The end is nigh. This eight-year long journey to become a certified teacher is drawing to a close. I can feel it in my bones.
This post discusses recent progress towards certification.
Courses Finished
Over the last six weeks I have finished one course completely. I have also essentially completed two courses, although I’m playing the waiting game for the credit to follow through.
Teacher Performance Assessment
The class that I completely finished is Teacher Performance Assessment in English – C853.
This class was a surprisingly time-consuming class, considering that it is only worth one credit.
The class consisted of a sequence of assignments where the prospective teacher creates a unit of study for students and discusses with the university each step of the process.
I really enjoyed how it helped me assemble and put into action a first few basic steps in creating data visualizations for my students’ growth. I also enjoyed how the class helped me think about how I can structure my process of gathering data.
Cohort Seminar
The first class that is essentially finished, but not entirely; is Cohort Seminar – C339.
There was only one actual task that I had to do for this class. I took a self-guided assessment that asked about how I feel about my growth in certain areas as a teacher.
After taking the assessment, I wrote a reflective essay about how I’m doing and what I can do going forward.
Outside of that task, the only other requirement is to show up each Monday night for an online seminar series. There are some readings that we are asked to read before the seminar, so that we are prepared for discussion.
About thirty or forty other prospective teachers across the nation come together at the same time. We listen as a presenter discusses various aspects about how to be effective in our teaching roles.
I have two more scheduled seminar evenings to go before this class will be complete.
Student Teaching I
There are two Student Teaching courses, parts I and II.
A Brief Explanation of Student Teaching
Each of these two courses are essentially the same.
The prospective teacher teaches in front of a live classroom; in three one-hour lessons, the university records the teacher for later analysis and feedback.
While teaching, a mentor teacher (a teacher with many years of experience) is also present in the classroom taking notes for feedback.
At the end of each course’s sequence of three lessons, there is an evaluation meeting where the prospective teacher, a university-appointed evaluator, and the mentor teacher gather.
At this meeting, the prospective teacher receives feedback that the teacher is expected to incorporate as a part of their growth process.
My Completion of Student Teaching I
At the end of January, I completed the first of these two courses, Student Teaching I in Secondary Education – D534.
Since I was already employed as a teacher-of-record, the process of finding and establishing a classroom where I could perform this task was logistically simple on my end.
My mentor teacher has been, and continues to be, an invaluable resource. She has kindly provided detailed analyses of my lessons, complete with a step-by-step breakdown of how my lesson proceeded and suggestions for how I can improve.
My university-appointed evaluator has also been — and continues to be — extremely helpful. She has given me explicit feedback that has helped me to understand what is expected of me as a teacher and how I can set myself on a long-term path for success.
Following Through on Evaluation Feedback
One of the observations that my evaluators made is that my initial approach to teaching students could use a bit more freedom.
My evaluator made her observation by asking me a question during our Student Teaching I final evaluation.
“Do you consider yourself to be the type of teacher who has time to let your personality through?” she asked, “Or do you find that you tend to be the type of teacher who is more, ‘Go. Go. Go.’?”
As soon as she said it, I knew what she was talking about. I do tend to start my initial approaches when learning new task by a stricter reliance on procedure. Perhaps that comes from my years in my youth of studying classical music.
We discussed loosening up a bit and she encouraged me to try to find what I might uniquely bring to the table, beyond what the curriculum provides.
Bringing Tabletop Role-Playing Games to the Classroom
As a result, I tried coming up with an activity for my students, tabletop role-playing gaming (TTRPGs).
Over the last week, outside of our time spent studying grammar and vocabulary, the students and I have learned together how to play Dungeons and Dragons (arguably the most common TTRPG on the market).
I have no previous experience with this, but I’ve wanted to learn more about how to play TTRPGs for years. (Thankfully, it just so happened that my mentor teacher has played DnD enough to be able to help point me in the right direction.)
Learning How to Play
Figuring out how to integrate DnD into the classroom in a productive manner was a bit of a challenge.
We spent some time in class learning together how to play.
A little bit of this time (about two-thirds of one class period) was spent watching select portions of the first four videos of Matthew Colville’s YouTube playlist, “Running the Game.”
For another two half-of-class sessions, we just mucked about, trying to figure out who did what and how this was all going to work.
A Pattern of DnD Integration
At this time, the pattern of integration we have adopted is as follows.
On certain days, we spend a portion of the class period playing the game. Some students have volunteered to take on the role of being a “Game Master” (GM). In Dungeon and Dragon terms, this role is often referred to as a “Dungeon Master” (DM).
The students who are playing under the GM’s leadership get to come up with their own characters with which we will play the game.
