I still remember my thoughts as I learned that I would be teaching a 6th grade class. I had been out of high school for three years already. I thought “how am going to do this?” I also knew that I was required to take this course and I could not just drop it an pursue something else. I had to do this. I had to put myself out there and go into it.

Going into my first visit I was nervous, but I reassured myself that I would just be observing. Little did I know that I would be answering questions in front of the class for a half hour. I was not prepared for that. What little I did get to observe in the classroom, surprised me. I found myself seeing students on laptops and doing assignments online. All my assignment in middle school, High school, and most of college had been submitted in person. This was one of the first revelations about the changing learning environments that I saw.

I had never heard of EL or PBL before I started this class. I was not familiar with the educational methods and the different ones that educators can employ. It was interesting how instead of breaking the curriculum into units and teaching it that way, Project Based Learning combines a large or all the curriculum into a project. It also emphasizes letting a student fail and succeed. Thankfully, I did not have much experience with the former in this course.

I think the Lesson that Max and I came up with had a lot of value. We gave them information that many students will not learn/discover until later in their lives. We helped dispel some myths about health that they can apply towards their everyday lives. There is value in that. We might be the reason that they live a healthier life and that impact can follow them for the rest of their lives. I think this alone showed me the value of EL. It shows the impact that can be had by doing project like these.

The ride of 411 Fieldwork has been one worth remembering, and I am grateful for the experience. Growing up with my mother being an educator, I always had a slight curiosity of what it’ll be like to teach one day. Never had I thought that this hidden ambition would be satisfied in my college years. Nonetheless, through expeditionary learning I have discovered new ideas of the education system I haven’t yet had. In a personal view, I appreciate being able to be up close and personal with students in the classroom to see if their experience is the same as mine was. Being able to understand the true thoughts of students and knowing what they’re going through is way more important than just making sure they pass.

In an academic sense, the biggest insight that I’ve taken away from this time is the importance of flexibility and technology. In life there will always be an obstacle a student and teacher will face. During this time, the obstacle of COVID-19 was one that was unforeseen(kinda). Being able to transition from a face-to-face learning environment to strictly online is a major change. That being said, for teachers in Rockbridge County to swiftly make this change is amazing. Those teacher along with thousands of other across the country were flexible enough to not let their obstacle hinder their production. With the numerous technological advances that I didn’t have growing up, its exciting to know the many opportunities for students available. This sudden change of learning is a great reminder for the future that plan A might not always work and a plan B must be in your back pocket.

For a civic view, I think expeditionary learning is vital for producing citizens that will take charge rather than sitting back and watching things happen. The different character traits developed through this type of learning can range from teamwork and initiative to time management and creativity. This is important for developing leaders within our local communities. Without them even knowing, these students are being steadily groomed to stand up and take charge and control their own destiny.

I have never thought of being a teacher.

I dreaded the idea of standing up in front of people and teach them knowledge that I, myself did not think I knew. I knew that I would not be prepared I didn’t think I would be ready for even an observation of a classroom. Even with all the readings and lessons about teaching I felt like I would not be prepared to walk into that middle school and observe them learning and discussing with one another.

I have never thought of being a teacher.

I was nervous just about being around these kids, I was nervous about talking to them, I was nervous that I would make a fool of myself and they would laugh at me. I know that last part seems ridiculous but that was a fear of mine. As for the readings and understanding of principles I develop a deep understanding of project base learning which give me some hope to lessen my nerves. With my new found understanding I felt like I knew how they were learning which gave me an edge.

I have never thought of being a teacher.

Once I entered the room and meet the eight or nine students, I felt comfortable and I felt at ease. Once I began talking with them, I began to understand them, I began to know each one of them. I felt like it was easy to know them and speak with them. Every time they broke apart from the main group to discuss idea, I was able to speak with them and help them formulate solutions and come up with grand ideas on how to improve their learning environment.

I have never thought of being a teacher.

