Reflection+Log

Reflection Log 5 This is our last day before the publication. It is sad to know that we won’t see these kids anymore. We have had five great days with them and we only have one more. I have really enjoyed getting to know most of the kids, sharing stories, hearing laughs, and learning a lot about why I want to be a teacher. This confirms why I am in this program and what I want to do the rest of my life. The kids were happy to see us. I think they like all the easy work and the positive comments we make to them. I honestly don’t think they get enough of that in the classroom. They are truly smarter than they let on to be. And I’m proud to see that they have come out of their shell to really try in these lessons. Stephen Ratcliff has come a long way. He would talk to the teacher and she would give some comments to improve the writing, but he rarely changed it. Now, he has a great poem and knows that we are here to learn from him and we are not grading on how well the poem is or how well the spelling is in the selected piece. We are simply here for the kids and to create our first unit and present it in the classroom. I think he liked us there after he got used to us. We passed out the kids pieces. If they hadn’t finished revising or completed the final copy to hand into us, they needed to do so. This took about 20 minutes. When they were finished, we asked them to write a little autobiography about themselves and why they chose the memory or why they chose the narrative or poem for the publication. We had some groans, like always, but the kids really got into it. We told them they could tell the reader anything about them they wanted. Some wrote only a few sentences and some wrote a whole paragraph. It didn’t really matter; we just wanted to write a little more before we left. We decided to add this autobiography at the last minute. It makes the publication more personal and something the parents would enjoy. We finished with a few minutes to spare. Ms. Higgins said they can do some independent work that they haven’t done in awhile. We sat in the back and watched them work quietly. It was sad to say this was the last class until the published pieces came out to give to the class. I really enjoyed working with these students. I like the ninth grade and seeing these teenagers grow from their pieces. They tried really hard to make these personal pieces come out as well as they wanted. I am proud to say I was a part of this writing class and Ms. Higgins ninth grade class at Auburn High School.