Clinicals 5

The last of my clinicals were on the 20th.

It was fun going the last couple of days because I was able to do my mini-lesson and go to their restaurant. The lesson went really well for the first hour, but each hour after that got less and less engaged. They all loved the logos I had done with the brand names taken out of them. I only had 11, if I were to use this in a class I would definitely make more of them. I was doing this to explain that they need a product, price, place, and promotion in order to have a successful business. I also had a poster with the four concepts outlined, so that was useful. There was a school activity where a lot of students were excused, so Mrs. Christensen had to switch her lesson for the day to the one she was going to do the next day. They needed to be able to fill out job applications for the restaurant, and with so many gone she couldn't do that. That's why she has the video instead.

The restaurant was really fun because the kids got to work with the food and actually try and do a job. They do it two days and have half the class cook and the other half eat, then switch. I was able to sit with a couple of boys at a table to make sure students were following the etiquette they had been told to use, and I could talk with the boys. I asked them what they liked about their jobs, and what classes they enjoy. It was interesting to have them comment that they really liked the CTE class because they liked using the swing machines.

Discipline:
During my lesson the classes were quite. I think it was because I'm new, and if they were quiet I would call on them to tell me what the X-box and Nintendo logos were. The rest of that class they watched a video and finished assignments. They were quiet during the video, but Mrs. Christensen sat in a desk with the students, so that helped a lot.

Teaching Strategies:
I really liked the idea of having the students actually fill out their job applications. There were a few who were going to be absent the next day, so I helped them fill out theirs. Most had no idea what a Social Security number was, or what was meant by "social skills" and "work skills". I had to explain to them what they could use for social and work skills, and told them how many digits to make up for their Social Security Numbers.

Management:
The seventh graders were all cooking when I went for the restaurant for the sixth graders. I had to keep them focused. I was constantly pacing and checking on what they were all doing. I also had to watch how big they made their portions so the other classes (and students in their class as well actually) could have some. a couple of girls would not help clean up until I approached them and made sure they knew that they could not leave until the kitchens were clean, even if the bell had rang. The girls were very social, and lunch was next. They didn't want to miss out on chatting with their friends. I also reminded every group that some could be cleaning so they could leave sooner, even though their food was on the stove. The ones who really focused and did that got out on time, the one group that ignored me was far behind the others.


Overall, I loved doing this. I am better with teens than preteens with other things, so being in a Middle School was somewhat scary for me. It was great to learn though. I found that there were a ton of at risk students, luckily at Spring Creek the kids are identified to the teachers by the school, that helps.

I really learned how important it is to organize everything. Students weren't assigned sewing machines, so if there was a mess or something missing there was no one to hold accountable. That was really tough to work with. Also, extra activities that can be counted for points would have been really useful. What the kids had they knew wasn't going to be counted, so they didn't work on it. It was really hard to keep them focused when I knew that it was a waste of time in their minds. What they did work on for credit in the class, Mrs. Christensen threw away. I know that it was to reduce how many papers they take home, but some had worked really hard on their packets, so it being tossed out instead of returned felt like a wasted opportunity to give the parents positive feedback.

I would keep things organized in my class a lot more than what I saw here. It wasn't bad, but it wouldn't work for me. I would also make sure that I had plenty of extra credit or just more assignments in the first place. There was a lot of wasted time by the end of the unit.