Kevin Curtis

5/22/10
Capstone Experience Assessment
NPT NJ Module 2
Mr. G. Powell

Introductory Statement: I am teaching in a maternity leave position in Glen Gardner, NJ. The
content areas that I teach are AP Environmental Science (APES), College Prep Biology (CP Bio)
and Core Biology. I teach 11
th
grade Biology and 12
th
grade AP Environmental Science. In my
Core Biology class, I have 10 students and one home schooled student, in CP Bio I have 16
students and in APES I have 66 students in three sections. I teach at the Voorhees-North
Hunterdon School District which is a rural school district.
Situation 1: For the first time ever in my working career, I experienced a bomb scare. It took
place this past March, on a rainy Monday morning. The event began with an unscheduled fire
alarm, where we were evacuated from the building. This was because somebody had burned
butter in a Foods class. We went back inside once the administration stated it was safe, but then
an hour later, we were advised to evacuate the building again. This time, we were directed to go
to the bleachers due to a bomb threat. We remained outdoors in the rain for several hours, while
the building was being secured by police and bomb dogs from several surrounding counties and
buses were assembled to take students home. Tuesday of that week, we were evacuated again
for several hours, while the building was cleared and kids were taken home. Finally, on
Wednesday, we were put into passive lock down because M80s were found on campus. No one
was allowed to leave their classroom for about two hours. At the end of the lock down, the
school was evacuated again and the students were filed through the gym to deposit their
backpacks and belongings in a long straight line in the gym area, so that search dogs could check
for explosives more easily. One student was finally taken away in hand-cuffs. We were
evacuated to the bleachers and kids were once again taken home by bus. Throughout the three
day ordeal, the kids were expressing intense and varied emotions from anger and curiosity, to
feelings of fear for their safety, as were my colleagues.
Intervention: I followed district protocols with professionalism and a sense that everything was
under control and being taken care of. I tried to prevent students from wondering around, texting
and talking on their cell phones to decrease the confusion, hysteria and dissemination of
misinformation to the public, as well as help my coworkers process the situation by trying to
explain the reasoning behind the measure being taken for everyones safety.
How could you have handled it differently? Did NPTNJ help your thinking and provide
suggestions for handling this issue? Was there more in the way of instruction that would
have prepared you for this issue?
Due to the nature of the situation, there was very little I could have done differently based on
district policies. In this case, the NPTNJ program did not help my thinking or provide
suggestions for this issue because district policies are different depending on where you are
teaching. I do feel however, that covering this topic with future teachers in your program could
benefit them tremendously. In situations like this, it is very important to understand the nature of
a bomb threat and behaviors that can negatively impact the situation such as spreading fear and
unfounded rumors, which interferes with police investigation, as well as causes widespread panic
in the community. Proper etiquette for staff and faculty is another important topic to be
discussed, as one of my coworkers felt that the administration was treating students like
prisoners by searching their backpacks and detaining them rather than seeing those measures as
safety precautions for the students, as well as herself. I think it would be extremely beneficial to
add such a topic to the NPTNJ curriculum.
Situation 2: A fellow first year AP Environmental Science teacher, on several occasions
throughout the year, has confronted me with issues concerning the way I run my AP
Environmental Science classroom. Her students have come to her complaining that the way I do
things in my classroom is different from hers. She has also stated that we should be doing all
assignments the same way and I should not be modifying the assignments to suit the needs of my
students or my own.
Intervention: how did you handle it?
In the beginning of the year, my students complained to me, as well about the differences in our
teaching styles. My response to them was that they are in my class and if they wanted to transfer
to another class, they were free to do so. This conversation settled the situation between my
students and I and they never complained again, nor did any of them transfer out of my class. I
have requested on several occasions that she tell her students that they are in her class and not
mine and that the way I conduct my classroom is my business, but she refused. Instead, she
chose to continue to push that we should be doing the same things in all AP Environmental
Science courses. I have since given up trying to reason with this teacher and as a result, have
become increasing frustrated with the situation. Therefore, I went to our supervisor and
questioned him on how I should handle the situation. His advice was that I should forward her
and her complaints to him instead of trying to deal with her or address them on my own.
How could you have handled it differently? Did NPTNJ help your thinking and provide
suggestions for handling this issue? Was there more in the way of instruction that would
have prepared you for this issue?
Initially, when the teacher first approached me about her concerns, I would accommodate her
because I was hired for a maternity leave position and did not want to make waves. Since I
will not be rehired for the upcoming school year and am not concerned about making waves any
longer, as well as due to the growing frustration Ive been experiencing, I have begun to conduct
my classroom as I would have liked to in the beginning of the year. I am doing this of course,
with my supervisors support. In the future, I would make it clear that if I am teaching the same
course as another teacher, how I do things in my classroom is for the benefit of my students and I
do not need to justify my actions to anyone but my supervisor.
Though the NPTNJ program does not cover coworker interactions or office politics, I have
learned going forward, that I should bring my concerns to my supervisor sooner and that I have a
right to run my classroom in a way that works for my students and myself, as long as I am
covering the core content standards and everything in the curriculum. I do think that it is
important to maintain good working relationships with fellow teachers, but that it is equally
important to understand boundaries between teachers and that adding this topic to the NPTNJ
curriculum might be very helpful.
Situation 3: Several months ago, one of my AP Environmental Science students was taking a
make-up quiz in the Science Resource Center. I was personally available that day and was able
to oversee the student taking the quiz. This quiz was not significantly different from the one that
I had given earlier in the week to the rest of the APES students. Students are allowed to have a
4x6 note card on the day of the quiz to reference. Students are to prepare the note cards from
class notes and text book references. On this occasion, I observed this particular student using
the note card, but found that it had the exact letter answers to the multiple choice questions on it
rather than notes.
Intervention: Once I was aware of the situation, I advised the student to stop taking the quiz
and give me the note card along with the quiz, I questioned the student about the contents of the
note card. The student stated that he got the answers from another student who took the quiz
early in the week. I advised my student that he would now lose credit for the quiz and have to
serve a teacher detention as a penalty for cheating. During the detention, I requested that the
student write an essay in the following format:
Paragraph 1 - Introduce the paper
Paragraph 2 - Why are you here for detention?
Paragraph 3 - What your consequences are and why they are fair?
Paragraph 4 - What would you have done in my place?
Paragraph 5 Conclusion
*Note: A paragraph is at least five sentences long. If this essay is not satisfactory according to
me, you will return until it is satisfactory.
How could you have handled it differently? Did NPTNJ help your thinking and provide
suggestions for handling this issue? Was there more in the way of instruction that would
have prepared you for this issue.
Looking back in hindsight, I realize now that the make-up quiz should have been made
significantly different from the original quiz that I used earlier that week and that I had made the
mistake of grading the original quizzes and giving them back to my students before all make-ups
were done.
It was because of my discussion in class with the NPTNJ instructor, that I was able to come to
those realizations and since then, I have created new and vastly different make-up quizzes and
make-up tests, as well. Since applying the instructors advice, I have not had another experience
of cheating from my students, which I am very pleased with. I feel that instructors advice on the
matter truly did minimize the risk of cheating in my class and increased the validity of the
quizzes and tests that I give. I do not feel that any further instruction above and beyond what the
instructor gave is needed.



























