I am very pleased and privileged to be able to see the best of both worlds by being able to teach in two different schools that have different age groups. My mentor teacher at Morgantown High School, Mrs. Rengers, has really made my high school experience wonderful! I was nervous on my first day to teach at the high school level; however, Mrs. Rengers has provided me teaching methods for the older students for all in all, they are still my students and I am their teacher. She has made me feel extremely comfortable and now I am just as confident teaching the high school students as I am my elementary school students.


This week I have learned quite a lot from both my students and Mrs. Rengers. I learned that organization is key when teaching special education. Mrs. Rengers is extremely organized and color codes and labels everything in order to be able to keep all of her students’ records and information up-to date. Also, Mrs. Rengers has provided me with excellent ideas on classroom management, time management, and reaching out to meet each and every students needs.


Each day that I am at Morgantown High School, I learn how to work with my students and get to know who they are, their strengths and weaknesses, as well as their interests. I have been able to assess students through whole group discussions and written assignments.


Some of my own personal lessons that I have learned this week are to NEVER take the keys out of the special education office that lock up all of the IEP’s due to their confidentiality. I also learned to be firm with the students so that they are aware of the expectations and rules for the classroom and school environment.


This week I also had the privilege to learn about a new program that is online. It is called “Prezi.com”. Prezi.com works like a PowerPoint presentation, yet has a more modern and innovative approach to it that may engage students even more into lessons. I am very excited to implement next week into the lesson plans the Prezi presentations that Mrs. Rengers and I designed.


I am excited for my upcoming weeks at Morgantown High School with my mentor teacher Mrs. Rengers and her students!