Site Visit Notes

Date/Site Visit Number: 06/25 (1) Hours: 7:15 – 11:15 4 hrs

School: Larkin High School Grade Level/Subject: Geometry

First Day!
I was excited, but nervous to see how the class would go. Going into it I told Mr. Superzynski,
the co-operating teacher, that I would like to work on asking more probing questions to see
where the students are at in both their thinking process and learning of the subject. Throughout
the day he provides me with examples and demonstrates the importance of follow up questions.
Mr. S has been having meetings with the students before their big final coming up in a few days.
He teaches the lesson and then gives out worksheets. He meets with a student in private and then
goes over a problem. I watch this pace and want to assist to speed things along so I offer to help.
He has me decide what problems I want to go over. I am a little overwhelmed, but I know the
material so I pick a few problems to go over. As I continue to teach I notice more and more
students on their phones. I address this problem directly by saying they need to respect me as
their teacher and pay attention. While this works I hate doing punitive measures. Especially,
when the students don’t know me. I haven’t truly earned their respect. At break Mr. S talks with
us and we reflect on how it could have gone better. Classroom management is a big struggle in
summer school.

Site Visit Notes

Date/Site Visit Number: 06/26 (2) Hours: 7:15 – 11:15 4 hrs

School: Larkin High School Grade Level/Subject: Geometry

The students are in a routine at this point. Mr. S shows them their assigned seats for the day and
while they moan and grumble he explains that he wants to keep them active so that they will still
maintain their energy and can focus more. He teaches the lesson and passes back the work
sheets. As we move along through the worksheet he provides the students with harder
worksheets, so they can hone their skills. This is an efficient way to meet the needs of all the
students. Mr. S walks around the room as to make sure the students are writing down their work.
I help in any way I can and try to get to know the students better. Today is a review day and it is
hard to keep the students motivated because they are almost done with first semester and taking a
lot of make-up tests. Interestingly, Mr. S allows the students to listen to music during their test,
so long as their phones are face down on their desk and they don’t touch them during the test. I
never thought about allowing this, but you can see that it helps some students focus and also
appeases their needs to check their phones.
 Site Visit Notes

Date/Site Visit Number: 06/27 (3) Hours: 7:15 – 11:15 4 hrs

School: Larkin High School Grade Level/Subject: Geometry

Today is the start of 2nd semester. We went from 20 kids, to now having 32 on our roster. I
grabbed a desk from another classroom to accommodate this many students. Mr. S has all of the
students fill out a survey. It asks basic questions such as; what grade are you going into? What
school do you attend? What grade did you receive your last geometry class? What were your
grades in your other math classes? The survey also asks for their favorite teacher in general and
why and then for their favorite math teacher and why. It also asks for what the students like to do
in their free time. It is a really great way to get to know the students on a basic level. He then
meets with the students one on one in the hall to discuss the survey while I conduct the class in
his absence. I keep it the same he has always done it. He then allows me to sit in on the
interviews with the students and ask some of my own questions. I find ways to connect with the
students and ask for their needs. While this whole thing takes up a majority of the day and slows
down the rate of learning, I still see its importance and Mr. S’ dedication to his students.

Site Visit Notes

Date/Site Visit Number: 06/28 (4) Hours: 7:15 – 11:15 4 hrs

School: Larkin High School Grade Level/Subject: Geometry

We do interviews again today. I am still trying to figure out how I can fit into the classroom. We
go through the lesson and pass out the worksheets. The second lesson is much more interactive
and exploratory for the students. They come to their own conclusions first and then Mr. S teaches
the correct conclusions. This allows the students to think more on their feet and really apply their
learning. Mr. S is very open to new ideas and questions from me which I really appreciate. I need
to get better at remembering names.
 Site Visit Notes

Date/Site Visit Number: 07/02 (5) Hours: 7:15 – 11:15 4 hrs

School: Larkin High School Grade Level/Subject: Geometry

I observe more again today. Some problems I do on the board. I mostly work one on one with the
remedial students. Mr. S has students who didn’t pass his Algebra class during the school year so
he has them working on the things they missed. He plans to test them and then speak with his
department chair about changing their grade. It’s a great way to help the students keep on
moving forward, but it is hard to balance with the other material they are learning at the same
time. We must work together to keep these students motivated and push through the hard work.
It is challenging for me to explain concepts that come easy to me, which is why I like working
with these students.

