1. At the Heath School, located in Brookline, my fourth grade classroom seems to be supporting each other through out the day. There is little arguments within the class and all are very well mannered towards each other. Specifically, students take turns with the cushions during morning meeting and when they are on the rug. This amazes me that no one ever argues for a cushion, and they all respect that everyone gets a turn. No one laughs if an answer is wrong and they work fairly well in small groups and in one-on-one assignments.
They also respect teachers. The class does a nice job of waiting their turn, of following directions the first time they are said, and of being respectful towards teachers. They hardly ever argue with teachers, and they listen attentively to directions. It is interesting when they break up for math groups and go between other fourth grade teachers, these teachers often report good behavior seen from the students.
The teachers are very friendly with each other and make a point to introduce themselves if they have never met you. Its a very welcoming and friendly environment. The teachers often chat during lunch, recess, and other points of the day. Its comforting to see a school build a community based on teacher interaction. Teachers are also very open and willing to let you observe a classroom, and often treat you as an equal, rather than an outsider. For example, the Spanish teacher was in my classroom on Wednesday and we had never met, she came up and introduced herself by her first name and shook my hand. This small act indicated to me that the school was very welcoming. I also watched an interaction between my Spanish teacher and my classroom teacher that indicated to me that both were supporting the other.
I have not seen much interaction between the staff and the teachers. The interactions I have seen have been in passing in the hallways and a simple “hello” is all I have seen. I say good morning to the secretary every morning and make it a point to say thank you when they help me, but for the most part I see the teachers interacting only with each other.
2. I try to observe the daily schedule. I usually write down the activity the students are doing for the particular subject. Often, I write down if the teacher says something that I find interesting. An example of this is when she lectured the class on doodling on a blank sheet of paper. She told the class that doodling indicated that they were not active listeners and engaging in their learning. It was interesting to me since I was a student who doodled during class all the time. Sometimes, I write down classroom dynamics, such as when the teacher told me the class had difficulties with transitions. It was interesting to then watch as the class transitions, almost seamlessly, from one activity to another.
I also have a particular lens I am making these observations through. I am a substitute teacher in Springfield Massachusetts when I am home on breaks. Those classrooms in an inner city setting are much different than the one I am placed in currently. Children in those classrooms are often dealing with stressful home lives, and other personal problems. These personal problems then seep into the classroom, and distract them from their learning. Targeting those problems and addressing them is often the first step within the classroom. I’ve never been in a classroom where transitions did not take ten minutes or a classroom where students could handle switching between small group work and large group work with a single call and response. This classroom management as an effortless thing in the fourth grade is very new to me.
3. I believe my students are engaged with their own learning. The teacher, Kathleen, usually gives them a task and there is little reminders of what needs to be finished before the day. Kathleen also sets expectations, which I think helps the classroom management. Students take responsibility of keeping their desks organized, their homework is always turned in on time (except for the occasional instances), and take pride in each doing a classroom job. Specifically, I can see how engaged they are in their own learning with their writing binders. There writing binders are divided into sections, including an Ideas section and Rough Drafts section. These writing binders hold all their work since the beginning of the year and they take ownership of keeping all papers neat. Students often engage in small group work, this can indicated their enthusiasm to learn since they mange to stay on task throughout the allotted time.
4. It is intriguing to me that these students can contrast so much with students who I work with in Springfield. I was under the belief that children are children, wherever they may be. This, clearly, is not the case since some children are dealing with extremely powerful external circumstances. I had a student who was living in a one bedroom apartment with his two brothers, sister, and mother. His mother was working two jobs and could not sign his homework every night. Then I have students in Brookline who have their parents filling out their homework for them. The contrast is frustrating. I have always had a desire to work with inner city students and Brookline is certainly seeming that to be true. I think its important to address the issues that a child is working through at home, before asking him to sit quietly at his desk and finish his math work.
Another intriguing aspect of the classroom is how much Wheelock has stressed to be really creative with lesson plans and yet my teacher relies on a more traditional method of teaching. She stresses work books and book reports, and even pre and post tests for each subject. I think it is interesting how much of a contrast her teaching is to Wheelock’s mission of a multicultural classroom. I do not see much culture in her classroom, which is disappointing.
