Introduction

“I believe these thoughts to be true: every child deserves an education, an education free from hurtful or harmful verbal and nonverbal actions, that great teachers are capable of teaching every child, that learning is a life long process, and teachers do not know everything nor do they have to or should be expected to.” - Emily Burdick 

                 Emily Burdick is a senior at Wheelock College. She is currently president of the Honors Program and vice president of Pi Gamma Mu. During her time at Wheelock, Emily was a peer tutor, a participant in the Rising Stars program, an admissions ambassador, a Jumpstart corp member, and volunteered for various community service projects. Emily also works as a substitute teacher in her hometown, Springfield, Massachusetts and has worked for a summer camp her past three summers in New Haven, Connecticut. She did her pre practicum student teaching in a fourth grade classroom at the Heath School in Brookline, MA and her practicum student teaching in a third grade classroom at the Manning School in Jamaica Plains, Boston, MA. Emily has valued her time at Wheelock College and  appreciates her new found ability to advocate for each and every child. Emily also appreciates the many peers and colleagues she met at Wheelock who inspired her and helped her develop more as a citizen of this global community. Emily enjoys traveling and hopes to teach in her country of birth, Ethiopia, one day. 
  

Standard 1 - Advocacy for Social Justice

Standard 1 Advocacy for Social Justice

Educators who embrace a social justice perspective are attentive to inequalities associated with race, social class, gender, language, and other social categories. They consciously look for alternatives to established educational practices that support the learning, development, and academic achievement of children whose backgrounds place them outside of the dominant culture.They employ multicultural, anti-racist, anti-bias educational practices that foster deep engagement in learning and high academic achievement among all of the nation’s children.

  Advocacy for social justice could arguably be one of the most challenging, but one of the most essential aspects of teaching. Being an advocate for social justice means working hard every moment to make sure that every student is being supported and all needs are being addressed. There is a saying that “Fair isn’t everyone getting the same thing, but rather, “Fair is everyone getting what they need in order to be successful.”. I think that this quote sums up a teacher’s role as an advocate for the students in his or her classroom. 

Recognizing that classrooms are full of students with different race, social class, gender, languages, and other social categories is the first step in creating a safe community that embraces diversity. It is important for teachers to be mindful of their students’ backgrounds when they prepare their lessons. In October, my students were learning about the life cycle of a pumpkin and I found out that some of my students had never carved a pumpkin or had the experience of reaching their hand inside and scooping out the pumpkin flesh. That weekend, I went to a local farm and purchased thirty small pumpkins (“jacks”) for the students to decorate. We also bought a large pumpkin that we carved together. On the day that we were decorating our jacks, students were so excited! (Artifact 1A: Pictures of Decorated Jacks). In this example, I tried to equalize the experiences of my students.. Attending to small inequalities, such as never having had the opportunity to decorate a pumpkin, is a small step to creating a fair environment for everyone. 

     Educational practices must be flexible in order to accommodate those needs of the children we serve. It is important to recognize what children need in order to be successful and work to meet those needs. Many times, children often get grouped together without much thought about the individual child. An example of this is when one of my students was getting pulled out of class to meet with a resource teacher during math. She struggled with math, but was pulled out for reading support. This seemed counterproductive to me. We met as a third grade team and created a new student support services schedule (Artifact 1B: Student Support Schedule) to better accommodate this student’s needs. The Occupational Therapist (OT), Speech Therapist, and resource room teacher had to work around our set schedule to meet the children they needed to meet with. As a teacher, it is crucial to be aware of the needs that your students have even if that means balancing when he or she receives outside support. In this example, we had to refocus our attention on the student rather than accommodate the specialists’ schedules. While no one teacher intentionally prevented her from advancing in math, the structure of her day prohibited her from receiving the services she needed. The use of multicultural, anti-racist, anti-bias educational practices is an important aspect of being an advocate for social justice. In our classroom, we regularly supplement existing literature with children’ literature that reflects the students and their families.  This allows for  deeper engagement with reading and a higher academic achievement among students. It is important to recognize when a book does not represent all students and the diversity they bring. My practicum teachers did an excellent job of supplementing the Reading Street text with books focused on the positive aspects of difference.  These include:  Elmer (David McKee), Giant Steps to Change the World (Spike Lee), Chocolate Me (Taye Diggs), and Wonder  (R. J. Palacio). We used these books to complement the Reading Street curriculum’s main theme in their “All About Me” unit of study. 

