Jessica Martorano |1
Journal Entry 1
1. Who is/are your student(s)?
2. What do you know about them?
3. What do you know about where they are developmentally? How do you know this
(Whats the evidence)?
4. What do they need from teachers in order to take the next steps developmentally (How
can you connect these steps to what you have been learning about in class)?
The day in which I was in the fifth to sixth grade classroom at the Butler Lab School was
the week that they had their first major writing assignment due. The guidelines were to write a
narrative about a certain event in their lives. The students were given an editing checklist so that
they knew what was expected of their work before turning it in (Tovani 2000) (Miller 2016). One
of my first students was a boy named Joe. Joe was very interested in his own personal reading,
a book on tips and tricks for the videogame Minecraft. Though it is a major positive that he
clearly enjoys reading, the fact that he was reading instead of writing was what first drew me to
him. When asked if he was in need of some editing help, his face immediately lit up and eagerly
asked for me to take a look at his paper. This brings to mind the concept of a more
knowledgeable other, from Core II and Vygotsky (Tovani 2000). His memoir, which was a
lengthy three pages of paper, was about his experience going to a card convention with his
family. I asked him what a memoir meant to him, and he was able to describe it in his own words
(Chappius 2007).
In regard to the content of the paper, the topic was clearly a subject that he was very
knowledgeable on. He collects and is very interested in various kinds of cardsespecially Magik
brand. He described in his paper how his parents brought him and his younger sister. Children
need positive interactions with the adults in their lives, and clearly his parents at the very least
care enough about his interests to bring him to a convention on the topic he is passionate about
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(Erickson 2007). Furthermore, he was able to express creativity in the piece through his use of
details; his passion for the topic was very clear. By allowing the students first major piece of the
semester to be about a personal and memorable experience, they can attain an emotional
connection to writing. Thus, they will hopefully be more open to write again in the future.
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Journal Entry 2
Planning for content literacy instruction:
1. What is your mentor teachers email address?
2. What has the class been working on?
3. What will they be working on between fall break and Thanksgiving?
4. What does your teacher want you to focus on in your+/ teaching?
5. How will what you have noticed about their instructional needs and learning
characteristics influence your instructional choices?
6. What are some of your initial ideas for our teaching experience?
Planning to continue visiting the Butler Lab School was very exciting and Greyson, Ellie,
and I worked together to draft the following email:
Ms. Schick,
We are very excited to be meeting you and your students next
week! We have some questions regarding 1. Who will our students be
and is there anything in particular we should know about them now? 2.
Should we have anything prepared in advance for our experience?
What text are you working on currently? We truly look forward to
getting to know the students and their needs in English LanguageArts!
Jessica Martorano
Butler University | Class of 2018
Secondary English Education Major
Harry Potter Aficionado
Grayson Prather
Butler University | Class of 2018
Secondary English Education Major
Ellie McGarry
Butler University | Class of 2017
Secondary English Education Major
Alpha Phi Omega Service Fraternity - VP of Service
Beginning each class with a few minutes of quiet reading was really helpful for the students, as
they would be coming straight from lunch and recess (Elias 2015). They would rush into the
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classroom full of energy and very little focus, so allowing for a few minutes of soft music and
quiet reading allows them the time they needed to re-settle into the flow of classwork (Center for
Early Adolescent Development). Then they would transfer into their small groups in their tables
where they could begin a review for the day. When working at the small tables, one of the
subjects in the Language Arts that is not as interesting to me, personally was the first subject
tackled post-Thanksgiving break: grammar. When the lesson began, we all planted ourselves at
various tables and I noticed that there was definitely a lot of intention in the way that the students
were situated. There seemed to be a very diverse mix of literacy abilities as well as strengths in
each subject. The mixing of heterogeneous abilities seemed very beneficial for the groups as they
were able to bounce ideas off of one another (Moughamian Rivera & Francis 2009). Two of the
three girls at my table all seemed to roll their eyes the second that Ms. Shicke mentioned that
they were going to be starting with sentence structurescomplex, compound, and simple
sentences. She also began with an example of each to review, allowing the students to define in
their own words how to know what kind of sentence each was (Moughamian Rivera & Francis
2009). Ms. Shicke made the seemingly mundane activity of writing example sentences into a
low-stakes competitive game! Each table was a white-board and they could write their answers
directly on the table, which made it even more fun for the kids.