5. The joys I am experiencing are that I am back in a classroom setting and I am working with children again. I have a passion for teaching and I truly believe in the process of learning as a life long activity. I believe children develop an attitude towards knowledge that is either positive or negative based on the experiences and teaching they are presented with. I am having a wonderful time getting to know each student on an individual basis and I really love teaching them new concepts. The “ah-ha” moments that occur each day are truly rewarding and encourage me to continue my passion to become a teacher.
I am faced with certain challenges. I often find myself wanting to ‘jump in‘ to the teacher’s lesson, but have to remind myself this is not my classroom. I also find the affluence to be rather discouraging. These children are incredibly lucky, and yet take it all for complete granted. I am discouraged by the teachers who target certain individual children with “behavior problems”, but in another school setting, such as Springfield, the student would probably be seen as one of the few “well behaved” children. I am also challenged by the attitudes of the students who believe they are entitled to certain things. I have never had to deal with such entitlement, until I started at Brookline.
6. With the challenge of entitlement, I am most certainly at a point where I have to pick and choose my battles with these children. I have to choose not to say things back when a child tells me, “I’ll just pay someone to clean my desk”. Its frustrating to deal with a child who thinks that money is a substitute for hard work, because in Springfield, hard work is the only way out of poverty for the majority of students.
I am also challenged by the traditional teaching methods my teacher has decided to teach to. I understand why she does, since each child is succeeding and there are no children with IEPs in my classroom (a shocking statistic in my mind). I find that students are often bored, and I cannot blame them. Day in and day out, they fill out some math worksheets, work on a poster for social studies, and do some writing in English. Its very mundane. And I am challenged by the fact that I cannot take over and excite the classroom. There is a dullness that overcomes the classroom on some days, which is very disappointing.
7. Something that is challenging my beliefs is the teaching methodology that is implemented by my teacher. I feel as though she is too comfortable in her ways. She relies a lot on material that is provided by the state and she has been a fourth grade teacher for quite some time. Her ways are very set and there is a creativity that lacks within the walls of the classroom. I am a bit disappointed, but I am excited to see what new ideas I can bring to the classroom. Therefore, I am challenging myself be creative as possible.
8. I am most certainly seeing many students engaging in small group work with different people. It surprises me how seamlessly they can work in many different groups and stay on track. I also seeing many students who can get up in the middle of a classroom discussion, get what they need (be it a bathroom break, a snack, or a sharpened pencil) and come back to the class without much of a distraction. I also see a community of students who support each other. Although, I didn’t anticipate it, it was a nice surprise.
9. A diverse experiences seems to be absent from this experience. Within my classroom, there is one African-American boy, two Asian girls, and one Latina girl. That does not lead for a lot of diversity within the classroom, and it often disappoints me. The teacher does not dwell on diversity either. We went to a Japanese festival, and once it was over we went back to ELA. We never spent any time talking about what we had seen. I wish we embraced culture more than we do within the classroom.
10. Kathleen, my Supervising Practitioner, is very nice. We often chat during prep period and lunch. She provides me with direction, such as “you can walk around and make sure everyone is working”, when she meets with individual teachers. Her and I also correspond through e-mail often, which is nice to be kept up to date on current events within the classroom. She is excited to have me start teaching lessons and we have decided to begin my teaching full lessons after February break (the week of the 18th). She has been very understanding and has been very welcoming. I feel very comfortable talking to her and she really helps break down what she does in her classroom (such as keep a homework binder for parent teacher conferences, and stamps the reading log each day).
11. Number seven was the hardest for me to answer. I actually skipped it and came back to it. It asks “What is causing you to question your expectations, beliefs, learnings, etc?”. I think I had trouble with this question because I am very solid in what my expectations, beliefs, and learnings are since I have had experience within the classroom. The challenges I am faced within my classrooms are mainly external, such as the teacher’s practice methods, or the student’s sense of entitlement. I cannot control those variables, and it is just reaffirming the type of teacher I would like to become. Therefore, question seven was challenging for me to answer.
Artifact 6B - Analysis of a Single Lesson Plan Assignment: Observation Form
Artifact 6C - Reflection on Observation
Artifact 6B - Analysis of a Single Lesson Plan Assignment: Observation Form
Conference with Field Site Teacher & Deciding on a Topic
My teacher and I meet on a regular basis on the upcoming week within in our classroom. When it came to meet about my final observation, she was very open to my ideas. I expressed to her my desire to teach a social studies lesson (since I had taught a science lesson previously). She agreed and initially told me the topic would be based around ‘explorers’.
