Content Knowledge
Human Development and Learning
Diversity
Planning for Instruction
Learning Environment
Instructional Delivery
Communication
Assessment
Collaborative Relationships
Reflection and Professional Growth
Professional Conduct
A strong foundation of content knowledge and an ability to carry that knowledge into daily instruction is key to being an effective teacher. This year, I worked with the other second grade intern to plan an integrated rain forest unit. In order to do this I had to do my research and learn as much as I could about the rain forest.
Though writing the unit was difficult and challenging, the pay off was incredible as I watched my students' excitement for the rain forest grow. I turned my class into a jungle and I integrated the rainforest into almost everything we did. We read stories about the rainforest in reading and we measured rain forest bugs during math. By integrating the exciting rain forest content into daily activities students became more engaged in the instruction. This taught me that putting that extra effort into integrating interesting and important content into core subjects helps to enhance student understanding and engages them in the learning process.
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Human Development and Learning
In order to effectively teach students, teachers must first know their students. They must observe them and learn how they 'tick' so that they can differentiate instruction to meet their students’ needs.
Getting to know my students as individuals proved to be very difficult this year. With 23 students in my class, I had 23 individuals to consider as I planned my lessons and thought through each week. I had to make a very conscience effort to observe my students during small and whole group activities to see how they learn best and the things they struggle with. Once I had a solid understanding of my students I could plan a variety of developmental activities to meet their needs and abilities. By doing this, I gave my students a variety of opportunities to learn and succeed in my classroom.
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Diversity
As I worked throughout the year to plan for the diverse needs of my students, I learned that in order to do that I must understand my students first. All students learn differently and the skill levels of my students vary tremendously. As their teacher, I learned to be tuned into their differences and needs in order to plan diverse goals and activities for them.
At the end of every week, as I planned for the next week, I made sure to take the needs of all the students in my class into consideration. I had two students with IEP's in my class, and I had to be sure to take their diverse needs and make accomodations for them into every lesson I planned. I also had to take into consideration the needs of the advanced students in my class who tended to finish early and needed an extra challenge to help them go deeper in their understanding of the content.
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Planning for Instruction
A major part of being a successful teacher is being able to plan and prepare for instruction ahead of time. This planning must be guided by state learning standards and must have a clear flow from activity to activity and concept to concept.
As I planned for each week of instruction during my student teaching, I found that it was crucial for me to begin with the end goal in mind. I needed to know what I wanted my students to be able to do by the end of the week’s lessons. Then, I could plan for engaging activities that opened in a way that grabbed students' attention and ended in a way that gave them sufficient closure. I found that thinking through these elements helped me to be pro active in instruction rather than reactive.
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Learning Environment
Establishing a positive learning environment in the classroom is one of the most challenging responsibilities of a teacher. As teachers, we set the tone for the learning that will take place in the classroom and the relationships that will be built throughout the year.
This year, I have learned that in order to have a functional and effective classroom in which I can impact my students, I must establish clear expectations from the beginning of the year and build a good rapport with my students. This year in my class, I expected my students to follow the I-Care rules and there were consequences for not meeting these expectations. I also made sure to recognize students by giving them a B.O.B. (Bring Our Best) pom pom ball when they were following the rules or when they went above and beyond what was expected of them. The consequences combined with intentional positive reinforcement helped me to create a positive and effective learning environment in my classroom.
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Instructional Delivery
It is very easy for instruction to become dry and boring when teachers to not make a conscience effort to 'spice' things up by using a variety of resources and methods. In this age of technology and the internet, the doors are wide open for teachers to bring new and creative things into instruction. By simply taking the time to seek these things out, we can bring so much more to our daily instruction.
At the beginning of the year, I was so focused on communicating information to my students that I was not making a conscience effort to connect with them. I was having a hard time showing true enthusiasm for things we were doing in class because I was not connected to the students as I was teaching them. However, once I explored some of the resources available to me and found new and creative ways to teach the same things, I was able to connect with my students and truly impact their learning.
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Communication
Effective communication is a very important skill for a teacher to have. Teachers communicate with students, parents, administrators, and other teachers on a daily basis in a variety of ways and they need to be able to do it well.
This year I communicated with the parents of my students through a monthly news letter. It was very important that I used good communication skills so that the information I was trying to convey was clear and concise. I also used written communication to correspond with my students throughout the year. I wrote encouraging I-Care messages to several of my students. These messages were read to the students by the principal of the school during the opening ceremony in the morning. Once again, I wanted to be sure that the student understood the message I was trying to convey, so I had to be very careful to use good communication.
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Assessment
When teaching students a new concept or skill, it is important to have a way to measure or assess what they have learned. As teachers, we must be able to think of and use a variety of assessment techniques with our students. Using a variety of assessments not only gives students the opportunity to apply their knowledge in a variety of ways, but it also gives students, who may struggle with traditional paper pencil assessments, a better chance to succeed.
This year I gave my students an alternative assessment that corresponded with a rain forest unit we had been working on. For about 3 weeks, my second graders learned all about the rainforest. They learned about the different animals in the rainforest, the layers, where rainforests are found throughout the world, etc. At the end of the unit, the students each chose an animal of the rainforest and researched it using books and animal cards we had in the room. Then, the students put together a PowerPoint that included a profile of their animal and some interesting facts they learned about it. These PowerPoints were then shown to the students’ parents during the jungle themed open house. This assessment gave my students a fun way to apply all that they had learned throughout the unit and put it together in a creative way.
Rainforest Assessment Power Point
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Collaborative Relationships
As teachers, we cannot succeed on our own without the help and collaboration of our colleagues. It is important that we work together to share ideas and come up with new and innovative ways of teaching our students.
This year I was fortunate to have an intern working in the second grade class next door to me. She and I worked together throughout the year to plan units and figure out ways to bring the students in our classes together in learning experiences. This relationship, as well as the other relationships I built with the teachers in the building, helped me to grow and learn far more than I could have on my own.
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Reflection and Professional Growth
If a teacher expects to grow and develop, they must be able to be reflective in all they do. Reflection has always been a large part of my own personal life. I have learned that writing helps me to process things going on in my life and in my thoughts. Over the past year, I have learned to use writing to help me process through a day of teaching. These reflections have helped me to grow and develop as a teacher. By writing things down and intentionally thinking through and processing my day, I have found that I am able to learn a lot more about myself as well as my students.
As teachers we need to be life long learners who are willing to grow and develop throughout our career. There is always new research and new ways of doing things and teachers need to be willing to expose themselves to this new knowledge and enhance their understanding. One way to do this is to attend education conferences and workshops. This year, I had the opportunity to attend and present at the Illinois Reading Conference. I think that this conference was a terrific experience. I was able to share my own ideas and resources with other teachers and pre- service teachers as well as learn a lot about teaching reading and other 'fresh' ideas.
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Professional Conduct
By taking part in the Pekin Professional Development School, I have been exposed to and involved in all aspects of the teaching profession. In addition to my professional responsibilities in the classroom such as planning, instruction, record keeping, etc., I have been involved in district wide professional development meetings, building staff meetings, and school improvement meetings. My participation in these events has prepared me to enter the teaching profession and fulfill all the responsibilities that are to come.
