This week was a wonderful week at Morgantown High School. I learned quite a bit from both my mentor teacher and my students. In my first period class, we generated several discussion periods where the students began to open up and feel more comfortable reflecting on their thoughts and feelings about chapters one through three in the novel “When A Hero Dies”. There is one student within the class that has a severe learning disability that I did my best to include her within our discussions and make her feel as a part of the class as any other student that was present. This may seem like a challenge, but I learned that anything is possible with an open mind and willing to differentiate instruction consistently throughout one lesson period. Also, during this class, we used a discussion ball that tended to keep the students engaged and wanting to participate within the discussion as well as began to design individual burrito booklets where students are to write acrostic poems about characters within the story. The students have been extremely creative with their individual burrito booklets so far and will continue to add onto them throughout our reading of “When a Hero Dies”.

During the ninth grade English class, the students were required to create PREZI Presentations. The students had two days to complete these PREZI Presentations. The focus of them was on two “six word memoirs” that summed up their life. Some of the students were extremely creative as well as shared very deep thoughts. I was impressed and felt that this was excellent for students to be introduced to and learn how to work. Some of the students were able to complete their presentations fully on their own, while others needed a lot of guidance from a teacher. When the students completed their PREZI, they then had to present them to the class. Also, one day during this week, this ninth grade class was provided with a tour through the library and learned where they may find certain books, computers, etc in the near future when they will need to conduct research.

The tenth grade English class was exciting for me this week because I was allowed to design a review game for their quiz that they were having on Character Development and Formal Writing. The review game that I created went along with the game “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire”. I think that the students really enjoyed the review game and am hoping that it helped them a lot on their quizzes. I also was able to show the PREZI Presentation that my mentor teacher, Mrs. Rengers, and I designed that contained all of the class notes. This provided students with an exciting and interactive view of their notes that may have helped them remember certain facts easier.

Some other things that I learned throughout the week are organizational tips from my mentor teacher both on the teacher end as well as how to help students remain organized. I also learned how to work the Di-Cut letter machine and helped my teacher work on a bulletin board for her HI-Y Club. (High School YMCA) Also, I was able to support my students on Friday evening at their first home football game. It was a wonderful experience and was great to interact with students and their families at an informal event. MHS has a lot of school spirit which is very exciting and I am happy to be a part of their community! I am looking forward to another week at Morgantown High School!