When we sat down a week from my final observation date, she explained how she thought the class would be further ahead then they are. They were, at the time, engaged in a research project about totem poles. This had taken several class periods and was finally finishing up. She asked if I would be willing to do an “activator” lesson on the new unit. I agreed.
We then discussed the different criteria based around the the activator. It had to be engaging and we both agreed that small group work is how they work best. We then discussed the different activators we could do and settled on in class brainstorm about explorers through interactive stations. Each station will have a different prompt that the students will have 5 minutes to respond to as a small group and then move on to the next station.
My teacher requested that I do a “take-away” at the end to make sure they had gathered the main points of each brainstorming session they had completed. I suggested a worksheet so they could concretely put their ideas down. My fourth graders have been trying to “pull out” the main idea from various amounts of information all semester and this will be another good project to refine this skill.
My teacher did not provide me the direct standards this is meeting, but cited the Massachusetts frameworks for going over explorers in the fourth grade. Upon further investigation, I found that these standards are the one’s we are meeting:
4.14 Identify the five different European countries (France, Spain, England, Russia, and the Netherlands) that influenced different regions of the present United States at the time the New World was being explored and describe how their influence can be traced to place names, architectural features, and language. (H, G)
This unit follows a unit they had completed on Native Americans. I think its important to effortlessly tie together units, as one seamless event. I think its important to note how explorers came to the land and changed many things about it, even though the Native Americans were settled here.
LESSON PLAN
GRADE LEVEL: Fourth Grade
DATE and TIME ALLOTMENT: May 6th, 60 Minute Lesson (10:55-11:55 a.m.)
SUBJECT AREA(S): Social Studies - Explorers
GOALS:
This lesson will begin to address the following goal:
4.14 Identify the five different European countries (France, Spain, England, Russia, and the Netherlands) that influenced different regions of the present United States at the time the New World was being explored and describe how their influence can be traced to place names, architectural features, and language. (H, G)
WHERETO:
W: Where the unit is going & what is expected by implementing an activator activity to assess their prior knowledge on explorers
H: Hook all students & hold their interest by creating a fun learning experience by allowing them to quickly brainstorm their ideas and thoughts on large chart paper
T: Tailored to the different needs, interests, and abilities of learners by preselecting small leaning groups in order to maximize the small group discussion.
O: Organized to maximize initial and sustained engagement as well as effective learning by creating an activity that seamlessly connects to their past lessons on explorers while moving forward on the unit. Organized activities, along with a scaffolded worksheet will allow students to best utilize their time.
WHEELOCK COLLEGE TEACHING STANDARDS:
Standard 2: Understanding all children in their many dimensions through providing small group work along with independent and full class discussion work, in order to best meet the needs of all children.
Standard 3: Knowledge of content and integrated curriculum through brainstorming the feelings and thoughts of explorers through small group work.
Standard 4: Educational practices that foster learning, development, and achievement in all of the nation's children through using different teaching styles to activate students’ knowledge about explorers.
UNDERSTANDING:
Facets of Understanding Covered:
Explanation of the concerns and characteristics that explorers had; the difference between present day explorers and explorers in the 1400s;
Application of what they know from previous knowledge on explorers;
Perspective on how explorers felt when traveling to new land;
Students will begin to understand…how explorers felt, what they were challenged by, and what differences the explorers would face in today’s society.
ESSENTIAL QUESTION: What was it like to be an explorer in the 1400s?
ACTIVATE PRIOR KNOWLEDGE:
The activity will activate student’s prior knowledge by starting the lesson by having student’s recollect past conversations about explorers. Students will also be prompted to define the term ‘explorer‘ before starting the session’s activity.
OBJECTIVES:
Students will be able to…brainstorm how explorers felt and the characteristics they held while exploring new land. They will also be able to identify the differences between exploring the 1400s and present day exploration.
Students will know…how to identify the key topic of a question and write a main idea about that topic after brainstorming key questions to the unit.
I can……brainstorm about an idea and locate the main topic along with a main idea. I can also work in a small group to brainstorm ideas about how explorers thought and felt during the 1400s.