  Beverly Tatum (1997) in Why Are All The Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?, says that teachers must “continually break the silence about racism whenever [they] can.” (p.193)  She encourages teachers to participate in “meaningful productive dialogue to raise consciousness and lead to effective action and social change.” (p.167) It is important to create an environment where these conversations can occur. Creating an environment to have conversations about multiculturalism and anti-racist behavior is important because students need to know how to be respectful of everyone’s differences and to accept others as they are. It is also important to recognize the amount of power a teacher has over a student. The teacher should be away of how much potential power a single teacher has over a student, especially students of color. A teacher is an automatic position of power and dictates the environment the classroom can become, a safe environment or hostile environment. This can be difficult for a child to manage.  

Being an advocate for social justice, among the other responsibilities as a teacher, can be a difficult task, but it is a necessary one. Students who are from the non- dominant social group categories are most vulnerable for being mistreated and discriminated against . As a teacher who is Safe Space trained, I try to maintain a safe environment for all my students so they can learn to the best of their ability and keep the focus on academic achievement. 

 References

Diggs, T. (2011). Chocolate Me. Feiwel & Friends. 

Lee, S. & Lee, T.L. (2011).  Giant Steps to Change the World. Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers. 

McKee, D. (1989). Elmer. HarperCollins. 

Palacio, R.J. (2012) Wonder. Knopf. 

Tatum, B. (1997). Why are the black kids sitting together in the cafeteria? And other conversations about race. New York, NY: Basic Books. 

Standard 2- Understanding all children in their many dimensions

Standard 2 Understanding all children in their many dimensions

Educators should know their students as individuals and as learners, and be able to relate to them in a variety of ways. They should be familiar with the cultures, histories, and values of the communities and families they serve, and know the attributes of the individual children and families with whom they work. Educators should be aware of the range of special needs their children may have, and seek out information concerning the strengths of specific children as well as resources to address their developmental and learning needs. They should use their knowledge of variations in development, second language acquisition, and disabilities to support children’s physical, emotional, social, cognitive, linguistic, intellectual, and creative development. Educators should observe and listen to children as they work, learn, and play in a variety of settings to gain insights into what their students know, how they think, what they value, who they are, where they come from, and what motivates them. Educators’ knowledge of children and families, language and culture, and community development should motivate educators to view children’s actions and responses through multiple lenses.  The more they learn about their students, the better they can tailor their teaching to engage children in active learning and meet their specific needs.

  Children are all different. Each child enters a classroom with strengths and areas that need further f growth. It takes supportive and understanding teachers to meet children where they are on their educational road. Teachers usually have 20-30 students in one classroom and it can be difficult to identify each child as a different, unique individual, but that is crucial to the successful learning of that child. I have had the opportunity to work in two very different classrooms, , but I’ve noticed that children need the same universal things: support, compassion, and to be allowed the opportunities to make mistakes. It is the job of the teacher to make sure each child is accepted into the classroom’s community of learning. 

   Teachers must take the time to know their students as individual learners. It is important to conference with each of them, to monitor each student’s progress, and to  maintain a cohesive classroom environment. When the students in my third grade classroom started guided reading, I took ten minutes with each child and conferenced with them about what they were currently reading, their interests based around reading, their comprehension of the book they were reading, their fluency (by asking them to read a section of their text), and then I asked them to set a goal for their reading this year (Artifact 2A: Guided Reading Conference Notes). These ten minutes with each child allowed me to learn more about each of my students and then I found it easier to select guided reading texts that would interest them. Conferencing is only one example of how to learn about students individually, but it is a method that provides  valuable  insight  about each child. 

