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Hi! My name is Darby Studer and I'm an aspiring ELA teaching candidate here at The Ohio State University. I'm currently finishing up my third year here, and when I graduate will be certified grades 7-12. However, I'm hoping to teach high school. So far, I've had field placements in elementary, middle, and high school, but high school is still my favorite. My favorite part of teaching so far has been getting to build relationships not only with students but with more experienced teachers as well! Outside of teaching, I love to read and watch movies!

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"Thank You Ma'am" Worksheets Studer 2024-2

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"All Summer in a Day" LP Studer 2024.docx-2

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The teacher I aspire to be is clear and confident. Throughout a majority of my schooling career, I have always been very afraid of speaking out in class or even offering my two cents on material that we are exploring in various classes. In my teaching career, I want to move away from this and be able to teach material in a confident way. In my experience (both in the field and personally), the teachers that were confident in their teaching and carried themselves in a way that showed their students they were confident and knew what they were doing brought about more engagement in every aspect of their classroom. The section from our textbook ("Management in the Active Classroom") that I referenced the most when developing this cornerstone was specifically pages 63-85. The quote that stuck out to me the most from this section was found on page 78. This quote discusses the importance of giving effective instructions and how it's crucial for student understanding. It reads, "Effective instructions are crisp and clear - including nothing beyond what they absolutely must - so that students can follow them with accuracy and focus" (pg. 78). This is also an idea that I developed from class as well and my goal is to be able to be clear in my instruction to limit student confusion and frustration!

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The teacher I aspire to be authentic. Authenticity is something that I found myself drawn to when I was a student during my formative years in school. I believe that when a teacher is putting on a persona or acting a certain way in front of their students, they are able to pick up on it almost immediately which could lead to not as much engagement. In my experience (both in the field and personally), the teachers who were not fully themselves with their students were met with less engagement and had more issues in their classrooms. By being my authentic self with my students, I hope to avoid this issue. The text that I referred to the most when choosing this cornerstone was from Chapter 1 of "Textured Teaching". This section of text is discussing the value of Social Justice teaching and the quote I selected speaks to the authenticity of the practice of teaching in general (especially with things such as social justice). The quote reads, "However, what I teach is because of who I am as a person and the way I teach a lesson is always tailored to who is sitting in front of me" (pg. 5). This is one of the main things that I used to develop this cornerstone of my philosophy and something that I hope I won't have to tailor in years to come.

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The teacher I aspire to be is well planned. This semester, I was really able to get a different view of just how much goes into planning of lessons, units, various worksheets, and other material for the classroom. Planning was always the one thing that I was nervous to begin when making the decision that I wanted to pursue teaching as a career. After this semester though, I feel very confident in my ability to plan and do it well! Coming to class well planned is an amazing way to set yourself up for success before the school day even begins. In my experience in the field, the teachers who I observed that took the time to create a plan for themselves seemed to be the most successful with being able to finish the school day on a good note and have the best relationship with their students. On a personal level, I also gravitated more towards the teachers that were organized in their plans and how they delivered the lessons. I believe that when a teacher comes to class unprepared, it sets a frantic and disorganized tone for students. The text that I referenced when developing this cornerstone was an article written by Tomlinson and McTighe titled, "What Really Matters In Learning (Content)". The quote that stuck out to me the most in this article states, "If we want students to explore essential questions and come to understand important ideas contained in content standards, then we'll need to plan accordingly" (pg. 27). This entire article discussed the often overwhelming nature of standards that we have to meet and made me feel not so alone in my worries about planning. However, this quote just solidified the urgent need for good planning practices. With the new things I know understand about planning and learning what works best for me, this cornerstone of my teaching philosophy will be one that is easy to achieve!

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This semester, I was placed into an 8th grade classroom in a middle school in the Columbus City Schools school district. I observed the classroom that I was in on Thursdays throughout the Spring semester. Throughout my placement, I was able to observe students of all levels. Throughout my mentor teacher's school day she had a very diverse group of students academically. It was very interesting to see how these different groups responded to each lesson throughout the day. Along with observing my mentor's classes, I was also able to sit in on some big team meetings (for all of the 8th grade team) and was also able to observe a meeting that had to be done with a parent of a student that was having some behavioral and academic issues. The connections that I was able to draw most often from our course material to how my mentor conducted her classroom were found in the form of mainly the gradual release method. Most of the time during instruction, my mentor would practice the "I do", "We do", "You do" method in order to help her students grasp important concepts. This was something that I foresee myself incorporating into my future classroom as it's a great way to gauge student understanding throughout the actual lesson rather than waiting to see understanding with the use of formative and summative assessments. Another connection that I found myself making throughout my time at this placement was the utilization of small groups (which we often did in our class) and the use of repeating back directions. Repeating back directions after they're given is also something that I see myself doing in my future classroom. This practice is something that proved to be very helpful in our classroom and my mentor's classroom as well! This placement left me with a lot of material and resources given by my mentor teacher and I'm very thankful to have had this field experience.