DIFFERENTIATED INSTRUCTION:
Advance Learners will be expected to write in a complete sentences on the worksheets; Students will also be expected to brainstorm more ideas than their peers during small group work;
Behavioral students will be given the choice to take a break if not working well in small groups or class discussion. Students will then self evaluate and return to the class when he or she recognizes they have a calm body.
Weak Readers will provided scaffolded responses as a whole group discussion; Simplified language has been used on the worksheets
ASSESSMENT:
Students will be given a scaffolded worksheet to fill out after the brainstorming session that requires them to identify the key topic and then a main idea supporting that topic. Students will be given either a “check” or “check plus” for how in depth their worksheets are filled out and if the worksheet is completed. The expectation is that every student will fill out all four sections of their worksheet along with provide a question about explorers they have. Students who leave a section or do not provide a question will be given a “check” and will be prompted to fill in the missing section during their morning work block. The worksheet has been made in a basic format that suites the needs of many learning styles by allowing for the student to fill in the information they may need.
Also, informal assessment will be observed during the students’ small group brainstorming session. Students will be expected to be participating and engaging in group conversation during each question. They should also be working together in a cooperative manner.
IMPLEMENTATION PROCEDURES:
Materials:
- 4 Sheets of Chart Paper with Questions
- Question 1: If somebody from the 1400s were to time travel to the present, what differences would he or she find?
- Question 2: What were some of the dangers that early explorers faced, both real and imagined?
- Question 3: What are some of the reasons someone would become an explorer? What qualities would he or she have to have?
- Question 4: What types of explorers are there today? What still needs to be explored further?
- 4 Different Colored Markers
- Scaffolded Worksheets
Procedure:
- (10:55-11:00) Students will be asked how to define explorers to activate prior knowledge. This definition will be written on the white board in the front of the classroom.
- (11:00-11:10) Students will be given the directions to the activity.
- Students will be placed in small groups. They will each start at a different chart paper placed around the room with four separate questions. Each group will have a different color marker. Each group will have 5-7 minutes to brainstorm answers to the questions. These do not have to be in complete sentences. Small groups should take the first minute of each rotation to read what the previous group(s) have written, as to not repeat ideas. Each group should add at least one new idea on to each sheet. They will then rotate writers (or scribes) each time they rotate to the next question. They will wait for the teacher’s instruction to rotate. - (11:10-11:40) Students will complete activity described above.
- (11:40-11:55) Students will be instructed to return to their seats and a worksheet will be passed out. This worksheet will ask students to indicate the main theme of each question and then to identify the main idea of each question (such as the explorers were worried about becoming lost as a real theme, versus sea monsters, which would go under imaginative). The students have been previous working on finding a common theme among a group of brainstormed ideas. This worksheet will be completed as a full discussion class for the first question, turn and talk for the second question, and independently complete the third and fourth question. Students are expected to be listening carefully (a skill they have been struggling with), which will be able to be assessed. Prior knowledge is not being assessed in this activity. As a “ticket to leave”, students will have to hand in the completed worksheet with a question about explorers on the bottom of the worksheet.
Reflection on Observation
As a developing teacher, I found the critiques helpful and constructive. Karen (the supervisor) suggested I slow down my direction giving and thinking about multiple ways of giving directions (such as writing them on the board along with giving it to them orally). Karen also suggested that my modeling should be more explicit, such as a “think aloud” method of my thoughts, instead of of relying on the students to input their opinion while I am modeling a new technique. Kathleen (my supervising teacher) recommended that I keep thinking about “setting reasonable expectations”. I think my lesson included a lot of components (small group work, turn and talk partner share, and independent work, along with a large group discussion), but I think my expectations were clearly stated in the beginning of the lesson and the majority of students completed the objectives.
Also as a developing teacher, it is helpful to know the positive aspects of my teaching as well. This includes behavior management (which I did not realize was what I was doing alongside teaching), along with being responsive to the classroom. I think Kathleen said it best when she said I have a “presence” in the classroom and the students really respond to my authoritative stature. I think its important to be able to gain and keep respect from your students in order to best teach a lesson.