Jensen (1998) discusses the connection between knowing how a child’s brain operates and how to best teach to that knowledge. In his book, Teaching with the Brain In Mind,  he  refers to a diagram called, “The Teaching Model” (Artifact 2B: The Teaching Model). This model  designates the time a teacher should spend during a lesson  on each step of the lesson. Jensen suggests, for example, that ten percent of the time should be devoted to creating an optimal environment before the lesson is implemented. I think this model is helpful when planning out lessons on how to continue to engage students throughout the entire lesson. Children’s brains are part of how they are individuals and it is important to engage them every step of the way to keep them learning.  

Students enter in a classroom as individuals with cultures, histories, and values from their families. These important pasts dictate who they are as people in your classroom. It is important then to understand their backgrounds. In my grade three classroom, students were assigned a “Culture Heritage Project” (Artifact 2C: Culture Heritage Project Example). The students were to find out about their culture and ancestors and create a poster to share with the class. Each child had an opportunity to share their poster during the morning meeting time and students were allowed to ask questions after the child presented about his or her culture. This project helped me realize how diverse my classroom was and interesting every child is, in regard to their culture and heritage. In my classroom, we have children whose decedents are from Vietnam, Israel, Poland, Puerto Rico, Haiti, Ireland, and many other countries. We used this knowledge to integrate more books on diversity and to make personal connections when learning about people immigrating to the United States. 

  Students also have individual traits and characteristics. These traits are exciting to learn through your teaching, but also important to learn to better accommodate all students. When teaching my third grade classroom about adjectives, I had students identify five adjectives they would use to describe themselves (Artifact 2D: Adjective Me). This activity was part of a mini-lesson on adjectives and allowed me to assess which students understood the concept, while I learned more about how each child  described him or herself.       

  Students impress me with their knowledge about themselves. In my grade three classroom, we had seven students on Individual Education Plans (IEPs). Seeking out information, for me, began with reading each student’s IEP. I learned about how to accommodate them and what resources each child had available to them. I had frequent conversations with the Occupational Therapist (OT)  at my school in order to meet the needs of the seven boys in my classroom on IEPs. She gave me behavior management techniques, along with movement break ideas in order to meet the needs of those students. For my seven boys, who have social-emotional behavioral disorders, movement breaks are essential to my teaching and their learning. During the middle of my math lesson, I have every student stand up and do three yoga poses, or run in place for ten seconds, and then we take three breaths and sit back down. It is important to know what your students need in order to best accommodate them and help them learn to the best of their ability. 

In the third grade classroom I was in we unfortunately did not have any  English Language Learners (ELL) students in my classroom. However, we did have students who were below reading level and struggled with the English language, as it was sometimes not the language spoken at home or they had developmental delays. Through my classes at Wheelock, I implemented strategies used for ELL students  with my students who struggled with the English language. During math lessons that involved creating projects, I  used scaffolded sentences in order for students to know how to write their math thoughts efficiently such as “Each ______ (object) has _____ sides. There are _______ (objects). How many sides in all? ____”. Students could choose to write their own sentences or follow my scaffolded sentences (Artifact 2E: Stars Math Poster). This helped students work at the level they were on and caused less frustration for students who have trouble writing their thoughts out on paper. 

Children have both their strengths and areas in which they need to  grow. Howard Gardner (2006) created the Multiple Intelligences Theory that suggests that  children have eight distinct intelligences that often overlap. They are: linguistic, musical, logical-mathematical, spatial, bodily-kinesthetic, interpersonal, intrapersonal and naturalist.  (Lightfoot, Cole, & Cole, 2009). He defines intelligence more broadly than how traditional IQ tests have defined it for years, primarily by measuring linguistic and mathematical intelligence and disregarding all of the other intelligences that we see in our world around us.  Gardner’s theory allows teachers to explore how each student may have a different intelligence and question how the classroom allows for children to explore and utilize those intelligences. As always, it is important to integrate each child’s strengths as much as possible in order for the child to feel successful and continue their desire to learn.       

          References

Jensen, E. (1998). Teaching with the brain in mind. (2nd ed). Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision & Curriculum Development. 

Lightfoot, C., Cole, M., & Cole, S.R. (2009). The development of children. NY: Worth.