We do use the pre-generated character stats, races, and classes that Matthew mentions in his YouTube series.
Students love to create their own characters. They will write creative bios, draw pictures of their characters, and work out histories.
After running the game for about thirty-minutes, we then spend time writing in our TTRPG Journals on Google Docs.
Students have the choice to either write as themselves, and the task is to tell the story of writing about their experience learning to play this game as a class.
Alternatively, if the prefer, they are also welcome to write in-character and relate what their character experienced during the game.
These journal entries then become the basis for our grammar lessons. On Monday, we will be working to strengthen our adjectives in our journal writing, as a part of the district-assigned grammar lesson.
I’m grateful that my mentor and evaluator have encouraged me to look for ways to connect with the students outside of the script.
Concluding Thoughts on Student Teaching I
All in all, I had a great experience with the first Student Teaching course. My evaluator and mentor have provided helpful feedback, and as I’m listening to their advice, I find that my classroom experience seems to improve.
While this course is complete, I don’t receive credit for it until I complete Student Teaching II.
Currently In Progress
Student Teaching II
My efforts are now focused on the second of the two courses, Student Teaching II in Secondary Education – D536.
This course is essentially the same as the first half. There are three events where I am observed, and after the last event there is a final evaluation.
The last of my three observations takes place on Monday, and my final evaluation takes place shortly thereafter.
Professional Portfolio
Another in-progress course is Professional Portfolio – C347. In this class, I am creating my first teaching portfolio.
I’ve done a little bit of work on this, as I wrote my first Teaching Philosophy essay as a part of the district-run evaluations that are required for my employment.
Alaska Multicultural Studies
This last course is not under the Western Governor’s University umbrella. Rather, it is a University of Alaska – Fairbanks course that fulfills a requirement set by my home state of Alaska.
I’ve completed about three-eighths of this course. Once I’m finished with my WGU tasks, I expect to press to finish this in short time.
Expectations for the End
My final observation and evaluation take place this coming week, and my Cohort Seminar attendance is on auto-pilot for another two more Mondays.
After that, all that remains for WGU is to create a portfolio. I’ll have about a month to finish this task, and after that, I think … dare I say … I’m done?
Jinx? Knock on Wood?
If I understand correctly, I believe my student teaching technically ends on April 4th, 2025. The idea is that for a normal prospective teacher, after the last observation and evaluation, there is a period of time where the prospective teacher turns the reigns back to the regular teacher.
In my case, since I’m an employed teacher-of-record, this period of time is irrelevant. I will continue being in charge of the classroom until school ends on May 23rd.
Regardless, somewhere around April 4th, I think I will finally have that teaching Master’s Degree that I first dreamed of achieving back as early as 2016 or further. Exciting!
What Comes Next?
Wondering what will come next? So am I!
Progress Table
Here is a table that shows my progress in my WGU courses.
To see a complete and update-to-date collection of progress tables, go to my projects page for certification.
WGU Night Courses
| Course Name | Credits | Completed |
| Orientation | 0 | ✔ |
| Foundations of Education | 2 | ✔ |
| Educational Psychology and Human Development of Children and Adolescents | 4 | ✔ |
| Schools as Communities of Care | 2 | ✔ |
| Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment | 2 | ✔ |
| Assessing Student Learning | 2 | ✔ |
| Essential Practices for Supporting Diverse Learners | 3 | ✔ |
| Creating and Managing Engaging Learning Environments | 2 | ✔ |
| Using Educational Technology for Teaching and Learning | 2 | ✔ |
| Secondary Reading Instruction and Interventions | 2 | ✔ |
| Secondary Disciplinary Literacy | 2 | ✔ |
| English Pedagogy | 3 | ✔ |
| Professional Portfolio | 1 | (In progress) |
| Cohort Seminar | 1 | (In progress) |
On-the-job Coursework
| Course Name | Credits | Completed |
| Preclinical Experiences in English | 2 | ✔ |
| Student Teaching I in Secondary Education | 4 | ✔ |
| Student Teaching II in Secondary Education | 4 | (In Progress) |
| Teacher Performance Assessment in English | 1 | ✔ |
State-Required Coursework
| Course | Credits | Completed |
| Alaska Studies Coursework | 3 | |
| Alaska Multicultural Coursework | 3 | (In progress) |
After Notes
Artificial Intelligence Transparency Report
I did not use artificial intelligence during the creation of this blog post.
How You Can Help
If any of this is ever going to work, I will need outside support.
Here is a link to a blog post that describes how a supportive reader can help me in my quest.
In short, you can…
- Like, comment and share
- Buy a copy of my children’s novella, Westly: A Spider’s Tale
- Help me connect with part-time and contract work