Site Visit Notes

Date/Site Visit Number: 07/03 (6) Hours: 7:15 – 11:15 4 hrs

School: Larkin High School Grade Level/Subject: Geometry

Today Mr. S has me work with the “advanced students.” These are the students that need to
make up a lost honors credit, are trying to get ahead, or have proved to be proficient in the topic
being taught. Mr. S really challenges these students and has them work on proofs. Even I have a
hard time figuring them out and have to look in the back of the book. Eventually, we all work out
the problems, but they are missing the true point of the lesson so I clarify and re-teach the basic
theorems that Mr. S just told the rest of the class. I am seeing it is important to push students
with in their boundaries and that there are different ways to answer a question. As a teacher you
must be prepared for this. Today was really fun for me.
 Site Visit Notes

Date/Site Visit Number: 07/05 (7) Hours: 7:15 – 11:15 4 hrs

School: Larkin High School Grade Level/Subject: Geometry

Today is the day after 4th of July so we are missing a lot of students. Mr. S decides it’s best to set
up how we normally do so the students can get back into the groove of things after the break. I
told him of a game I came up with for the students to play. I selected problems to put up on the
board, whoever finishes first and correctly gets 10 points, the next two groups get 8 points, and
so on. You will still get points even if you’re last to incentivize students to continue to try and
work through the problem. The hard part is that a different group member needs to explain the
answer every time (so it’s not just one smarter student getting all the answers and no one else is
learning). While you can see that everyone is actively learning, it is taking much longer than I
anticipated. Unfortunately, I had to leave so I don’t get to see how the rest of the day goes. There
are changes I would make right away (time constraints, more time spent on the lesson, better
ways to track who completed the problem first, etc.), I am excited to see what Mr. S has to say
about how it went.

Site Visit Notes

Date/Site Visit Number: 07/09 (8) Hours: 7:15 – 11:15 4 hrs

School: Larkin High School Grade Level/Subject: Geometry

I got to teach a lesson today. I went somewhat fast with the class because they are all at different
levels and most of them have seen it before. I tried to stick with Mr. S’ lesson style so I lectured
and did an example. I think I went too fast because some students were confused. Instead of
having the students do a worksheet, I had them get into groups again. Mr. S said that it went
really well last time. This time all the students had completed the assignment except for 2
groups. Mr. S worked with the remedial group (coincidentally) one on one and I think that
helped clarify for those that needed it most. I went around the room to help most of the groups,
but ended up working with the trouble-making group (we allowed the students to make their own
groups again). I realize that it is hard for me to keep the students on task because I am trying so
hard to establish a relationship. I need to work on getting students back on task.
 Site Visit Notes

Date/Site Visit Number: 07/10 (9) Hours: 7:15 – 11:15 4 hrs

School: Larkin High School Grade Level/Subject: Geometry

Today was a long tough day because it was a Tuesday. We had the students do a review lesson of
what I taught the day before. I think the students enjoy more interactive activities. After the
review, we go over some topics that the students did not do well on. They are not engaging in the
review because they think they already understand the topic, so Mr. S decides to quiz them to
show them where they need to improve. He then has them grade each other’s quizzes in the
hopes that they will motivate each other. While they are grading, one student is unresponsive and
not working, so he sent him to the office. He gives the quiz back to them, so they can see how
well they know the information and they soon learn that they don’t know it very well. They
continue with the review.

Site Visit Notes

Date/Site Visit Number: 07/11 (10) Hours: 7:15 – 11:15 4 hrs

School: Larkin High School Grade Level/Subject: Geometry

We reviewed trigonometric ratios again today. The students did a discovery lesson where they
learned to quickly solve the ratios based on the different triangles. We discussed how these
would be used in their future math classes and their importance. We then moved on to another
lesson about circles. We gave them their worksheets and walked around to assist them. As they
completed their worksheets we would give them more and more difficult questions to solve.
Today the kids talked to me more. I really feel I am building a relationship with them and I’m
sad tomorrow is my last day.

Site Visit Notes

Date/Site Visit Number: 07/12 (11) Hours: 7:15 – 11:15 4 hrs

School: Larkin High School Grade Level/Subject: Geometry

Today was our last day with the students. We did a normal lesson and walked about the room.
They had to take a test today so there was a lot of review. I mostly just helped the students with
their worksheets. Before I left Mr. S allowed me to say some parting words. I thanked them for
allowing me to be a part of their class. They are all good smart kids that deserve to pass the class.
I learned so much from them and I hope they learned something from me.