Standard 3- Knowledge of content and integrated curriculum

Standard 3: Knowledge of content and integrated curriculum

Educators should know, understand, and use the central concepts and tools of inquiry appropriate to the subject matter and age/grade levels they teach. They should be able to create meaningful learning experiences that develop children’s understanding of subject matter and increase their skills. Educators should plan integrated units of curriculum, instruction, and assessment based upon their knowledge of subject matter, curriculum goals, and developmentally appropriate practices among the families, communities, and cultures from which their children come.

Teachers must know the content and curriculum that they are teaching to children. It is important to recognize what areas teachers need to research before teaching and how they should create meaningful learning for  their children. It is important to take into account (while planning all aspects of the subject matter) how best to teach students this content. 

Knowing, understanding, and using important concepts and tools is important to teaching students. There are many tools teachers can use in order to teach children the curriculum. In my third grade classroom, we teach lessons through mini-lessons. We scaffold how to teach the content area, only after careful planning. In Teaching Elementary Science, we were given the assignment to  carefully review a section of an Investigations curriculum. We were then asked to write about what would work, what modifications we would make, and how we could teach this to a class of students (Artifact 3A: Teaching Science Paper). It is important to take time as a teacher to reflect on the curriculum and research any subject matter you are lacking in to make sure your lesson is as cohesive as possible. 

  The tools of inquiry a teacher must use to teach these subjects is limitless. Some that I have used in my practice is implementing a Readers and Writers’ Workshop model for language arts. A Readers and Writers’ Workshop model allows students to write about what they are reading along with other topics of interest. Some writing prompts are structured, such as writing about our class pet, Tubby (Artifact 3B: Tubby Entry), while others given students an opportunity to be creative, but still practice their writing skills (Artifact 3C: My Favorite Dessert). In math, tools of inquiry can be used through manipulatives. Manipulatives such as links cubes, tiles, and whiteboards can engage children in mathematics, along with meeting diverse learning styles. These are only some example of tools teachers can use to engage in with a multitude of students.    

  Meaningful learning experiences are important for children to experience. Meaningful learning can only occur when teachers teach to the entire class while meeting the needs of individual learners . It is important to build real world connections when solving math problems or learning to read. Creating these connections helps children feel a sense of ownership to their work and allows children to apply abstract thoughts (such as multiplication) to real world situations. One way that I create meaningful learning is that I frequently change word problems in math to reflect the experiences of my students’.  Even a minor change, such as replacing, ‘frogs in a pond’  with ‘students in a gym class’ can  (Artifact 3D: Lesson 4.1).   have a huge impact on a child’s learning. 

Integrating curriculum is essential to teaching students all that they need to know. It can be as simple as having students think of the importance of punctuation marks during math in a word problem to help understand where the question is, or something more long term such as assigning a project that meets the needs of Social Studies, but also has a strong ELA component by writing and reading about the selected topic. In Integrating & Differentiated Instruction, Tomlinson and McTighe (2006) discuss how there is “too much content to teach given the available time” (p.24). This is why it is so crucial to integrate curriculum. My students completed a heritage culture project where they reported what countries their ancestors were from and a bit about that culture. Students had to look into geography and discuss culture which is directly taken from the Social Studies curriculum, but they were also expected to write descriptive paragraphs about their culture and heritage. Integrating these two subjects allowed students to see how subject matter can overlap in natural ways. Families were also included in the project to help their child learn more about their culture and heritage (Artifact 3E: Culture and Heritage Project Example). It is essential to allow parents to be part of their child’s learning process in order to promote learning across the two  contexts. We invited parents to come in for a Culture and Heritage celebration that highlighted the children’s work, while also introducing families to one another and building a stronger community. Knowing content and how to integrate curriculum is necessary in the world of teaching.  Parkerson & Parkerson (2008) in The American Teacher, discuss the important of integrating curriculum because it “attempts to unite all the subjects under one theme or topic” (p.166). They  also address other types of curriculum that teachers should take into account when beginning their teaching career. Teachers do not have enough time in the day to teach each subject separately, but with the appropriate content knowledge can seamlessly integrate curriculum. It is important to recognize that each subject should be emphasized to the students and teachers who know how to expand that content into meaningful learning can teach children how to make connections and take ownership of their learning.  

References

Parkerson D.H, Parkerson, J.A. (2008). American Teacher: Foundations of education. 