I felt a connection to them. Although I was observing I felt like I was one of them and was able to shape their minds and help them learn through projects and help them understand the three main W’s to the environment, water, waste and wildlife. One thing I knew for sure is that these kids were smart and knew things ever I didn’t know. Once I arrived at nest fest my whole understanding of middle schoolers changed in one in a half hour.

I have never thought of being a teacher.

Nest fest changed my outlook on middle schoolers. It was my job to sit in on their presentation and give them pointers on how to improve their delivery. I was excited because I knew a lot about how to deliver a presentation. I was able to help the students out and they even taught me somethings as well. I believe these students are smart and the idea of teaching them is now a possibility of the future.

I have never thought of being a teacher.

-Matthew Jingle

Reflecting back on the time and effort put into ERH – 411 with my partner Joe this semester, I can recognize growth academically, personally and civically. This class at first was a struggle academically but as I put more effort to better understand the readings and the PBL standards I was able to see how these standards were used not only in our own class through demonstrations but in Mrs. Cosgriff’s fifth grade class. Stepping into Mrs. Cosgriff’s classroom transported me back into time when I was in fifth grade. I forgot how engaging the classrooms are set up to be. Every inch of the classroom was covered with diverse academic material waiting for a student’s curiosity to overtake them. When I was first exploring the options of a potential “Teach Aloud” with Joe, we were speculating about how much leeway to give the fifth graders. Trying to think back to when I was in fifth grade, I didn’t give these students enough credit. Mrs. Cosgriff’s fifth grade class proven to be more engaging and creative than what I first anticipated. This allowed us more creativity with our teach aloud than originally.

As a soon to be 2nd Lt in the Marine Corps, I should be comfortable with speaking in front of others. But when I found myself in front of Mrs. Cosgriff’s classroom for the first time, I was anxious to even introduce myself. As we continued to venture back into the classroom and interact with the students more personally, my initial shyness soon washed away. Sadly, our time with Mrs. Cosgriff’s fifth grade class was cut short because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Completing this semester at home as a senior brought its own challenges. I struggled to stay on top of my schoolwork in this class and others. To find the motivation, especially when I don’t have the fifth graders to keep me accountable was hard.

I am very thankful to be have the opportunity to take this class my senior year at VMI. I fell in love with Rockbridge and found myself searching for ways to connect with the community. For my sophomore and junior year I was able to give back to the community as a firefighter at LFD. But this semester, I was able to learn from these students and have an impact, even a small one, on their educational journey.

Casey Marchant and Aaron Kempf

ERH-411

29 April 2020

HR: Observation notes and Field Journals. VDOE website (links in works referenced)

Classroom Portrait

The Classroom situation we are in is an Honors 9th Grade English class. The teacher is relatively young. The classroom itself is very laid back with an attempt to bring positivity and encouragement all over the room. Additionally, it is focused during class time but it isn’t extremely strict. The learner portrait is a bit more difficult for me to create as we really didn’t get much of any experience with the students other than a very short activity where the only conversation is on what they were learning and what the activity was. We can say that they are in an honors class so it is safer to assume that there is a little bit more motivation internally. As for what we saw, there was a significant amount of engagement and it did not seem like the students were interested in anything other than what was going on in class. From the start of the class to the time that we left everyone was focused and on the ball with the material that was being covered. Moreover, this is even more impressive as this class is the first one of the day and typically it can take a couple hours for the mind to really get going. All of the students seemed relatively competent in the aspects of what they are learning. Motivated, interested, engaged, and competent is the learner’s profile that we are dealing with. This may have something to do with what the teacher brings to the table Mrs. Holton is young and has had only a few years of experience. She is local both in where she was raised and went to her primary education and where she went to college. Being an alumni of James Madison University her life shows that there is a connection to the Shenandoah valley and Rockbridge county. Additionally, her energy and enthusiasm for her profession shows that she has a serious interest in educating the young people in her class. If she is apathetic about the progress of youth in the community then she hides it well.

