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
Throughout the course of my internship, there have been many concepts that I had to learn before teaching them to my students. For example, when I did my unit on poetry, I had to research many different types of poetry so that I could have a variety to teach. I never learned poetry in my education so it was exciting and fun to learn with my students. I also enjoyed teaching my students how to teach their classmates about a subject because when they teach others they will remember and it will be more meaningful to them.
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Human Development and Learning
I developed my lessons based on instructional goals such as the Standards, I Can Do Its and the facts check. I developed and planned lessons to meet these goals because it gave my lessons a focus. I also aligned my assessment to match the goal. By doing this, I was able to know what my students should learn though my lesson. I found it amazing to watch my students develop and grow. For example, one students struggled with her writing skills and it was difficult to see where words started and ended. By differentiating her instruction and following the standards, I was able to watch her blossom into a confident writer.
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Diversity
I feel I have a knowledge and appreciation of the diversity in the classroom. Diversity is not just the cultural background of a person, but also how they learn and use their different talents. Children come in different shapes and sizes. As an intern I felt it was important to embrace each childs' unique learning style. I also felt it was important that students learned to respect other students and their differences.
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Planning for Instruction
Throughout my student teaching experience, I have created many exciting lessons and units for my students to engage in. Using the state and district standards as my guidelines, I strived to make sure that my class stayed on top of the learning objectives that we needed to reach by the end of the year. Building my lessons around the standards helps me to have a end goal to my lesson and then my instruction had a purpose. Working collaboratively with my mentor teacher allowed our ideas to merge into some beautiful lessons!
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Learning Environment
Focusing on a healthy learning envionment affects students positively both socially and instructionally. This was a top priority in the classroom where I interned. Our class started out by writing a promise to each other. Students brainstormed ideas how they should act and how they wanted classmates to act in class. My mentor teacher and I then took their brainstorming ideas and wrote a class promise. This is a good reminder to students that they want a classroom that is equal opportunity for all the students, and at the same time, is a safe and warm learning enviornment.
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Instructional Delivery
One of the things that is very important in the delivery of instruction is motivating and engaging the students in the lesson. By having a variety of instructional deliveries, students are more likely to participate. In my class students enjoyed using technology. We had a Smartboard in the classroom that we used on a daily basis to compliment instruction. The picture below shows a student using the Smartboard. They enjoyed lessons where they could interact with the technology.
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Communication
I learned the importance of communication not only with students but parents and teachers as well. When writing home about a problem, I have learned not to just write the note, but to write it, read over it, and have a colleague read over it because it is so important that the note is clear and is not offensive to a parent. For example, a student cheated on a test. I had to write a note to his parents about what happened. I explained the situation in my note and thanked them for following up at home. I also communicated with my peers when collaborating on lessons and projects. This helped me to hone my teaching skills and share my own ideas with them.
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Assessment
I know personally that just taking tests are not a good assessment of my knowledge. I want my students to succeed so I need to assess them in different ways. When I assess students in multiple ways, I am able to see their knowledge better then if I just tested them. I assessed informally when I observe how they were doing. I also assessed them from a worksheet, a test or even a writing sample to name a few. When students can communicate their knowledge, I know that they know what they are talking about and that they are thinking it though to say what they know. I noticed that some students had trouble putting their thoughts into the spoken language, while others had trouble writing their thoughts. This is why I feel multiple assessments are needed.
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Collaborative Relationships
I have developed positive working relationships with other professionals in the building. This is helpful to me because when I come across a problem I do not know how to deal with, I have been able to ask for advice. It has also helped me to share my ideas and get ideas from others. For example, Elaine and I co-planned a unit. This helped because we were able to come up with many ideas and then pick what we would do in our own classroom. When we taught the unit, we shared resources and also made copies for each other. Mrs. Fun also gave a wonderful idea for the afternoon before spring break to have an art fest. I was able to take this idea and made a little Van Gogh afternoon. I then took these plans and shared it with all second grades. Each teacher took what they wanted to use and we even shared resources such as the pastel chalks. This activity was a lot of fun for the children and also reinforced the positive relationships I shared with other teachers in the building.
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Reflection and Professional Growth
I feel reflecting on lessons has helped me improve my teaching. Taking reflections from my mentor teacher and my ISU field teacher helped me to hear and learn what I did not always see. Getting another perspective on an issue and/or lesson in the classroom helped me to grow. I also wrote little notes to myself on how a lesson went which helped me change and improve my instruction in the classroom. For example, I struggled teaching subtraction with regrouping. I always reflected on these lessons and what I need to change to help my students grasp the concept. Though instruction and my reflections, my students became successful with this difficult math skill.
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Professional Conduct
I feel that including family in the learning process is very important. As a professional, I learned the importance of reaching out to the students and their families outside of the school day. During my internship, I volunteered in many school activities. The picture below shows my support to one of my students who won an award at the Young Authors Conference.
