School Experience
Reflection Journal
EDUC 250-Educational Psychology
NAME: __Melody Lutz____________
DATE: _4/24/16 ______________
SCHOOL: North Dearborn
TEACHER: _____Shattuck_____
GRADE LEVEL: 5th______________
GENERAL EDUCATION: __X___
SPECIAL EDUCATION:_______
(Check one)
Once placement is established, you will participate weekly in a 20 hour school experience at an
assigned cooperating school. This journal is a way of keeping track of your experiences for
purposes of developing into a professional teacher.
To fulfill the 20 hour school experience requirement of this course, you will write answers to the
chapter prompt provided. In addition to responding to the topic, please also write a brief
reflection of something that impressed you about your experience of the particular week.
Use this Word document to type your responses and reflection to each prompt. Please use your
discretion and answer the questions when you think you have observed something relevant to the
question. You need to answer half of the questions for each of the two times that the journal is
submitted for grading.
This school experience journal will be handed in two times on dates listed in the calendar of the
syllabus. There 50 possible points for handing in each of the two journal assignments by the
due date. That is a total of 100 points for the entire school experience.
Text: Ormrod, Jeanne Ellis with Brent Jones. Essentials of Educational Psychology: Big
Ideas to Guide Effective Teaching, 4e, with eText. Boston: Pearson, 2015.
Chapter 7-Personal, Social, and Moral Development
Think about the concept sense of self and its implications for teaching and learning. Review
the developmental trends on p. 245 in your textbook. Did you see indications of sense of self
affecting learning of the student(s) with whom you worked? Explain.
What effect did perspective taking have on the teaching and learning environment? Reread p.
255 in your textbook to understand developmental trends.
If you observed aggressive behavior, explain the type of aggressive behavior that you witnessed.
See textbook p. 254-255 for an explanation.
Response: I saw indications of sense of self with the 5th graders. Some of the kids that were still
struggling with comprehension skills seemed slightly embarrassed to have to read out loud. It
was as if they were shameful that they could not do it.
Perspective taking made the students understand reasons why characters in stories did the things
they did. They put themselves in that position and it changed the story.
I did not see any aggressive behavior with the fifth graders, but when I was working with second
graders back in high school there were boys who would fight in the hallways and show physical
aggression. Whether it was just play or not, they still had to be reprimanded because school is not
the place for that.
Reflection: After working with this age group, it will help me help my students in the future
establish a sense of self. I can motivate them and reward them when they accomplish their goals
so they build their self-esteem.
Chapter 8-Instructional Strategies
Many instructional strategies are summarized on p. 312 of your textbook. Describe two of the
ones you used for tutoring or RTI in your school placement. Be sure that you give a rationale for
the instructional strategies that you selected to use.
Response: Small group inquiry learning was used when I had a few students at a time working
on problems were they were allowed to help each other when they got stuck. If they didnt
understand a concept I first asked if any of the students knew how to figure it out before I would
help them.
Using text books and assigned readers was another instructional strategies. I helped them read
and questioned them about what they had just read so they could get a good handle on
comprehension.
Reflection: These strategies will be used in my classroom in the future and will be easier for
because I had already done them.
Chapter 9-Strategies for Creating an Effective Classroom Environment
Chapter 9 discusses many ways to enhance the classroom environment. What were some of the
ways that you helped to create an environment that was conducive to learning?
Explain which of the suggestions on p. 347 in your textbook for addressing undesirable
classroom behaviors you utilized in the tutoring or RTI setting of your school experience.
Response: I made conversation with the students aside from just talking about school work. I
tried to develop a good trusting relationship so they would be my prone to listening to me about
school work.
For addressing undesirable behaviors I didnt have the chance to fully deal with those, but there
were little things that I ignored because it would be when the students were wound up from
coming in from break but would calm down as soon as any instruction was beginning.
Reflection: I will be able to better address situations in the future from seeing the way students
can be and I will know if intervention is necessary or if it is an unrepeated behavior.
Chapter 10-Assessent Strategies
What types of assessments did you employ with the student(s)? Did you choose to use different
types of assessments? If you did use a variety of assessment tools, explain why different
assessments were necessary?
Response: The assessment tools that were mostly used were worksheets and tests. I was not
there for any projects. The worksheets were used when the students were just beginning to learn
the subject and the tests were used after they had learned the subject and we wanted to see what
they had learned.
Reflection: I will use these types of assessments in my classroom in the future. I will also create
more variety so the students have motivation to stay interested. Such as playing review games,
having projects, etc.
Final Reflection:
Take some time to think about your responses and reflections in this journal. Respond to the
following questions.
1) In terms of the major concepts presented in this class, how do you think your school
experience and reflections on it has helped prepare you for classroom responsibilities as a
teacher?
I think that my experiences have helped me a lot. Ive got to see a few different teaching
styles and from those I have gathered how I want to be and how I dont want to be. Ive
taken skills from every teacher I have worked with and I will be better because I have
already got to see firsthand how the classroom works.
2) Briefly sum the impact that this school experience has had on your professional
aspirations. You will not be penalized for constructive criticism.
This particular experience didnt really change my professional goals, but I wouldnt say
it motivated me. This is not the grade that, if I had the choice, I would want to work with.
Now with that being said, my teacher I worked with handled them very well and I would
take a lot from her if I was put into this situation.
