WGU-D661 - Task 1: Engaging Students in a Teaching Simulation
Rebecca MacCay
WGU-D661
Task 1: Engagement Strategies and Community of Care
A. During the simulation, I was immediately welcomed by the students. Ethan pointed out a
decoration behind me and asked if I was having a party. I tried to respond to him in a fun
tone to show the students that I have a laid back, outgoing personality. Jasmine spoke
up mentioning she liked the colors. I used that opportunity to ask the students if they
liked bright colors, to see if a classroom with bright colors was a good choice based on
their preferences. I then chose to redirect the conversation to the novel in order to get
the students started with class. I started by asking the students who could give me the
title of the novel and the author. I then quizzed their knowledge by asking what was the
author’s purpose in a story to see if they could recall the difference between an author
and an illustrator. As a new teacher, I wanted to be sure they knew this information.
As we started discussing the novel, I chose to ask specific students questions. I
wanted to be sure that each student answered a question so that I could get an insight
into their personality and behavior. I was able to tell right away that Jasmine and Ethan
would be my more chatty friends, with Ava not far behind. Dev and Savannah remained
very quiet the entire discussion unless their name was called on. My first negative
behavior occurred when I asked Ava about the sisters in the story. As she was talking,
she went on to say that she could relate to Jo because she felt like Jo was a natural born
leader. Ethan spoke up and made a rude comment about Ava not being humble. I
explained to Ethan that when we were with our peers, we needed to be mindful of what
we are saying in order not to upset other people’s feelings. He went on to say he was
joking and I explained I knew, but based off of Ava’s reaction, it didn’t feel like joking to
her. He said okay and we were able to continue. My next conflict was not until I was
asking Savannah about the story and Ava spoke up, essentially accusing Savannah of
not being prepared. I could almost sense Savannah’s panic. I reacted, too quickly, and
told Ava that assuming someone didn’t do their assignment based off of their response
was uncalled for and to let the teacher decide those situations. I could see that my
response did not sit well with Ava. Nonetheless, the class continued and we were able to
get through the discussion with no other conflicts.
B. One of my weaknesses that I noticed, as well as my report by Mursion, is that I need to
work on my SOAR method. I think that when Ava made the comment about Savannah, I
almost wanted to protect Savannah. I knew that Savannah had a very shy and reserved
personality from our interaction and I worried Ava would walk all over her. I corrected
Ava in front of the group and I could tell based off of her body language afterwards, that I
had upset her. I should have handled that differently. I think had I told Savannah that she
could have a minute to get her thoughts together, and then go back to her, the conflict
could have been avoided. I feel as if something should have been said to Ava but not in
the manner that I handled it. That is something I need to be more mindful of, not only as
I go throughout my education classes, but also when I become a teacher as well. I do
WGU-D661 - Task 1: Engaging Students in a Teaching Simulation
Rebecca MacCay
WGU-D661
Task 1: Engagement Strategies and Community of Care
A. During the simulation, I was immediately welcomed by the students. Ethan pointed out a
decoration behind me and asked if I was having a party. I tried to respond to him in a fun
tone to show the students that I have a laid back, outgoing personality. Jasmine spoke
up mentioning she liked the colors. I used that opportunity to ask the students if they
liked bright colors, to see if a classroom with bright colors was a good choice based on
their preferences. I then chose to redirect the conversation to the novel in order to get
the students started with class. I started by asking the students who could give me the
title of the novel and the author. I then quizzed their knowledge by asking what was the
author’s purpose in a story to see if they could recall the difference between an author
and an illustrator. As a new teacher, I wanted to be sure they knew this information.
As we started discussing the novel, I chose to ask specific students questions. I
wanted to be sure that each student answered a question so that I could get an insight
into their personality and behavior. I was able to tell right away that Jasmine and Ethan
would be my more chatty friends, with Ava not far behind. Dev and Savannah remained
very quiet the entire discussion unless their name was called on. My first negative
behavior occurred when I asked Ava about the sisters in the story. As she was talking,
she went on to say that she could relate to Jo because she felt like Jo was a natural born
leader. Ethan spoke up and made a rude comment about Ava not being humble. I
explained to Ethan that when we were with our peers, we needed to be mindful of what
we are saying in order not to upset other people’s feelings. He went on to say he was
joking and I explained I knew, but based off of Ava’s reaction, it didn’t feel like joking to
her. He said okay and we were able to continue. My next conflict was not until I was
asking Savannah about the story and Ava spoke up, essentially accusing Savannah of
not being prepared. I could almost sense Savannah’s panic. I reacted, too quickly, and
told Ava that assuming someone didn’t do their assignment based off of their response
was uncalled for and to let the teacher decide those situations. I could see that my
response did not sit well with Ava. Nonetheless, the class continued and we were able to
get through the discussion with no other conflicts.
B. One of my weaknesses that I noticed, as well as my report by Mursion, is that I need to
work on my SOAR method. I think that when Ava made the comment about Savannah, I
almost wanted to protect Savannah. I knew that Savannah had a very shy and reserved
personality from our interaction and I worried Ava would walk all over her. I corrected
Ava in front of the group and I could tell based off of her body language afterwards, that I
had upset her. I should have handled that differently. I think had I told Savannah that she
could have a minute to get her thoughts together, and then go back to her, the conflict
could have been avoided. I feel as if something should have been said to Ava but not in
the manner that I handled it. That is something I need to be more mindful of, not only as
I go throughout my education classes, but also when I become a teacher as well. I do
WGU-D661 - Task 1: Engaging Students in a Teaching Simulation