Kevin Curtis
5/22/10
Reflective Journal
NPT NJ Module 2
Mr. G. Powell

Entry 4 Settling my students down to begin class
Its not always easy to get the students, during the year, to walk in and get working, but I
am finding it especially difficult now that the school year is about to end. The kids feel that they
are over-worked, over-tired and ready for the summer. Because I have not been rehired for the
upcoming school year at Voorhees, I too am having trouble staying motivated to work and be
focused on the lesson plans. Nevertheless, I do my job and try my best to make it interesting and
engaging. Humor goes along way right now.
Often times when the kids enter the room, they are loud, gossipy and laughing with their
friends. First I will attempt to refocus their attention on learning the lesson of the day. If my
refocusing attempts fail I will just stand there with my arms folded, waiting until they notice that
they need to be quiet so I can start the lesson. Inevitably, the other students re-orient their peers
to pay attention. Though effective, I find that this tactic takes the longest to gain control of my
students. In other instances where it seems like the class as a whole is intent on doing anything
but work, to keep them on task, I am required to be much more diligent in my efforts. I do this
by giving them a choice. Either you can choose to engage in the activity/lesson that has been
planned or you can earn a zero for the day. Students usually choose to do the activity/lesson that
has been planned.
In retrospect, I believe that had I been more structured in the beginning of the year with
my students, it would have made it easier on me now to motivate them to get started sooner.
Since this is my first time teaching at the High School level, I guess I was unsure of how much
structure or many rules I would need to elicit the behavior I wanted. I have learned a lot this
year through trial and error and now understand what classroom rules work for me and which
ones do not. I also have learned what consequences work best for a high school student when
trying to refocus their attention as opposed to what worked in the middle school that I taught at
back in Arizona.