Routledge: Taylor & Francis Group. New York. 

 Tomlinson C.A., McTighe, J. (2006). Integrating & differentiated instruction understanding by design: connecting content to kids. Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. Alexandria, VA. 

Standard 4 - Using teaching practices that foster learning, development, and achievement for all of the Nation's children

Standard 4. Using Teaching Practices that Foster Learning, Development, and Achievement for all of the Nation’s Children: Educators should use teaching strategies and educational practices that develop children’s capacity to think critically, analytically, and imaginatively, and extend their knowledge and understanding of the world.They should provide multiple ways for children to deepen their grasp of concepts, stretch their thinking, express their understanding, and learn critical skills. They should search for appropriate materials, experiment with new technologies, collaborate with specialists and colleagues, and consult with families and community members to meet the instructional needs of all their students. Educators should establish caring, inclusive, stimulating, and safe learning communities in which all children feel they belong, and in which they can assume responsibility, take intellectual risks, make mistakes, explore alternatives, participate in decision making and work both collaboratively and independently. They should understand principles of effective classroom management as well as human motivation and behavior from the foundational sciences of psychology, anthropology, and sociology. They should understand cognitive processes associated with various kinds of learning and how these processes can be stimulated. They should also understand language development and the role of language in learning. Educators should understand principles and techniques, and advantages and limitations associated with various teaching strategies. They should be able to communicate effectively within many domains (oral and written discourse, mathematical/symbolic representation, non-verbal communication, audiovisual and computer-based technologies), and model effective communication strategies in conveying information and in asking questions.

Standard 4 is based  on teaching practices. At Wheelock College, our mission is to “improve the lives of children and families.”. This mission cannot be achieved if teachers do not teach in multiple ways and understand that children require diverse teaching methods in order to learn. Wheelock provides students who are majoring in Elementary Education ample resources and educational  strategies to meet the needs of an entire classroom.  We are expected to design instruction that includes everyone in our teaching practices. 

  When teaching, it is important to use multiple strategies. These strategies include making essential questions visible, creating word problems that are culturally sensitive, and  designing curriculum that is mindful to all students in the classroom. During EDU 330, I created an Ethnomath project. This presentation (Artifact 4A: Powerpoint Presentation - “Fire on the Mountain”)  includes a read- aloud book that serves as the foundation for transition into a math word problem. This math problem includes a recipe for Injera, which is a type of Ethiopian bread. This  math word problem has a personal connection for me since I was born in Ethiopia. This personal connection showed my students  that math is everywhere and can help us understand our own cultural backgrounds in new ways. In my current practicum placement, I encourage students to share about their culture when writing word problems. I allow students to turn and  talk in partner pairs which is just one of the multiple strategies that I use in the classroom for children to deepen the grasp of concepts, stretch their thinking, and express understanding. 

Using appropriate material, including experimenting with new technology, to meet instructional needs of students is a learning process for a student teacher. The first time I encountered a document projector, or an “ELMO”, was when I was substitute teaching. I used it  infrequently and missed the overhead projectors with the clear plastic sheets. However, through my practicum site, I have become more comfortable with the document projector. In a recent math lesson, I used the document projector to work with students on creating math problems. I have become more comfortable with the document projector and use it daily for read alouds, or to model group work, and display student work during moments of share. 

Every morning, my practicum class starts the day with morning meeting. This is an important part of the Responsive Classroom (2013) curriculum. This curriculum states that morning meeting is “an engaging way to start each day, build a strong sense of community, and set children up for success socially and academically” This curriculum directly helps children build a sense of community in a safe environment where they assume responsibility, take intellectual risks, make mistakes, explore alternatives, participate in decision making, and work collaboratively and independently through the activities that are part of morning meeting. During each morning meeting, students participate in an activity to either review a concept or work on social-emotional growth. Each child is included and every day includes a different activity. 

During morning meeting, and throughout the entire day, effective classroom management is used. There are several examples of group management including physical movement breaks known as group stretching and “shake downs. As a team of teachers at my practicum site, we work to select seats for the children that will not be a distraction to their learning. We have certain children with specific needs and we work to accommodate them while creating seating charts that will manage the behavior of the whole group. I also use  behavior management techniques such as controlling the level of my voice, waiting for every child to respond to the musical chimes to  gain their attention, and refocusing children by saying, “That is not helpful,” when they are becoming a distraction to the group (Artifact 4B: Notes from Observation on 10/18). These strategies have developed through my time at Wheelock College to help me teach a classroom of children. 