Check Minus
Students received a check minus if they did not complete the worksheet or if they did not write in complete sentences. The directions were made clear that those two expectations were the bare minimum required of this worksheet. The work on the sheet also indicates that they do not understand the objectives of identify themes through their brainstorming because they did not list themes (or categories), but simply put examples.
In order to take them to a deeper level of understanding, I would readdress categorizing the different examples into themes. I would make this a tangible activity by having them move the examples into different categories, in order to see how an “umbrella” term can include many other specific examples. I would also make sure that the expectation is understood that work should be finished by the time the work block is over.
Check
Students received a check if they did complete the worksheet with complete sentences but had two or more errors. Students were given the task of categorizing the previous brainstormed ideas into themes or categories. The first question was completed as a class, the second with your partner, and the third and fourth independently. Students who made errors often cited examples instead of using a theme or ‘umbrella term’. Therefore, students with more than two errors would receive a check.
In order to deepen their understanding about this concept, I would have them reflect back to the brainstorming posters and try to better categorizing the ideas. I could do this by having the students tangibly sort each brainstorming idea into a category. I also think it would be helpful if students had more time look over the posters. I think many understood the concept, but relied on the poster to give the answer, rather then look at the poster and take away a concept they created. Examples of themes and categories would be beneficial for students who received checks.
Check Plus
Students received a check plus if they did completed the worksheet entirely and used complete sentences throughout. They also only got one wrong (which was a question number two for most students). Question number two seemed to be tricky for many students, so if the student understood all other questions and identified a theme for every other one, then the student received a check plus. Question number two will be reviewed as a whole class lesson in order to make complete sense of where the misconceptions or confusion was. I think these students would be best to explain how they went about categorizing in such a manner to students who received a check minus or check. I think its important to use students‘ own ideas when readdressing the same problems again.
A deeper level of understanding for this concept would require students to provide examples for the themes they identified, along with creating more themes for each question. The students were prompted to report on two or three themes, but students who received a check plus can be challenged to create more themes.
Assessment of Self
For my lesson, I opened the unit on exploration. The activity was intended to be an activator for students, in order to brainstorm ideas on different aspects on exploration. The lesson plan was over a one hour time period and was to help cover the social studies guideline listed by the Massachusetts framework.
The students, previous to my lesson, were given a worksheet to help them start thinking about explorers. This worksheet asked them to define explorer, along with think about the different characteristics each explorer had to have have in order to best complete their goal. Students were given about 20 minutes to complete this worksheet and the worksheet was collected.
From the worksheet, I took many of the responses and created a ‘key terms‘ list that include: exploration, explorers, and explore. It is important to note that the students were read out aloud these definitions before the brainstorming activity began and that the students had access to these definitions throughout the activity. Students also indicated that they had prior knowledge through the worksheet on defining these terms. I think its crucial to define key terms before opening a unit on exploration, so that students can have an understanding of the topic and not get confused by the new vocabulary they may be challenged with.
The small groups were grouped together strategically. There are six boys in the class and thirteen girls. I think it was important to spread the boys out among the four groups in order for everyone to stay on task (the boys in this particular classroom tend to distract each other often). There was four groups and each group had 4-5 members. It was suggested that I keep the groups around that number, for best small group habits. I also had the small groups rotate who was writing at each poster, so that everyone was included at some point in the brainstorming process. I stressed that brainstorming did not rely on “right”, or correct, ideas, but to get all ideas out on the paper. I also stressed to try their best with spelling, but to not get stuck on spelling a word, instead of listing ideas. I think its crucial that students learn to write out as much as possible to gather a lot of ideas, instead of creating a polished piece of work with few ideas.
If I were to do the lesson over again, I would have stated the directions more clearly. I would have gone over all the questions as a large group, taken any questions, then proceeded to break them up. However, I was pleasantly surprised how well they rotated around the classroom effortlessly. They also all worked together rather seamlessly.
After they broke up into groups, they began brainstorming. This part of the lesson was the most fun for me since I got to have more small group-teacher interaction and I got a chance to monitor everyone’s thinking a bit better. I think it was also nice that each group had a different color, and I saw them take ownership of their own group’s work. Brainstorming happened at each station for about five minutes and then the groups rotated to all four questions. If I were to do it over again, I would add one more question.
