Content Knowledge
Human Development and Learning
Diversity
Planning for Instruction
Learning Environment
Instructional Delivery
Communication
Assessment
Collaborative Relationships
Reflection and Professional Growth
Professional Conduct
Teachers are supposed to be very knowledgeable about the content they are teaching and it’s very important that they try and know as much about the topic as they can. A person learns something new every day, including teachers!
I have learned that as much as you try and learn the content that there is always going to be one child that will always come up with a very interesting question that you don’t know the answer to. As a teacher, you feel a little unsure of yourself and wonder why you don’t know the answer to this. As you continue teaching, you use these types of questions and learn how to answer them. When you are up there teaching and a question comes up that you don’t know the answer to, you ask the class for help and then you can always look it up. Never be afraid to tell them, I don’t know the answer; we will have to look it up.
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Human Development and Learning
As a teacher one of the most important aspects of teaching is knowing your students. It is important to know their strengths and weaknesses. It’s not a hard task to get to know your students. They are all so different that you develop a connection with each of them and the two of you have something special in common.
One of the best parts of teaching is developing these special relationships with the children. All of the children are so special and unique that you can’t help but love them and want to do as much as you possibly can for them. You get to spend special time with each child working hard and doing the best they can. This is also happens when you get to put children in groups knowing who can help who, and who will step up and be a leader. Knowing your students is one of the most important aspects of teaching. The picture is of a group of students working together on their Abraham Lincoln log cabins.
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Diversity
It is so important to develop activities and lessons that are suitable for diverse learners. Every child is different and no two are the same. When developing activities it is vital to think about your student’s needs and differences. The lessons need to be developed with high and low questions as well as trying to challenging some students. In a classroom you will have children on all different levels.
I have learned that trying to develop lesson plans that are suitable for diverse learners is a hard task. What it ultimately comes down to, is knowing your students! I have found that by learning and understanding my students I know their strengths and weaknesses. When you know their strengths and weakness you can create lessons and activities that will be beneficial to them, while at the same time not making them feel different in anyway. I have made lessons that are designed especially for my class with the correct adaptations. The lesson plans tell which children will possibly have a problem with the assignment and what to do to help them. The picture is of a lesson that has adaptations for the five special education children that come into the class.
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Planning for Instruction
As a teacher it is so important that you follow the state learning standards and the district learning standards if they have them. That is a guide that should be followed all year and those are what you can use to prepare the students for ISAT. Teachers should take advantage of those standards and use them as a guide for directing them to the right content.I have learned that those standards are so important because they give you an outline of what you should be teaching. I also feel like they make sure that there is a purpose to the lesson. Once this is in place, you are able to make sure you are meeting the standards while knowing you are meeting all the standards. Sometimes you want to do an activity because it sounds fun. but when you try and write the standards that it will meet there aren’t any. Then you feel like you can’t do the activity because you are not meeting any of the standards. I have learned that as a teacher you want to do all these activities, but you soon realize that it’s just not possible.
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Learning Environment
When teachers have twenty-five students in a classroom, it is hard to meet everyone's needs. No two students are a like in anyway! They are all reading at different levels and their skills in a certain subject are all different. When trying to meet the needs of all the students in the classroom it becomes difficult at times. Most teachers have children that come in for certain subjects, such as science or math. Teachers must remember that these students are just like everyone else and should be treated the same way.
At the beginning of the year, I found it so difficult to make lesson plans that met everyone’s needs. I was very overwhelmed and wasn’t sure if I was integrating them enough or if I was leaving them out. I have learned that some of these children that come to my class for science are some of the hardest working students. These children have a great work ethic, and always strive to do their best.
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Instructional Delivery
It is so important to incorporate technology into the classroom. The children are given so many opportunities at school because some children don’t have computers at home so it is critical that they get the opportunity to use them at school. Teachers are just as fortunate as children because they are given just as many opportunities. We as teachers have all sorts of different software to use. We also have smart boards which is an awesome tool to have in your classroom. If you are lucky and have a smart board hooked up, take full advantage of it!
I never realized how much technology we use in the classroom on a daily basis. We check our e-mail every few hours to see if the school staff has sent out any important notes that we should be aware of. We allow the children to work on the computers daily, whether it is for typing an assignment or playing learning games. Computers are a favorite station for the children. I also used a program called United Streaming, which is a program that gives you access to hundreds of videos that are grade appropriate and will go right along with the content. The children absolutely love this program and so do I! I hope that the school district that I teach in the future has this program. Here is a picture of a couple of students typing their papers on the computers.
