Week 1

My first visit to the school where I will be observing/helping out this quarter went well. The school is Shanahan Middle School in the Olentangy School District. My cooperating teacher is Amy Eiken. She has been teaching for 17 years. Ms. Eiken teaches 6th grade Social Studies and she works with a team of 6th grade teachers in order to integrate other subjects into her lassroom. The team consists of a social studies teacher(Ms. Eiken), a language arts teacher, and a science teacher. She told me that although the teaming has usually worked out great in the past, this year has been a bit of a struggle because the Language Arts teacher is a first year teacher who is in "survival mode" and is just trying to get the hang of things. She understands his situation. When asked if she had any ideas on what my lesson should be about, Ms. Eiken informed me that she will be covering Ancient Rome for almost the whole time I will be in her class and that she could give me a fun topic to cover like the gladiators. I am excited to start working on this lesson. We set up a schedule which is Mon. and Wed. from 9:30-11:45. She has kids from 9:46-11:45 and the extra 15 minutes before the students arrive will give us time to communicate about the day's plans. Overall, I feel like this quarter's field experience will be a beneficial and enjoyable time for both Ms. Eiken and myself.