Content Knowledge
Human Development and Learning
Diversity
Planning for Instruction
Learning Environment
Instructional Delivery
Communication
Assessment
Collaborative Relationships
Reflection and Professional Growth
Professional Conduct
Content Knowledge
The teacher understands the central concepts, methods of inquiry, and structures of the discipline(s) and creates learning experiences that make the content meaningful to all students.I planned and implemented an entire integrated unit during my student teaching experience. This unit focused around the topic of health and nutrition. I took this topic and integrated it into reading, math, science, and social studies. I used the classroom text book series from National Geographic. This textbook series used social studies topics to teach reading skills. I used this series along with other resources to integrate this topic into science and math as well.
This unit really helped me to see the many ways that one subject can be integrated with other subjects. I thought this would be a very difficult task, but as I planned I realized there are so many ways that topics are related. My students learned about healthy foods in my different countries just by reading a story and doing a few activities from their text books. I used our healthy word vocabulary in the story problems for that week of math. I learned that my students got a much better understanding of health and nutrition when it was discussed in every subject area. I also realized that my students enjoyed having all of the subjects integrated. They could really dive into the topic and learn a lot more. This is an important aspect of learning that I know I will use in the future.
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Human Development and Learning
The teacher understands how individuals grow, develop and learn and provides learning opportunities that support the intellectual, social, and personal development of all students.During my student teaching experience my class worked on a play to perform for other classrooms in the school. One play that was chosen was very involved and had many reading parts. This play was much to difficult for some of the students in my classroom. Therefore I planned two different plays and separated the children into groups I where know they could success. Each group of children had their own special props, backdrops, and costumes. Every student in the classroom was involved and played an active role in the process of putting on a play.
I was so glad that every student in my classroom got to fully participate in a play. Every group of students did a wonderful job. The audience loved the plays and really enjoyed watching all of my students perform. I learned that every student in my classroom deserves to fully participate in every activity. It make take a little extra work or a little extra planning, but it is worth if for my students. To see all of my students work hard at something really motivated me to do more activities that really reach at the ability levels of all my students. I will remember in the future the feeling I had seeing all of my students working hard. I will use this memory to make sure I advocate for every student in my classroom no matter what abilities they may or may not have.
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Diversity
The teacher understands how students differ in their approaches to learning and creates instructional opportunities that are adapted to diverse learners.During the first weeks of school my mentor and I began assessing our students to find the ability levels of each child. I then used this information to plan reading stations for three days of the week. I altered each activity to the ability level of the students. As the teacher I participated and observed during every day of reading stations.
I have learned that reading stations and differentiation are a great way to reach the needs of many different students. I was able work with different groups of students who all needed different types of practice of reading skills. Reading stations made it possible for every student in the classroom to get what he/she needed. This was much more effective than many whole-group instructional methods.
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Planning for Instruction
The teacher understands instructional planning and designs instruction based upon knowledge of the discipline, students, the community, and curriculum goals.I planned and implemented many lessons throughout student teaching. One that stands out in my mind was for my multicultural requirement. I read a book to my students called The Name Jar. In the story a young girl moves to the United States from Korea. When a few children make fun of her Korean name she is afraid to tell her new classmates her real name. The students in her class create a jar full of names for her to choose a new name. By the end of the story she realizes how special her name is and she decides to keep her Korean name. I then created a name jar for my classroom full of Korean names. I wrote the names on slips of paper with their American meanings. The students were able to pick one from the jar and illustrate their new name. Students were then instructed to write about how they would feel moving to a brand new country and going to a new school with a different name.
I planned this lesson as a part of a social studies unit about the different cultures that make up American culture. I could not believe my students excitement when they got to pick a name from their own name jar. My students could not wait to see what name they would drawl out of the jar. They were so excited to get started on their assignment. Not only that, but many of my students reread the story throughout the rest of the week. This experience helped me to see the importance of gaining my students interest. My students will remember that lesson and what they learned for a long time. They learn so much more when they are excited and involved with the lesson. I really try to do this for every lesson. I know the more my students are interested the more they get out of the lesson. This is a lesson I will remember forever.