Once we take a step back from the specific from the class room and look at the school as a whole we can start putting this environment into context. If you look at the statistics provided by the VDOE the SOL pass rate for Rockbridge high school is not bad. For all students out of the tested subject matters two have a 90+ pass rating, Two have in the 80s pass rate, and the lowest, mathematics, has a 77 percent pass rate.  Breaking these testing scores into sub categories based on race, gender, economic status, and English language ability there are some definite patterns. For example Black students perform higher in two categories but slightly lower in the three others. Economically disadvantaged perform lower in all subjects and hispanics and english learners score well below average. Females score higher. Males and whites score average in all subjects. These statistics are indicators that while this school doesn’t do terribly there are certain groups without a doubt need more attention. Finally, the amount of students that accumulated more than 7 unexcused absences in 2018-2019 in the entirety of the Rockbridge county school system numbered 65. These statistics, however, do not seem to affect time graduation rates or dropout rates terribly. This school is only slightly under the state average for on time graduation.  This number is not terrible, however, it is not great. It sets lower in ranking them other school districts but this is the raw number, meaning that it does account for the size of the districts. Unfortunately, we do not have the tools to calculate or find the ratio but judging from the raw truancy count this is only a minor issue for this school system.

Overall, Rockbridge county school and Rockbridge county high school is not bad but it also has some issues. Our judgement from our point of view is that it is a very average school for Virginia. That being said there is far more information that could be looked at to be more accurate but we simply do not have the time or ability to use it. Our classroom, however, was good and certainly can foster some great experiences and set students up for success well especially because it is a 9th grade class and can teach good habits early on.

Word Count: 732

Works Referenced:

http://www.doe.virginia.gov/statistics_reports/sol-pass-rates/index.shtml

http://www.doe.virginia.gov/statistics_reports/graduation_completion/cohort_reports/index.shtml

http://www.doe.virginia.gov/statistics_reports/school_climate/index.shtml

As I look back on this semester in Fieldwork, I can certainly see different instances of academic development through the course of the class. In the first half of the semester, my development was based primarily around the fantastic experience of getting to teach in a classroom. Teaching a lesson in a Fifth-grade classroom opened up areas of development for me especially with regard to the use of rhetorical strategies to captivate the classroom. I found myself reflecting while I was in the classroom on some of my first classes at VMI, in which I learned basic rhetorical strategies. I employed those strategies, unwittingly at first, to aid in keeping the attention and engagement of the class. For example, using the “Think Aloud” method of teaching strengthens the ethos of the teacher by allowing the class to think that they are witnessing authentic invention of ideas. That authenticity engages the class and pushes them to think on their own.

In the second half of the semester, after the transition to remote learning due to the COVID-19 pandemic, I saw another kind of academic development. I struggled to remain on top of the class in an environment in which I was no longer subject to a disciplined schedule or lifestyle. Academics in an unstructured environment were difficult for me, especially because I am used to the structure of VMI and the structure that I had in high school at an all-male military boarding school. However, being forced to maintain a disciplined academic schedule on my own became an enormous developmental experience for me. I realized that this is how most college students and all graduate-level students are compelled to conduct their work. Being able to maintain the discipline of VMI by my own means is a skill that I will have to learn if I am going to pursue education after VMI, which I would like to do.

So, my academic development this semester was both in (a) realizing and implementing knowledge from other classes within the English major at VMI and (b) developing my ability to conduct academic work outside of a regimented lifestyle.

From the Outside:

Rockbridge County, nestled into the breadbasket of the Shenandoah in mid-western Virginia, is the home of a particularly inspired and forward-thinking public educational program. This program is, of course, driven by passionate and informed educators such as Coleen Cosgriff, a fifth-grade teacher at Central Elementary School in Lexington, Virginia. 

