Micayla Frankian – Rancho Pico Junior High School – 7^th grade Life Science

Introduction:

For my observations this fall, I have spent my time working with Miss Micayla Frankian. I personally am currently working at Rancho Pico Junior High School (RP) as a long term sub for the majority of this school year due to the teacher being out on maternity and disability leave. Every Tuesday at the Ranch, we have what are called “Early Release” days. This means that our regular school day is shorter than most by an hour and five minutes. The extra time allows for teachers, especially in the same department, to work together and collaborate about anything that they are doing with their students. This has been especially key for teachers who are learning and adjusting to new curriculum. Science and Math have been facing these issues most prevalently at our school. Micayla and I both teach 7^th grade life science along with one additional teacher named Nick Ritchie. Last school year I did a long term subbing job in Nick’s room for a little over ten weeks and worked some with Micayla then because we were both adjusting to new curriculum. This year has been very similar and the addition of this extra time every Tuesday has been extremely helpful for making sure that we are all on the same page and setting a similar pace for our students. Nick actually does a lot of his own personalizing with his assignments so for the most part I have been working in a one on one fashion with Micayla since the beginning of this school year. I was acquainted with Micayla in high school and it has been amazing to work with an incredibly sweet, young teacher that shares some similar values and has just recently experienced going through school and receiving her own credential.

RP operates on a rotating block schedule format. This means that every day we have three periods that are each ninety minutes. We start with our odd day which has periods one, three, and five. Then we have our even day which has periods two, four, and six. The order of the periods rotate as well so that the students do not have the same period starting every day. Every teacher teaches five periods and has one period for their preparation time (prep period). Each team has a teacher who teaches math, science, English, and history. There are three teams for each grade and those teams have specific responsibilities. One team will just have general education students, a second will have the English Learners, and the third team has the resource students. The team that I am currently teaching on is the resource team. This means that we have mostly general education students but also teach the students who have some learning disabilities, anxiety, hearing impairments, autism, and other health impairments. Each team averages about one hundred and sixty students and our resource team consists of about thirty of those students having some sort of individual education plan (IEP). My prep period is my second period. This means that every other day I have an available block to grade papers, lesson plan, have official team meetings, and do observations of other teachers. Every third day our team meets in an official capacity to discuss the needs of our students with the school counselor as well as the assistant principle. Not only do we have resource students but we also have other students in need whom we are setting up meetings and IEPs for them as well. This has given me ample opportunities to have hands on experience as a teacher to see how situations for needy students are handled. It has also given me plenty of chances to communicate with people in an official capacity at the school and I am very grateful for this chance.

Due to the way that the school operates and my busy schedule with meetings, the best chances that I have to observe another teacher are during my prep periods. I have spent several of my prep periods observing Micayla teach some similar lessons to what I am teaching my students. Watching her teach has been helpful to learn how she uses some of the same tools that I have been provided as well as seeing what tools she might have that I would find useful. Micayla teaches on the general education team so often times I will modify some of her resources to use in my own classroom. Having her and the other teachers as a support system has made this transition fairly smooth for me. We are able to discuss ways in which we are meeting all of our students’ needs even when we have different demographics that we are reaching. One of the things that Micayla, Nick and I have spoken about this semester during collaboration and professional development meetings is ensuring that the students are developing the fundamental skills that they need in order to succeed. Spring (2018) states that “schools will be required to teach students to learn so that they can continue learning throughout their lives.” Ensuring that our students have the fundamental skills they need to succeed will definitely guarantee we are creating life-long learners.

The Classroom:

Micayla’s classroom is a lab style classroom that gives the students opportunities to work together and perform any labs that are necessary. She has a long desk up front that contains her desktop computer as well as her Elmo document camera that she can use to display any work that she is presenting to the class. There is also a projector that projects to a screen attached to the white board at the front of the class. The lab stations travel along each side of the classroom as well as having two stations that come out from the walls in the back. There are sixteen tables in the middle of the room between the desks that each have two chairs for the students. Micayla has her desks arranged so that they face each other in groups of two. So, there are 8 groups of tables that each have four students. This allows the students to spend time working easily as groups and provides opportunities to collaborate on any group projects that she assigns to them. I thought that this was a great use of space and liked the way that she has each table numbered so that when she calls on groups of students she simply needs to address the group number and they know who she is talking to. I like this idea and if it were possible in my classroom I would like to implement it. My classroom has eight lab benches coming out from the walls that the students actually sit at and they are unable to be moved. It is nice in theory to give the students lots of lab space but I like that Micayla is able to personalize her classroom by rearranging her students’ desks.

Cross Cutting Concepts (CCC) are a key term that we are seeing in all of our Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) lesson plans. These concepts entail “Structure and Function,” “Systems and System Models,” “Energy and Matter,” etc. Across the cabinets in Micayla’s room, she has posters for each one of these concepts that she is able to refer to when she is teaching her lessons. This provides a great tie in tool for the kids as she is teaching and they can make connections with her lessons and not just hear the material being spoken at them with no connections. It was a nice touch to see those posters in an easily noticed place that her students have easy access to.

In general, most science classrooms are cold and impersonal. When going to Micayla’s classroom, it is clear that she has spent lots of time adding personal touches to it to make it feel like a warm and welcome place. This includes posters with motivational sayings as well as posters that are simply funny and make you laugh. She also has her boards specifically divided up with colorful duct tape that fits her personality. She has clear signs in the front of her classroom that contain catch phrases or hand signals for the students to use when they have specific needs. There are also some personalized signs that inform the students about her specific expectations in her classroom. She uses these signs as reminders for kind in order to help them stay on task and ensure that they are grasping the curriculum to the best of their ability with minimal interruption or interference.