Entry 5 Balancing Family Life with Work
Its been a year since Ive been back in New Jersey from Arizona. When I look back
over the past 12 months, I am amazed at the events that have taken place in my life and my
ability to cope with the many stresses that come with teaching at the high school level for the
first time, my living arrangements, taking care of my two year old daughter, commuting three
hours a day and coping with a close family members passing. Somehow, Ive managed to handle
it with dignity, grace and courage and come through it all exhausted, but relatively unscaved.
I dont regret the move from the Pharmaceutical or Biotechnology field to teaching at all.
Working in those industries had its own stressors, as well, by way of multi-million dollar
contracts that I was responsible for, office politics, midnight alarms that needed to be tended to
and management of staff. Even though I wasnt a father at the time, I was still getting as little
sleep as I am now. But being a dad and working has added an all time new level of stress and
joy to the matrix that is my life. Its been a delicate balancing act to be able to spend time with
my wife, play with my daughter, go to school and work two jobs.
What I have learned is that working fulltime one and a half hours away from home,
working a part time job and going to school part time is too much. Even though I can do it, I feel
that I have spread myself too thin. I do not have enough time to do all of the things that I need to
do at home because I am spending most of my time preparing for classes, grading or doing
homework for school. Going forward, I will look for work nearer to where I am living or I will
move closer to where I work. I will also not try to work two jobs, while I am going to school.
As important as it is to earn a paycheck and enjoy doing what you are doing, it is also
equally, if not more important, to be present and available for your family. I remember when my
wife and I decided to move back to New Jersey separately. She would move back with our
daughter before me so that she could get help with the babys care as well as her own and I
would remain in Arizona for six more months to finish out my teaching contract. This one of the
most difficult times in my life and one of the hardest decisions I have ever been faced with
making. When I realized that though we are all together again, my current schedule was
beginning to make me feel like we were 3,000 miles apart again, I quickly saw that even though
money is important, it is spending time with my family that is the most important thing in my
life.

Entry 6 Community College Teaching vs. K-12
When I first made the move to teaching, I was living out in Arizona and working in the
Mohave County School District teaching 8
th
graders Chemistry, Physics and Biology. A year
later, I began working as a full time faculty member at Mohave Community College teaching
Microbiology, Anatomy & Physiology and Biology Concepts.
After relocating to New Jersey for numerous personal reasons, but mainly due to the birth
of my daughter and my wifes medical conditions, I obtained employment at Voorhees High
School in Glen Gardner, New Jersey teaching three sections of AP Environmental Science, one
section of CP Biology and one section of Core Biology. I also gained employment for the
spring semester at County College of Morris as an adjunct professor teaching an A&P II Lab. Of
all the different levels of teaching I have been exposed to, the one I feel suits me most is teaching
at the High School level, with Community College teaching at a close second.
The students that I have had at the high school level have been very courteous,
inquisitive, eager to learn and compliant. The students at the college level at CCM have wanted
all of the information hand fed to them and they were unwilling to take the initiative to learn the
materials. All they wanted to know was what questions exactly would be on the exams and to
just forget about everything else.
I expect that at the college level students are there because they have a desire to learn and
advance their careers or change careers. I found it offensive that the students did not care about
the subject that they had signed up for and only wanted to know what they should study to get an
A in the class. I was teaching an Anatomy & Physiology II Lab for nursing students when it
occured to me that as a nursing student, I would want to know everything I could about the
human body because I would at some point in the future, be working in or with a human being
either in surgery or in a doctors office.
The students that I have been exposed to at the high school level were much better
students than those that I have encountered at the college level, which feels counter intuitive.
Perhaps, I expect that a paying student would have much more invested in their education than
those that are given their education for free. So I was surprised by what I witnessed in the
classroom and it has helped me to truly narrow down what kind of teacher I want to be and to
what grade level of student. If I based it on alone which grade level was more humorous and fun
to work with, High School teaching would win, hands down.