Megan Setliff

9/30/2019

This semester I have the opportunity to be apart of a Soil Sciences classroom. The class

consists of mostly juniors and seniors, has an even amount of female and male students, and

overall is a more diverse group of students. This class is really interesting as it acts as an

agriculture elective, but also counts as a science credit for non-agriculture pathway students.

From my observations this class naturally segregate themselves into the “ag students” and the

‘non ag students”.With this I have noticed the teacher is more comfortable with her ag students,

and has called these students out for being off task (more often than not). Whereas, the non ag

students are not engaged and the lacking teacher/student relationship makes it more difficult

when she tries to redirect these students.

Within this class there are varying needs. There are three students who are to have

extended time, one ELL student, and one student who requires guided notes and a

paraprofessional. Although I am not sure on what/when I am doing my lesson, I will make sure

to take appropriate steps to ensure I am meeting all students' needs. If I have a lecture heavy

lesson I will provide guided notes, make the slides visually appealing and easy to understand,

and provide necessary breaks/activities throughout the lesson. Additionally when lesson

planning, I always try to include different methods of delivery throughout the lesson to appeal to

different learning types. Whether it be a hands on activity, a super cool educational song, lecture,

or diagrams I always try to cater to all students.

I know ahead of time that there is a less active group of students in the classroom, and I

would really like to see them participating in my lesson. I plan on addressing them by name
throughout my lesson, and I hope calling on them shows them that I care about their input. Also,

if doing group activities I would think about group placements beforehand to pair students up in

a group where I think they will be successful. These methods to curb non-participation will also

help me with students who are being disruptive/talkative. Calling them by name, grouping them

according, and setting the expectation that I will not accept disruption will help me keep

distractions at a minimum. It is difficult to say for certain these ideas will work, but I will do my

best as an educator to keep students on task during my lesson. Overall, I know I have many

resources, tools, tricks as an educator to prepare for my lesson, and I will use those to my

advantage.