The Lessons:

Since Micayla and I have been sharing lesson plans and materials for this entire semester, there have been quite a few lessons of hers that I have observed parts of as well as discussed with her during planning times. I will mention a few of the details that I have observed and find to stand out in her classroom specifically.

With the new curriculum, Micayla, Nick, and I have been trying to ensure that our students are receiving the information that they need in order to grasp the overall ideas that we are presenting to them. I have found that Micayla does a great job of providing her students with these additional materials when we feel like there are concepts that are not fleshed out completely in the materials we are given. Sometimes the new curriculum feels like it is bouncing from topic to topic without making the connections for the students to tie the concepts together. She is always encouraging her students to see the connections and making sure they understand where we are going when there is a change in topic. She also is able to remind the students of ideas that they previously learned in order to help them understand how the new topics relate to previously mastered material. She refers back to these CCCs so that students can grasp the concepts as a whole. Additionally, she has provided us with several labs that she has personally found and modified to give the students extra opportunities to experiment and explore deeper ideas with these labs. I always appreciate that she wants her students to have more hands on experiences and not just listening to facts being taught.

In her classroom, Micayla often times creates Quizlet flashcards using the Quizlet website for her students to use in many different capacities. She uses these flashcards to give the students a study tool for cementing ideas. The students are able to use these online flashcards to personally study for assessments as well as playing live games in class. This provides students with additional collaborative opportunities as well as devices to study.

Another thing that I appreciated about her style of teaching and lessons was her use of technology in the classroom. She uses the Google classroom for posting her agenda to her students. This allows them to always be up to date with what is happening in the classroom. Students who are absent are also able to catch up on work that they missed by seeing what is available in the virtual classroom. Micayla also taught me how to use Google Forms for giving quizzes to students. This provides an easy way for teachers to see how the students are succeeding and an easy format for grading. This helps the students be more proficient in their technology usage as well.

The Interview:

Since I have been working with Micayla all year long, we have been able to talk frequently about our teaching styles and expectations we have for our students. I also am very familiar with the school because I have been working there for the past year so I did not find it necessary to interview her about those things. So, I thought I would simply ask her some questions that pertain to her experiences as a teacher. Micayla is a very hardworking teacher and surprisingly (to me) has a lot of responsibility for a second year teacher. These responsibilities include several clubs and organizations that she sponsors for the students as well as heading up department meetings quite often due to the department chair having personal issues this year that have taken her away from these duties. Here are questions and answers from my little interview with Micayla:

 

Q#1: What is your specific degree and credential that you hold?

A: I attended the Master’s University and have a degree in general Biology. My credential is a single subject science credential with a Biology specialization.

Although she did not mention it in our interview that we had, Micayla did recently complete her Master’s in Education in the last month. I remember discussing her thesis with her a few times and using some of the ideas we were teaching in class as examples in that project.

Q#2: What made you decide to teach?

A: I always wanted to be a coach. I did track and other sports in high school as well as college. So to me, teaching seemed to make sense. But, I also have teachers on both sides of the family so we were always talking about teaching experiences at family gatherings.

We were really able to relate to this because my parents are both teachers. We talked about how sometimes it just feels like it is in your blood and you feel called to do it.

Q#3: What is the most rewarding thing about teaching?

A: I love seeing the lightbulb go on when kids understand the content and begin to make connections. I love making science fun and hearing from parents that they talk about what their kids are learning in science when they are at the dinner table.

I have noticed Micayla’s enthusiasm when she is talking to her students and it is obvious that she feels strongly about what she is teaching. This definitely encourages the kids to share a love for what she is teaching them.

Q#4: What is the hardest part about teaching?

A: The hardest part is making decisions on how to teach the content while making it fun, relevant to real life and still meet the needs of all the students. I’ve also learned that so many kids have a rough home life and there is usually a reason why they are acting out in class. If I can find that reason, I have a better chance of helping them both in and outside the classroom. That burden of wanting to help and not always being able to is tough.

It was encouraging to hear another teacher talk about always trying to find out what is going on with the students who are causing us stress in the classroom. Being patient and trying to understand what is causing a student to act out can always help with understanding their behavior. This was something that Micayla and I definitely have in common with how we build relationships with our students.

Q#5: What advice would you give to new teachers?

A: I learned so many things by going to observe other teachers, whether they were in my content or not. Asking questions from veteran teachers about content, classroom management, assessments, and incentives were helpful. Always being willing to change up the lesson if it bombed the first time around. Communication with parents is also super helpful so they know you are on their side before any issues come up. Things like the Google Classroom or a website with the agenda and handouts works so well. There is also the Remind App that is awesome and helpful for sending out quick reminders.

Listening to her answer on this question was probably the one thing I was really needing to hear. I have heard Micayla talk about how she had used a lesson in the past for one of her periods and it was not very successful and she changed it up in between classes. I think having that willingness to be flexible is a great idea for any teacher. I will also be taking her advice about the Reminder app and seeing if that could be something useful in my classroom.

References

Slavin, R. (2018). Educational psychology: Theory and practice (12^th edition).

Spring, J. (2018). American education: 18th edition. New York, NY: Routledge. Page 100.