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Communication
Knowing the content is more than just getting up there and lecturing about it. As a teacher you have to prepare tests, quizzes, rubrics and many more activities. When writing out directions for an activity you have created, the directions have to be clear and concise, so the students will be able to understand them. When you are teaching you will reach an understanding with the children that they will start to automatically understand you direction process.
I have learned that making up assessments is a task and a half because you have to be so careful on how you word sentences and directions. They have to be clear, concise, and to the point for them to understand. When you have children from day one they learn you teaching style very quickly and you don’t have many problems. When you are a student teacher and come in for eight weeks the children are so confused and complain a lot more. They sometimes use this as a cop out, but I do understand how my inexperienced teaching style is sure different from a six year teacher. This is a copy of one of the tests I created.
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Assessment
It is so important to be creative when creating assignments and projects. The children get tired of taking the same short answer or multiple choice tests. Teachers should try and vary their assessment strategies. Something to remember is that assessment just doesn’t mean a test. You can have the students give a speech or a presentation, create a diagram, or have a group assignment. There are many different ways that you can assess them rather than giving them a normal test.
Throughout this student teaching process I have given out quite a few tests and I got bored grading them, while I’m sure that the children get tired of taking them! I like to be creative and mix it up a bit rather than just giving them a standardized test. I have had the children work in groups and summarize different parts of a book or the text book. The students really like group work and get along really well together. The children have also done various projects by themselves and then presented them to the rest of the class. I have had the children to do a lot of presentations because I want them to practice on their public speaking skills. I have also created my own tests and quizzes instead of using the tests at the end of the chapters. This is a picture of a group presenting their project to the rest of the class.
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Collaborative Relationships
I feel that one of your biggest assets as a teacher is your colleagues. They are always there to help and guide you. If you have questions there is someone there that will try and help you find an answer. Teachers also work together when creating different events and fund raisers around the school.
I always jumped on the opportunity to work with colleagues. I felt that the best way to gain more knowledge and become noticed around the school was by being involved and willing to help. I helped with various activities that took place after school where fellow teachers were involved and that’s where I got to know some of the teachers around the school. This gave me time to get to know my fellow colleagues and them a chance to learn about me. I also took this time to talk with neighboring teachers about creating lesson plans, and they gave me great ideas. For example, while in Kindergarten I was starting a lesson on penguins and the 2nd graders were just finishing up their lesson. So, I got together with the 2nd grade teacher and before we started the lesson I had the 2nd graders pair up with a Kindergartner and they taught them a few interesting facts. The children loved it and it gave the 2nd graders a chance to shine and show off what they had learned. I really enjoyed the activity and wish time allowed us to do more activities like this. This is a picture of me and another teacher comparing notes/lesson plans.
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Reflection and Professional Growth
As a teacher you need to be very reflective. After every lesson or at the end of each day you need to sit down and write on your lesson plans, just a few notes on how it went and if you would do anything differently. Then when you teach it again next year you can open your notes and will remember what happen and you will know what to change. Also, when you do this, you are thinking to yourself about how it went and you know if they understood it or not and whether you need to re-teach.
I am a very reflective person and always write down how the lesson went and what I will do differently next time. I always reflect to myself about how well the children understood the lesson and whether they are ready to move on. That is always something that I do everyday because I have to decide if they are ultimately ready to move on to the next assignment. For example, in fourth grade we are multiplying two digit numbers by two digit numbers and they were supposed to have a quiz the next day, but they didn’t do well on the homework. Because of this, I held off on the quiz for a day and we did more practice problems. I didn’t want the children to get a bad grade on the quiz when I knew the whole time that they weren’t ready for a quiz. I was being reflective and wanting them to get a good grade.
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Professional Conduct
When you are a teacher you are constantly in contact with your student’s parents and families. I feel that it is important that you keep the communication line open at all times and greet the families with warm thoughtful answers. These parents trust you with their children everyday for a year and you want to give their child the best learning experience you can.
While student teaching in Kindergarten and fourth grade you get to know a lot of parents and families and they want to make sure that you are giving their child the best learning experience you can. I feel it’s important to keep them informed and updated. Parents love to get notes saying that their child did something wonderful and you should be proud of them. I don’t think it is right for teachers to only send notes home saying what their child got in trouble for today. Parents usually dread getting notes from teachers, so why not start sending positive notes home so they look forward to your notes. It doesn’t take a lot of time to jot down a quick sentence or two because the parents will have more respect for you because you take the time to send “good” notes home along with the “bad” notes. The parents will know that you really do care for their children and you are looking out for them.
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