Different children  use different cognitive processes. Some children respond to visual models while others respond to auditory directions. These processes can be stimulated simply by providing a diverse range of teaching approaches during a single lesson. During a single lesson, I used a visual model while I  explained the directions orally. I had children repeat these directions for further clarification. I then had children draw their own models in order to engage the kinesthetic learners. Through this one lesson, I took into account three different types of learners. It is important to use different teaching strategies in any classroom. Different strategies include, but are not limited to small groups, independent work, whole class, and turn and talk partners. All these teaching techniques help children with different cognitive processes learn.  

Unfortunately my two practicum sites did not have any English Language Learners (ELL) However, I had the privilege  of working with ELL learners during my Jumpstart experience. In this experience,  I encountered children who were in different stages of  second language acquisition Jim Cummins suggests that teachers should welcome the home language into the classroom, and he provides resources for teachers who work with ELL students (2005). During my time as a Jumpstart Corp member, I learned Spanish as my partner child learned English. Jumpstart has identified certain vocabulary words for each weekly read aloud and every week I would read her the words in English and use visual pictures to show her, while she told me the Spanish words. We practiced learning a new language together while sharing the roles of student and teacher. 

    Communication is key to any relationship, especially the student-teacher relationship. It is important to communicate with students in a variety of ways including oral, written, and by providing non-verbal cues. On math homework, I comment on student work and point out areas of growth (Artifact 4C: Math Packet). I  provide both positive comments to encourage the student and critical ones that help students see errors and eliminate them.I also communicate with students using non-verbal communication. An example of this is when I ring the chimes to indicate “stop.” Students know to stop what they are doing and to put their hands on their head. This is all done without a single word spoken. Effective communication is also about speaking in a clear way that is child- friendly. My supervising practitioner took observation notes on my communication with children and shared them with me. These notes allowed me to realize what language I was using that was  helpful to children.. During a morning meeting, I explained the American Sign Language (ASL) motions to “Good Morning” by saying “Your hand comes down from your chin and then your hand comes up. Think of the morning sun rising from the horizon.”. I did not realize that this was an example of positive communication until my supervising practitioner pointed it out to me (Artifact 4D: Observation Notes from 10/1). Becoming aware of my own language will  improve my communication in the future.

Teaching practices vary from classroom to classroom and new ones are continuously introduced by educational theorists, practitioners and researchers.  Wheelock College has created an education program that exposes a future teacher to child friendly language, positive behavior management techniques, and varying forms of communication that are invaluable when creating a classroom community. It is essential that future teachers recognize that these skills are  continuously being refined and developed over time through classroom experience.  It is essential that teachers never stop learning 

References

Cummins, J. (2005). Affirming identify in multilingual classrooms. Educational Leadership, 63

(1). 28. Reflective Classroom. 

Responsive Classroom. (2013). Northeast Foundation for Children, Inc. Retrieved from:

https://www.responsiveclassroom.org/

Standard 5 - Assessments in a multi-racial, multicultural democracy

Standard 5 Assessment in a multi-racial, multicultural democracy: Educators should understand that assessment is an integral part of teaching, and that children’s developmental and academic interests, accomplishments, and challenges should drive their daily instructional decisions.They should know that various types of assessments, including self-assessment, have different uses, advantages, limitations, and biases.  They should understand that appropriate assessment must consider the cultural, familial, and community contexts from which children come.  Educators should know how to use a variety of formal and informal assessment tools and strategies to monitor and promote each student’s learning and development; use both formative and summative assessments to determine students’ understanding in each subject area; and be aware of technological tools that can facilitate assessment.

Standard 5 of the Wheelock College Teaching Standards focuses on assessment. Assessment is crucial within the classroom in order to understand if all your students have grasped a particular concept and to gain information on any struggles students may have. When assessing students it is important to recognize that not all students think the same and many are coming from multi-racial, multi-cultural backgrounds. It is important, as a teacher, to adapt the assessment to the individuals receiving it and realize that all children will not be able to demonstrate their knowledge with only one type of assessment.  