Ms. Shicke was also exceptionally mindful of the adolescents need for movement. Every
ten minutes, or so, the room itself would begin to squirm as the students need for some kind of
small physical activity became tangible. In this way, Ms. Shicke was constantly having students
move about the space in the room in very intentional manners (Moughamian Rivera & Francis
2009). These small movements help keep the kids engaged.
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Journal Entry 3
Reflecting on your teaching:
1. What did you learn this semester from working with students?
2. What questions do you still have about teaching and learning?
3. What do you think are your next steps in your professional development as you
become a teacher?
When I look back on my personal experiences at the Butler Lab School this semester, the
first thing I think about is my total change in opinion of middle schoolers. Originally, I had only
been interested in teaching high school, but being in the fifth- sixth grade classroom at the Butler
Lab School definitely showed me a side of teaching I had not been previously considering.
Although the room was always hectic, loud, and at times even chaotic there were moments of
profound learning that truly inspired me. I recall a specific time when analyzing poetry, one of
the young boys found a line that really spoke to him regarding freedom in America. The topic
also sort of blended into one of the other students discussing an issue that is very important to her
immigration. At the fifth/sixth grade level, these adolescents were dealing with very complex
and confusing issues that truly matter to them. The two students had a short conversation
regarding their opinions of freedom as it is presented in the United States, but the discussion
continued in their own journaling, privately. Seeing the students connect to one another and their
community in such a tangible and meaningful manner was very heartening to me!
I then attempted to help a student who tended to struggle with reading and writing to find
an issue that was important to her. She was a student who rarely spoke during class on the topic
of the lesson and was quite obstinate in avoiding answering my questions. That was when I tried
to istead ask her questions about her personal life, where I found out that she has a dog whom
she loves more than anyone else. That led to a discussion on what she thought about people who
hurt animals (attempting to direct the discussion to the topic of animal abuse or animal shelters),
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but she was one step ahead of me and told me about how she recently saw that people go to jail
for hurting animals and she was glad to hear it. Though there was only two minutes left in class,
she was able to write down one or two sentences regarding jailing people who hurt animals! This
was sort of a talk-through of a concept map; together we were brainstorming an idea (Teaching
and Learning with Concept Maps)! Her originial though that she didnt have any passion for
issues was merely because she wasnt aware that she already was passionate! This was definitely
one of the most rewarding moments in our tutoring experience at the Lab school.
I think my biggest question concerning teaching in the future is that I do not know, what I
dont know. This is one of those things that seems to be a expect the unexpected sort of deal.
There is nothing in particular that I have questions regarding, except that once I am in the
situation I am sure I will have infinite questions. I am both nervous and excited to be in the
classroom more next semester, and continue to take a more active role with the learning that
takes place. Being able to work with the students at the Lab School (as well as tutoring at NCHS
for 498) have been my first introductions to directly working with kids in the COE. My plan at
this point is to continue to take a more active role in the learning that I visit. I have really
enjoyed observing, as done in 227 and Core I, and have found it to be exceptionally beneficial.
However, I look forward (with nervousness and excitement) to more opportunities to test the
waters of teaching, as done at the Lab School.
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Citations
(Some of the articles come from ED227, ED498, and the connections to theorists come from
general knowledge from Core II. It was important to me to show the connections to all relevant
education learning.)
7 Developmental Needs of Young Adolescents. (2002, June 17). Retrieved from
http://myportfolio-olufs.wikispaces.com/file/view/seven developmental needs.pdf
Chappuis, S., & Chappuis, J. (December 2007). The Best Value in Formative Assessment.
Retrieved December 01, 2016, from http://www.ascd.org/publications/educationalleadership/dec07/vol65/num04/The-Best-Value-in-Formative-Assessment.aspx
Moughamian, A., Rivera, M., & Francis, D. (2009). Instructional Models and Strategies for
Teaching English Language Learners. Austen, TX: Center on Instruction.
Teaching and Learning with Concept Maps. (n.d.). Retrieved December 01, 2016, from
http://www.inspiration.com/visual-learning/concept-mapping
Tovani, C. (2000). I Read It, But I Don't Get It. Portland, Maine: Stenhouse.
Erickson, H. L. (2007). Concept-based curriculum and instruction for the thinking classroom.
The Thinking Classroom. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press. 1-19.
Elias, M. J. (2015, June 8). 7 Things Parents and Teachers Should Know About Teens. Retrieved
from https://www.edutopia.org/blog/7-things-parents-and-teachers-should-know-aboutteens-maurice-elias
Miller, A. (2016, September 13). Tools for Student Self-Management. Retrieved from
https://www.edutopia.org/blog/tools-for-student-self-management-andrew-miller
