Final Reflection

I just had my last meeting with my class yesterday and concluded my Junior Achievement experience.

I enjoyed doing the sixth lesson plan with my students than the previous two. The fourth and fifth lesson plans were the most tedious and complicated lessons in the Economics for Success (8th Grade) packet. However, this last lesson plan was a relief for me and my students. The instructions were easy: just hand out Risk Scenario cards to each group and have the students role play the scene. It was fun to watch the students work together and show their creativity to the rest of the class. In one of the scenes, one of the characters gets in a car wreck. So to play this scene out, one of the students got on a chair and "crashed" by falling out of the chair and on to the floor. It was really funny to watch. Although, the students and I were bummed out that we couldn't have all of the groups role play, because time ran out. I should have managed time better earlier in the class while I was going over the purpose of insurance with the kids. The students had so many questions about insurance (probably because many of them will be 16 in the next two to three years and will be driving cars soon).

Looking back on this Junior Achievement experience, I really enjoyed doing it because I learned a lot about myself and how to reach kids in the classroom. I initially took Economics 349: Economics for Teachers at the suggestion of my adviser Dr. Putko. She told me it was a brand new class and that it would fulfill the upper division Economics section of the Social Science - Single Subject Teaching course requirements. I walked into Professor Imazeki's classroom without knowing what to expect. As soon as I read the syllabus and saw the JA requirements that said I had to volunteer teaching a class at a school far away, I thought about dropping the class and taking something else. I eventually want to go on to become a teacher, but at the time I didn't feel like I was ready to start teaching a class on my own. Plus, my sister and I shared a car so it would be difficult arranging our schedules. After thinking about dropping Professor Imazeki's class, my conscience chimed in. If I want to go on to teach in the Social Sciences, that means I might have to teach Economics. So I thought to myself, "What the heck? Just give it a try." I was worried about driving to a school far away because of my class schedule and having to share the car with my sister. Thankfully, my JA mentor helped me find a school that wasn't too distant with a really helpful teacher and a wonder group of bright kids. Overall, the experience was very rewarding because I learned more about myself and teaching kids.

One thing I learned about myself is that I'm am too nice most of the time. My physical presence is strong because I am much bigger and stronger than all of the students. But as soon as I start talking and answering students questions, the kids start to realize that I am a non-confrontational type of person and they continue to chit-chat at their desks while I am still talking. My teacher that I worked with suggested ways that I could work on my decorum while teaching in the classroom. It's always good to be nice and courteous to people, especially your students. But it's also OK to be assertive too, because the students have to be courteous to the teacher too. I think I will be a much better teacher once I am able to improve on my assertiveness, while at the same time being a nice person too.

Last Two JA Sessions

As this semester comes to a close, that also means that my JA sessions are almost up. I think Professor Imazeki said we only had to complete five or six JA sessions. So if I were to do only five, this Wednesday would mark my last one. However, I think I'll go ahead and complete all six instead. The teacher I am working with originally planned on me coming in six times, so that means she would have adjusted her classroom's schedule all the way up through the 17th. Also, I think the kids really enjoy having me come in to see them. I'm sure that they want to complete all six activities written in their workbooks too--or not. Either way, the kids seem to like me, so I will try to uphold my fulfillment to complete all six JA sessions.

Fourth JA Session and Third Lesson Plans

Today marked my fourth JA session down. The kids got the entire week off last week for Thanksgiving, so it's been two weeks since I last saw them. It was an unusual day because there happened to be a field trip that half of the class attended. So I only had eleven students in my classroom for this lesson. I have to admit that I was relieved that I had so few students to work with for today because the fourth JA activity, which involved the gross and net income figures, was really confusing for the kids to grasp. Since there were only a handful of students for today's class, I was able to go around the classroom and help each one individually. Although, I didn't feel that today's lesson plan was as effective as I should have made it, because many students were still confused about what they were supposed to do after I explained the instructions to each of them individually. I think next week involves a shopping spree exercise, so hopefully I will be able to explain it better so that all of my students can grasp the concept firmly.

Today also marked the third and final lesson plans and presentations. I am very relieved that all of the lesson plans are over with. Coming up with original ideas for lesson plans has been like pulling teeth for me throughout this semester. I never want to be accused of plagiarism, so I always try to come up with the most original ideas I can think of for assignments. Right now, it's that time of the semester where my brain is completely fried and original ideas don't come quite as easily to me. I thought the content in my lesson plan was fine, especially the video, I'm glad most of you folks enjoyed it. However, I should have spent more time rehearsing because I felt like I was reading off my paper and I went over my time limit. Sorry about going on for too long folks, my bad. Aside from that, I thought everyone else did an excellent job on their lesson plans, particularly the groups-of-threes. You all deserve an A for your third lesson plans and presentations.