My first visit to Booker T. Washington HS was a bit overwhelming as it took me awhile to actually find the entrance of the school. I was unnecessarily wary of the unfamiliar area off of the Culmer Metro-rail stop because of other people's warnings. It made me consider what other misconceptions I may have been carrying with me as I ventured in to meet my clinical teacher Ms. Smathers-West. Upon entering the classroom I was impressed by its grand scale. Actually the classroom was so big it felt like there was a lot of dead space between the island of desk groupings in the center of the room and the computers that flanked both long walls. Ms. Smathers-West was so inviting and open; she shared background information and showed me her planning book, I'd never felt so comfortable on a previous field experience! But this may also have been because it was finally my preferred teaching environment of a high school. This field experience was really important to me because I wanted to know what an urban high school environment was like so that I could gauge my emotional preparedness. Mrs. Smathers-West was teaching her Dual Enrollment English IV class and they were doing 2nd draft conferences for their informative essays. While she held conferences the other students wrote a 30 minute response essay on a surprise-reversal piece with multi-tiered questions. I left my visit really excited to return and observe a seasoned teacher doing exactly what I hope to be doing next year.
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