Cosgriff, the subject of this article, has the opportunity to teach a very special group of students. The location of Central Elementary School, just within the limits of quiet Lexington, draws an eclectic crowd of students. These students might be called “city kids,” though Lexington is not exactly a bustling metropolis, but these small-town residents commingle in the classrooms with a few students from the rural surrounding areas of Rockbridge. Consequently, the student body presents a mix of students with both rural and urban backgrounds (and resources), a combination found only in such tucked-away havens as the Shenandoah.

From the Inside:

“Project Based Learning” by Suzie Boss, a textbook for the Fieldwork class and an example of Cosgriff’s technique.

Cosgriff approaches this diverse and unique teaching opportunity often by adopting a teaching style known as “project-based learning,” in which the instructor steps back and acts as a facilitator for the students’ owncreative thinking. Cosgriff responded to questions we posed to her in an email, saying, “I hope that when it comes time to plan their project[s] that they have a sense that I am stepping back and becoming a facilitator. I won’t have all the answers, but I will have some “tools” to offer. I will give them some ideas, but each class is going to have to decide what they do with their time.” In this way, somewhat out of the norms of traditional, more dictatorial teaching styles, Cosgriff hopes to unleash creativity and learning potential of each student in order to allow for their unique situations, thoughts, resources, and experiences to come forth into the classroom in a beautiful way.

A snapshot of the classroom depicting the class pet, a bearded dragon

This form of project-based learning is becoming more relevant in the thought surrounding education in the United States today. Coleen Cosgriff is leading the charge into a “hands-off” teaching style which may very well become the prevalent method of 21st century educators, all from her quiet station in Shenandoah.

Through the classroom visits, teach-in development and expeditionary learning experience as a whole, I learned a lot about the difficulties of teaching and communicating academic material that may seem a bit complex to younger students. In addition to academic and personal lessons, I gained a better understanding of my purpose and impact on the greater community, with the students, through health.

Through my initial visits, I witnessed the short attention span of the kids and their lack of attention to the main purpose of their homeroom, which is to get work done. However, towards the end of my first visit, the students were given the chance to ask my partner and I questions about any topic they wanted. Through those exchanges, I witnessed two things, kids who enjoyed physical activities but also individuals who seemed to be fairly overweight. I concluded that the only explanation for their negative health attribute must be a poor diet. Nutrition is something that I have become very passionate about due to my own experiences with being overweight as a kid. And so I ventured into trying to explain to these kids, through my teach in, the health lessons I slowly figured out for myself. The main point I wanted to get across was to always critically thinking about your food choices, or as I like to call it your fuel, and that different fueled effects different individuals differently! That is a confusing topic and one that not many individuals want to come to terms with, however, I believe it to be one of the most important realization in my own health journey.

I also gained a better understanding of my own limitations through this expeditionary learning experience. Even though I already understood the difficulties of communication, I figured out even more so that trying to convey a message, or lesson, to young students who are not familiar with the concepts is quite difficult. Also, trying to teach a complex health philosophy from a remote location is even more difficult. Specifically, it took me a couple drafts and revision with my teach-in in order to formulate my points in a way that young students should hopefully understand while also being entertaining.

Lastly, in addition to simply offering students’ new knowledge and different perspectives, I wanted to offer students these health perspectives to enable them to influence their environment, both within the classroom and in the greater Rockbridge Community. Through the knowledge and perspectives that I provide, hopefully, each student would take what they acquired into their communities and be a positive source of change. And if they don’t fully comprehend the points I tried to get across, then I hopefully planted a seed to be foster by someone, or some other experience, later in their lives. Correspondingly, I saw my influence in the community and the school environment as attempting to encourage or normalize conversations about nutrition, health issues and different health philosophies. I believe teachers and community leaders typically shy away from discussing these issues, like childhood obesity, due to the fragile self-esteem of young people, especially when the young individual is overweight. However, I believe that we should make nutrient and a healthy lifestyle a daily and common topic of discussion in the classroom to both motivate and educate students constantly on issues that affect them for a lifetime.