After brainstorming ended, we gathered as a whole class once again. This is where the lesson became ‘murky’. My supervising teacher had wanted me to model how to place the brainstorming ideas into different categories or themes. I made a scaffolded worksheet to help them do this. For the first question, I modeled it as a whole class. I read the list off and asked the students if there was a common theme between two. We talked about transportation as a theme and how busses, cars, trains, and planes could all fall under that category. I think this was a hard concept for me to understand exactly what my teacher wanted from the task. However, after viewing the worksheets I think after one more lesson the students will completely master this technique of categorizing items into a bigger theme. For their ticket to leave, they were to write one question about exploration, which they all completed.
Overall, I think the one aspect I need to work on most is time management. I often feel rushed to complete everything instead of taking my time to give complete directions. I also need to model the activities without relying on the students. I need to remember that sometimes I have to model what I expect and then have a class discussion about it. Often times I try to hard to incorporate the students, instead of just modeling what I expect.
I think one positive aspect about this lesson is that the brainstorming session went smoothly. I think it is partly due to the experience that the class held on doing an activity similar to this and also partly because my expectations were clear. I did my best to monitor the groups and keep everyone on task along with switching questions when the groups seemed about complete (even if the full five minutes had not gone by). I think it is incredibly important to be able to assess yourself as a teacher in order to grow as a professional.
VIDEOTAPE SELF-ASSESSMENT 1: INTERPERSONAL SKILLS
Questions for Analysis: Please respond with comments
Please leave questions and answer each below.
Describe your tone of voice. Does your tone vary in expression? Does it convey acceptance or impatience? If you were a student in your classroom would you feel comfortable taking risks given your tone of voice as expressed in this videotape lesson?
My tone of voice was calm throughout most of the video. In some points, when I was asking students to use a hand to speak or to take a break, I was a bit stern. I think tone has a more serious aspect to it, to make the student aware they are not meeting my expectations. However, overall, I would say I would feel comfortable if I was a student in my own classroom.
What is the nature of your verbalization? What kind of questions do you tend to ask most? Are they problem-solving questions? Questions that relate to real world experiences?
The questions I were asking mostly were open ended. I wanted students to engage in he brainstorming activity and then provide their thoughts afterwards on the themes that were arising. I think the majority of my questions were problem-solving questions, but some where also questions on clarity on what the student said as well (ie: “can you expand on that idea?” or “can you provide me with a concrete example?”).
How responsive are you to what children are saying? Are you more responsive to certain children than to others?
I think I was pretty responsive with what children are saying. I ask clarifying questions when appropriate, I look them in the eyes when they are speaking, and I make sure the other children are being respectful. I think during parts of my lesson, I was taken away from the class to address a certain student’s behavior (such as telling him to take a break, to please use a hand, etc) and I wonder how my interactions with him changed the group dynamic.
How often do you acknowledge children? What is the nature of this acknowledgement? What is your body language?
When speaking to the students, I acknowledge their ideas by repeating them and then asking any clarifying questions. I also make sure to write it down during our full discussion class, to indicate that their ideas are being acknowledged. My body language was interesting to watch, I tend to fiddle with my hands as I speak so I wonder if that is distracting to any of my students. I also tend to walk around the classroom during the lesson which I think kept every student focused.
How do you provide feedback to children regarding their performance? Do you tend to make global statements such as “good job” or do you tend to be more specific?
I try to be specific with feedback, such as “that is exactly what I was looking for”, or “great job citing examples of the work!” instead of a standard “good job”. I want the students to feel acknowledged for the behavior I would like. I also noticed that I thanked many students for having a “quiet hand” for me to call on them. I think this positive reinforcement was helpful when showing my expectations for the class.
Affective Qualities: Comment and give examples
Accepting and tolerant: I think I provided a space where students felt comfortable sharing an idea, if they were not confident it was correct. An example would be when I said “that’s a really great thought, and I wonder if you could expand on it more” when I was unsure of a student’s thinking.
Encouraging and supportive: I attempted to support students while they were in small groups by encouraging them to share their ideas. There was several times where I told them to “share whatever idea they may have!” because I wanted to encourage them to work together.
Friendly and warm: I attempted to be friendly and warm by nodding my head and providing eye contact while the student was speaking. I also used a calm tone when talking to the students.