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Learning Environment
The teacher uses an understanding of individual and group motivation and behavior to create a learning environment that encourages positive social interaction, active engagement in learning, and self-motivation.During student teaching I planned many involved projects for my classroom to complete. My favorite of these projects was a reader’s theater play called “Spiderella.” The students work for a couple of weeks practicing their parts for the play. My mentor and I put together costumes and props. The students created murals for backdrops and practiced acting their parts. Some of the students even help to create and practice a special dance for the one scene in the play. My students then perform this play for every classroom in the school. They even had all of their parts memorized.
Throughout this entire process I learned that learning does always come from a book and a worksheet. We began this project as a simple play that the students would maybe perform for our own class. Once I saw how interested and excited the students were I got excited too. I really let the students get involved and expand this project so they could get the most out of it. I discovered that I had some great actors and dancers in my classroom. I even had boys willing to play girl parts in the play. I really saw what my students could do when they put their minds to it. If I would have been unenthusiastic about learning and about my students they would never have had the chance to do all that they did. I don’t know who was more excited about the play me or my students. I was so proud of them when they performed their play and they did so great! This really proved to me that I need to do activities like this in the future with my own classrooms.
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Instructional DeliveryThe teacher understands and uses a variety of instructional strategies to encourage students' development of critical thinking, problem solving, and performance skills.
Technology was used in my classroom everyday to increase learning. Every Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday the students used the computers to work on computer program to increase their reading comprehension skills. My students used programs such as “Read to Succeed” and “Essential Skills.” My students also used the computers to do research about different countries around the world. On Wednesdays the students would also have another thirty minutes to use computers to practice their math skills. Once a week on Tuesdays students would also use computers to use math computer programs. I also used overhead projectors and a television to help the learning process.
It has been very interesting to me to see what my students can learn by using computers. I also realized how involved students become when they are learning using computers. Today children are surrounded by technology. It is hard for teacher to get children interested in books because they don’t move as fast as a television screen. The computers and educational videos really got my student interested in learning. They would do all types of activities using the computers. They learned how to comprehend better when reading. They learned about place value, fractions, multiplication and so much more. I know that to give my students a quality education I am going to have to keep their interests at a high level. I learned this can easily be done through computers and educational television for some parts of the learning process.
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Communication
The teacher uses knowledge of effective written, verbal, nonverbal, and visual communication techniques to foster active inquiry, collaboration, and supportive interaction in the classroom.I used many different types of communications during student teaching. I talked with my students. I used written communication by writing parts of our lessons on the overhead projector. I also used a newsletter to communicate to parents and students about the many activities going on in the classroom. I used this nonverbal communication to inform parents and students about the content over the past week of school and the upcoming topics for the next week. I also reminded parents about upcoming events and I even gave my students their spelling list for the upcoming week.
I know in the future I will need to use effective communication with my students and their families. I will need to utilize many different types of communication. This communication may be direct and verbal to my students, while over communication may take place over the phone or through a newsletter. Either way I know it is very important to keep the lines of communication open with my students and their families. I used a very organized template for my newsletter. I used the same template every week, therefore students and parents knew when and where to look for information.
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Assessment
The teacher understands various formal and informal assessment strategies and uses them to support the continuous development of all students.Assessments took place in my classroom every day. These assessments were not all formal assessments. Many assessments I made were mental assessments that I kept in mind while planning for my next lesson. This was especially the case when I ran a reading station in my classroom. While students read and answered questions aloud I could mental check for the comprehension skills of my students. My students also took formal assessments, such as math, reading, spelling, and science tests. These were also used for planning purposes. I was able to tell which students needed more time or more assistance on a particular skill. I also made a rubric for a social studies project on the different countries of the world.