Assessment is an integral part of teaching and is essential to children’s development. Academically, students need to show that they have mastered a concept before a teacher can move on to a different idea or to further the complexity of the topic. Homework is a great informal assessment that can indicate to teachers if a child has mastered a concept. In a particular math packet I was grading (Artifact 5A: Collecting Stickers and Pennies), one student had gotten the majority of the problems wrong. He clearly did not understand place value and therefore did not add or subtract. I provided explicit feedback on his paper and then wrote in some examples of how to do the problem correctly. I then discussed it with my supervising teacher and she made a note of it to teach in the next day’s lesson. Taking the time to look over mistakes, instead of marking an answer wrong and moving on, reveals a teacher who is integrating assessments into his or her knowledge of the child’s development. The ideas and concepts that are covered on an assessment are useful information to incorporate when planning future lessons to address problem areas for students. 

There are many different types of assessments, both informal and formal. Informal assessments can include an answer to be able to leave class, which is something I utilized in one of my lessons. In order for the students to leave the classroom, they had to turn in a complete worksheet about explorers and ask a question about them, since it was a brainstorming activity, I wanted to see if students were asking questions that were related to the topic we wee studying (Artifact 5B: Early Explorers).  Although this is an example of an informal assessment, I have also completed formal assessments. In September, the District Reading Assessments (DRA) needed to be completed for each student. The DRAs test students to see which reading level they are on. They are recorded three times a year to track student progress. These are essential to monitor reading during the school year (Artifact 5C: Guided Reading Groups) and then over the summer (as the June scores from the previous grade are recorded and shared with the next grade level teachers). Formal and informal assessment each has its place within the classroom and should be used to gather information about a student’s progress and understanding of the material.        

There are limitations and advantages of assessments. Each and every assessment type has their limitations. Multiple choice, for example, gives the child an opportunity to guess and if they get it right, then a teacher may never know that it is a topic that a child struggled with. However, short answer may be hard for students who do not have strengths in writing. It is important to vary the assessments used within your classroom in order to gain as much information as possible. A limitation that teachers must become aware of is the language used in assessments. Often, assessments will assume children have had certain experiences, such as camping or playing in snow, when many children have not had those opportunities. When creating assessments, teachers must think about their audience, the students, and the language he or she is using in the questions. 

Formative and summative assessments are essential to each classroom. Formative assessments are given during the unit and are utilized as a “check in” point during different units. Understanding By Design author Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe discuss the importance of formative assessments, especially the idea of “uncovering the learners‘ understandings and misunderstandings all along the way” (p.247). They give many examples of formative assessments that provide teachers another resource to use in the classroom to quickly “check in” on how many students understood the material. Summative assessments are at the end of the unit and provide a teacher with knowledge on how much a student has taken away from the unit of study. Currently in my practicum, we are teaching a unit entitled “All About Me”. This unit gives children the opportunity to explore their own heritage and culture, along with learning about their classmates’ heritage and culture. An example of a formative assessment during this unit was an open response after reading about three children whose families were from different cultures. This formative assessment can tell the teacher if the children are understanding the concept of heritage and culture and how well they understood the story. However, the summative assessment will be a project-based one that is designed to encourage students to tell the story of their own heritage through a project (Artifact 5D: Culture and Heritage Project). Interestingly, the children have options on how they present this information for their summative assessment, so children will be able to present information in a way that is comfortable for them. 

Assessments can bog down a classroom. Between MCAS and DRAs, and TERRA-Novas, it seems we are always testing our children. However, it is important for teachers to learn how to conduct informal assessments such as checking homework for mistakes that can turn into mini-lessons, and requiring a “ticket to leave” in order to understand if the students have grasped the concept of the lesson. Assessments should be considered a tool that teachers can utilize to learn more about each child’s progress. 

References   

Wiggins, G. & McTighe, J. (2005). Understanding by design (2nd ed). Upper Saddle 

River, New Jersey: Pearson Education, Inc.  

