Nicole Sparbanie
Teaching Portfolio
Field Placements
Holland East Middle School |Spring '14
Language Arts|Seventh Grade
This placement was in a 7th grade Language Arts class. The school- Holland East- is mostly Hispanic students, and most students are from working class families. These demographics were reflected in both the classes I worked with.
I learned how to grade fairly, I learned the importance of remembering that students are all dealing with so much more than the challenges in my classroom. Their lives are much more that the 45 minutes I see them everyday. I also learned about assigning meaningful work in order to make education worthwhile, and also for classroom management purposes.
Physical Education |Lifetime Fitness
This class was a group of mostly sophomores with a few juniors and seniors sprinkled in. There were also seven international students, which posed a unique challenge. We had to pay extra attention to make sure they understood the instructions, and we had to be intentional about including visual cues in class.
One student in the class had an anxiety disorder, so it was important to keep him in mind while planning. I learned a lot about differentiation in PE through modifying activities to make him feel more comfortable and capable.
My mentor teacher let me “substitute” teach for her for two full days during the semester, and she let me write and teach two whole units. I learned a ton from these students and from my mentor teacher. It was a semester full of meaningful learning opportunities, and I left it a far more confident teacher.
Holland Christian High School |Fall '13
"The program helps students succeed in broad academic endeavors and break out of the cycle of low educational attainment and poverty."
- CASA Program Description
CASA |Spring '12
Children's After School Achivement|Tutoring
CASA is a program at Hope College in which at-risk elementary school students recieve one-on-one tutoring twice a week for two hours for the entire semester. I tutored a 5th grade student. During our semester together, his reading level improved dramatically, and we developed a strong relationship based on mutual respect.