Assessment is a vital tool for understanding the needs and abilities of students. I learned throughout my student teaching experience to use many different types of assessments. I also learned that not every form of assessment has to be a big formal test. If someone asked me whether or not my student could complete a certain activity I could probably tell that person what my student can do. I have mental records of the abilities of all my students. I also take the opportunity to assess my students by using projects, drawings, written tests, and interactive activities. I have also learned that some students do much better when they aren’t presented with the pressures of a formal test. I learned that I have to take many different types of assessments to fully understand what my students can do. I also learned that just because we take a final chapter test that doesn’t mean I have to move on to the next topic. If there are still students who don’t understand the concepts then it is okay to stop, slow down and make sure my students are successful.
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Collaborative Relationships
The teacher understands the role of the community in education and develops and maintains collaborative relationships with colleagues, parents/guardians, and community to support student learning and well-being.
Throughout my entire student teaching experience I had the opportunity to work with many wonderful colleagues. I spent hours cooperating and planning with my mentor. Every week a retired teacher came to my classroom to run a station during reading stations. I planned and implemented lesson plans with my peers for a group of special needs students during ISAT testing week. I also discussed ideas for activities with other professionals in my building.
My collaboration with my peers for ISAT testing week had the most effective on my student teaching experience. Together we planned activities for a group of students with special needs who would need to be tested separately from the group. My colleagues and I made sure the activities were fun and educational. This gave these students a chance to learn and relax before taking their ISAT tests. I learned how easy it can be to plan with others. It takes cooperation, but there are a lot more brains and hands to get the work done. It is very efficient to assign responsibilities to each person in the group to get the job done quickly. It is also interesting to hear ideas other than my own.
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Reflection and Professional GrowthThe teacher is a reflective practitioner who continually evaluates how choices and actions affect students, parents, and other professionals in the learning community and actively seeks opportunities to grow professionally.
I used reflection every day throughout my teaching experience. Some of this reflection was done on paper, while the majority of my reflections were done inside my head. Over the past few months my brain has been in full working condition. I am constantly thinking about my actions as a teacher. I am constantly thinking of ways to change and ways to improve. I reflect about decisions I make. I reflect about lessons I teach and the way I present the material. I reflect about my classroom management skills. I reflect about everything I do. A reflection I put a lot of thought into was as assignment to video tape a lesson. I was then to write a reflection about what I witnessed.
I have learned many things through reflection during my student teaching experience. Reflecting is the best way for me to improve my teaching skills. It does not matter that I have the best classroom with all different types of resources or that I get the best lessons plans, it matters that I think about my actions as a teacher and how to change them for the better. I also need to reflect about things that I do right. I have realized that I sometimes dwell on the negative instead of focusing on the positive. I have learned that if I am going to reflect I also need to see the good things that happened. I need to think about why that good thing happened and what I can do in the future to make sure it happens again. The thing I realized the most is without reflection everything else that I do really doesn’t matter.
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Professional ConductThe teacher understands education as a profession, maintains standards of professional conduct, and provides leadership to improve student learning and well-being.
Throughout the semester I was assessed as a teacher using the Charlotte Danielson framework. This framework is based off of the best practices in four categories. These categories are planning and preparation, classroom environment, instruction, professional responsibilities. My professor and mentor used this framework to assess my work and progress as a teacher. I used these evaluations to improve my skills as an educator. I took into consideration the areas I need to improve and worked on this progress weekly.
The Charlotte Danielson framework is based off of current research within the present educational community. I used this framework to help improve my skills as a teacher. After my professor or mentor evaluated me I would use their comments to change and improve my teaching strategies. As and educator I will need to continue to assess my own performance based off of current research. I know I cannot teach one way and stay the same for the rest of my career. I must stay up to date with important information and research involved with the field of teaching. This will provide me with opportunities to grow and develop into the best teacher I can be.