Standard 6 - Reflective practices in diverse setting

Standard 6 Reflective practice in diverse settings: Educators should continually reflect on their practice to extend their knowledge, improve their teaching, and refine their evolving philosophies of education.They should stay abreast of developments in the profession, and be able to think critically about various teaching practices. Educators should continually strengthen their knowledge of subject matter through scholarly study, professional reading, and discussion with colleagues.They should deepen their understanding of children’s learning and development through classroom-based action research. Educators should be open to change and innovation, continually engaging in the process of professional growth.

Standard 6 requires educators to continually reflect and make adjustments to their teaching styles and methods. This is an important standard because educators need to realize that not all children are the same and what may work for one child, may not extend to another. Also, a part of teaching is to commit to engage yourself in lifelong learning. Philosophies about eduction are not static, and to be a good teacher is to always be searching for better techniques, ideas, and methods to improve your teaching. Professional growth sets a strong model for the students of that educator and also benefits the educator’s knowledge.  

    Standard 6 has several components surrounding teachers’ reflective practices. In EDU  316, the professor gave us a set of field work questions to answer. These questions asked us to reflect on our pre-practicum experience and to evaluate teaching practices that occurred in the classroom (Artifact 6A: Field Work Questions). During this reflective piece, I realized how important it was to have a sense of culture in a classroom environment and that is what was lacking from my current placement. It is now fascinating to review these reflections and see what parts of my supervising teacher’s methods I would like to bring into my own classroom and which ones I do not want to repeat. I hope to have my current supervising teachers reflect on my own teaching practices to improve my own teaching. 

In one of my education classes at Wheelock, we were required to read “What Does It Take to Make a Teacher?” by Loewenberg Ball and Francesca Forzani. This article discusses how new teachers need to obtain professional skills and also the knowledge on how to use them. This was an interesting point that just because I have sat through professional developments or had meetings with my teachers, does not mean I have the knowledge on how to use my professional skills. I think it’s important to keep an open mind, especially during the first years of teaching and this article supports teachers reflecting on their work and seeking outside advice from colleagues.  

Karen Worth, the Chair of the Elementary Education Department at Wheelock College, observed my final lesson plan for my pre-practicum site. She provided written feedback on my lesson and then met with me about it (Artifact 6B: Analysis of a Single Lesson Plan Assignment: Observation Form). I then wrote a reflection about that observation (Artifact 6C: Reflection on Observation), which will help me learn from my mistakes and be a better teacher. This also ties into connecting my own teaching practices with philosophies of education. Part of EDU 316 was to write our own philosophies (Artifact 6D: My Personal Philosophy of Education).I have viewed my own philosophy several times since first creating the document and have made edits as I have grown and learned more about the field of education. Those edits are shown in red. 

I strengthen my knowledge on subject matter by having a weekly planning meeting with my teachers to go over ideas and also to review material. The weekly planning meetings also help me become more open to change and innovation. They help me become an active member of my own professional development while working alongside colleagues. I also preview the reading curriculum before planning my reading group, morning meeting, and word attack activities. It is important to review the material before you teach it so you can anticipate what struggles students may have and what questions you still have about the material. 

To deepen my understanding of children’s learning and development, I use classroom-based action research. In my current practicum site, the teachers and staff use a web-based system that keeps track of student behaviors from students. This is a great way for all staff to check in on a student and be on the same page without much conversation. A teacher can look up any student and see any notes or incidents written about that student from any other staff member. It is impressive and can be used to track data about certain students. 

I struggle to stay abreast with developments of the profession, since Massachusetts is currently switching to the Common Core. My current practicum teacher expresses frustration on “not knowing” what to teach since she is learning with the students as she works through a new pacing guide.    

Overall, reflecting on my practices and other teachers’ practices is something that is a life long commitment when you decide to teach. It is important to stay informed about current events and updates to the teaching field in order to best fit the needs of your students. Philosophies about education are constantly being updated, revised, and changed. As teachers, it is important to continue to refine our philosophy so that we are as effective as possible in promoting learning. 

References 

Loewenberg Ball, D. & Forzani, F.M. (2010). What does it take to make a teacher? Kappan. V92 

N2. pp  8- 12.