Having an appropriate use of humor: I did not use humor during this lesson, but I did skip over answers that the students brainstormed that were inappropriate. I think monitoring students humor is in a way having an appropriate sense of humor.
Calm, in spite of conflicting demands: I believe I remained calm throughout the entire lesson. I was watching the part when I asked the student to “take a break” and I surprised myself with how calm, but strict I sounded in that moment. I usually speak with a very airy voice, but it was interesting to hear myself change tones.
Attentive and responsive to students’ needs and interests: I think I acknowledged students who had different needs and interests. During the brainstorming, I went around and asked some of the athletes in my class, “what do you think would have been different in the 1400s that you do in your life now? Like relating to sports?” and I think showed evidence of my ability to get to know the students and use this to my advantage. I also “checked in” more frequently with the students who tend to have a harder time staying focused.
________________________________________________________________________
After reflecting on your use of interpersonal skills during your videotaping, please complete the following statements.
- I felt really good about…how I interacted with the students and managed the classroom.
- I was uncomfortable with…how to keep humor in a lesson plan without making it distracting.
- What I learned most about myself was…that I have the ability to keep a classroom on task while leading a lesson plan, even when I do not feel completely comfortable with the task at hand.
- I had problems with…describing the task in a clear manner.
- Things I would do differently next time include … giving the directions a better way to make it more clear to the students. I think this because many students were confused about identifying themes, even after the large group example.
- The decision I made during the lesson that stays most in my mind was… having students rotate earlier than expected because they had finished brainstorming at that session. I think it really proved to myself how flexible I can be.
- When I think about teaching, learning, and the learning process, I learned… how to better time manage, along with behavior manage an entire class. I also learned how you need to know each individual child to really adapt to their needs.
Artifact 6C - Reflection on Observation
Reflection on Observation
As a developing teacher, I found the critiques helpful and constructive. Karen (the supervisor) suggested I slow down my direction giving and thinking about multiple ways of giving directions (such as writing them on the board along with giving it to them orally). Karen also suggested that my modeling should be more explicit, such as a “think aloud” method of my thoughts, instead of of relying on the students to input their opinion while I am modeling a new technique. Kathleen (my supervising teacher) recommended that I keep thinking about “setting reasonable expectations”. I think my lesson included a lot of components (small group work, turn and talk partner share, and independent work, along with a large group discussion), but I think my expectations were clearly stated in the beginning of the lesson and the majority of students completed the objectives.
Also as a developing teacher, it is helpful to know the positive aspects of my teaching as well. This includes behavior management (which I did not realize was what I was doing alongside teaching), along with being responsive to the classroom. I think Kathleen said it best when she said I have a “presence” in the classroom and the students really respond to my authoritative stature. I think its important to be able to gain and keep respect from your students in order to best teach a lesson.
Artifact 6D- My Personal Philosophy of Education
Emily Burdick
EDU 316
March 19, 2013
My Personal Philosophy of Education
I believe that the process of education never ceases. I believe every human is a life long learner and that learning does not have to happen in a conventional classroom. I believe, as a future teacher, that education is the process of learning about the world and your role in it. Through math, science, and the other curricular subjects, an individual can learn about themselves and the world around them. Thinking back to my own education, I most remember the projects and papers I invested interested in. In eighth grade, I wrote my own declaration of independence (at age 12, I declared myself independent of Wal-Mart), in third grade, we had to create our own restaurant. These projects had meaning behind them and encouraged me to learn.
I also think my role as a teacher is to foster a sense of curiosity. I urge my students to ask why along with find out the reason behind it. I think a ‘good‘ education is one where you learn to ask questions and critically think about the world around you. Education should be based around teaching children how to be productive, moral citizens of the society of the world. This means to tolerate differences among others, along with get along with people who have different beliefs.
I have always struggled with educating those who dislike learning. I feel as though it is a privilege to receive an education. No one owes you an education, no one forces an education upon someone. You make your own education, and you take the exact amount of education you want from it. This is based from my upbringing. I was born in Ethiopia and growing up, I was told to take advantage of all that education has to offer me. I also lived in an inner city where education was the way ‘out‘ of the cycle of poverty for many of my friends. Knowing that education was so valued for so many of people I respected, I found it frustrating to meet people who take their opportunity for education for granted. I believe, above all else, that education is the most valuable opportunity that I can ever offer a child.
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