Content Knowledge
Human Development and Learning
Diversity
Planning for Instruction
Learning Environment
Instructional Delivery
Communication
Assessment
Collaborative Relationships
Reflection and Professional Growth
Professional Conduct
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.
a student is creating his ASL Bingo card with pictures of
signs we had learned
When I was in the junior high math class, I had to know what I was teaching. If a student did not understand the concept that I taught, I would need to go back and find another way to teach it. I found this to be quite an adventure. When I was in math classes of my own, I was the student who always asked, “Why?” Now I know why I was always asking questions, so that I would be better equipped to help my students have the light bulb moments that every good teacher loves to see.
Even though kindergarten curriculum is not usually too difficult, when it came to putting together my interdisciplinary unit I had to use several sources. My unit was on SPACE, and I was not sure about even some of the simplest facts. I decided to use resources from NASA, both book and from online. My mentor has a whole file on space; I used some items of hers. I also used other online resources, lesson plan books, and the Learning Center staff to point me in the right directions for all of these resources. I really learned a lot and had fun creating this unit.
Now that I am teaching third grade, I need to go into more depth than I did for the kindergarteners. While in college, I have taken three semesters of another college’s Sign Language Interpreter Preparation Program. During this time, I became fluent in American Sign Language (ASL). Now, I can bring it into the classroom. When I was teaching my multicultural lesson, I taught the students The Pledge of Allegiance in ASL. Even though I had had training in the area I was teaching, I still had to use resources to make sure that I was teaching the content correctly. I was unsure of a few signs. After looking them up, I found out how to sign them and I could then teach the students the pledge in ASL.
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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.
One day after school towards the beginning of the year, a grandparent wanted to talk with my mentor and me. She told us about her grandson, who is in our class, and who his parents are. She told us that both of his parents suffer from mental illnesses. She was wondering if he stood out from the rest of the kindergarteners or if he seemed “normal.” After having a discussion with her, my mentor and I understood a bit better why this young person was doing what he does in our class. His grandmother met with us every few weeks. We never mentioned testing, but after a few months of school she told us that she and his grandfather were going to have him tested. We did as they and the doctors recommended. In my teaching years to come, I will make sure to never suggest that someone’s child is “not normal;” this is such a harsh term. Also, I will give all the data to the guardians, and try to point them in the direction of testing if I believe it is needed, but I will never suggest it. I have found that this is a realization they must find out on their own.
Since I have been in kindergarten, most students who are going to need IEPs do not have them before kindergarten. One student in particular stood out to my mentor and me. At the fall conference we showed his mom the data we had collected and she was wondering if we thought he was “normal.” At this point in time, I had my mentor answer all of the questions. Several months later, once all of the testing and paper work was done, he was moved to another school and placed in a special education classroom. Although I did not have to fulfill what was in the IEP, I had to help along the process of forming the IEP for this individual.
One of my third graders who has an IEP for reading, also has a difficult time with spelling. Instead of studying the list of fifteen words along with five more challenge words, she studies ten regular words and one challenge word. To her this is much more manageable and less overwhelming. In the future, depending on my students I feel that this practice is fair. This young lady has to work hard for her eleven words than anyone else in the class has to work their twenty words.
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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.
One week I decided to try something different. Instead of the typical math lesson, I tried math stations. At one table, I had a worksheet which involved mostly independent work. At the computers, I had a math software program that went along with the lesson needing to be taught. For the third station, the students had hands-on manipulatives to work with while solving the problems.
The students liked the change in routine, being able to work with one another, and moving around the room. For the most part the students were on-task and working. I had to do the normal management that needs to be done while any group of young people is working together. I tried this to see if I would be able to figure out what kinds of learners I had in this particular class. I found that some were better at the computer and enjoyed them more than others. Also, I found that the manipulatives were helpful to some and distracting to others. The students who found the manipulatives to be distracting were the individuals who worked better with the worksheet alone. This kind of activity is a great learning experience for both the students and the teacher. Now, the students know which kind of math practice is typically going to be better for them. In my own class, no matter what the age level, I will do activities such as this to take an inventory on my group of learners.
I also gave a reading interest inventory survey. I told them this is not for a grade; it is just so that we can find out what they feel about different kinds of reading. I had a copy for everyone. They could do it at their own pace. I also told them that no one in the class would see it besides themselves and the teachers. From what I could tell, all of the students took this seriously and did a nice job with it. Now, I know what kinds of readers I am teaching and can use this information to better align my lessons with their needs. Every year I will give either this survey, or one like it, at both the beginning and the end of the year.
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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 have had four different placements, which means I have had a lot of practice with writing lessons for different grade levels with different state and district standards. This will better prepare me for having my own classroom in the future. While in my kindergarten placement, I would write lesson plans for literacy centers. Each week I would have guided reading, computers, make a book, and one new, inventive activity. Students always looked forward to finding out what the four stations was going to be. For all of my lessons, I always had the materials I needed for the activities. I always tried to include standards in my lesson plans as well. My instructional goals for lessons would match the assessments I had created for the activities.
My mentor states that my lessons are “fully developed, aligned with standards, and age appropriate.” I always try to reference the state standards to make sure that I have covered what I need. By certain times during the year, there are particular standards that need to be covered. In Pekin District 108, we have “I Can Do Its” (ICDI), these are the state standards put into more detail and easier to understand terms. I would follow an ICDI chart to make sure that I was on time or early with each of the items or tasks. I hope that the district that I am hired by has something similar to the ICDIs, this way I will know exactly what is expected of me and my students all throughout the year.
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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 selfmotivation.
Right on the wall by the door to the hall, there are several poems posted. These are saying/songs which include how the students need to and are expected to act in the hallway. One of our procedures in our class is to line up by the quietest color (referring to the colored squares in which they sit, on the rug) and then after they line up we prepare ourselves for the hallway with a friendly reminder. One that is short, sweet and to the point is, “Hands on hips and quiet lips!” These really do work. But I have found that my mentor started to become more laid back with the procedure, and now only one or two students are still doing what the saying says by the time we reach our destination. I am also finding it is really hard to go backwards. It is difficult for me to get the students to “stay in positions” the whole way since they have become accustomed to not following the saying the whole time we are in route.
Several weeks went by before I knew that my mentor teacher’s classroom management plan was down on paper. I was learning it as time went on and I was asking questions to make sure that she and I were seeing eye-to-eye. It was not until I was putting together my substitute binder that I found out she had it all written out. The copy of the management plan has not been up dated for a few years, but basically it is the same. Within the plan there are the discipline procedures, daily procedures and other items of information that a visiting teacher would find helpful.
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Instructional Delivery
The teacher understands and uses a variety of instructional strategies to encourage students' development of critical thinking, problem solving, and performance skills.
In my kindergarten class, while reading books I would try to use different voices for each of the characters and use hand motions and facial expressions. I found that the students were more engaged and could answer more questions about the story when I was finished. Also while I was in my kindergarten class, I created and presented a lesson based off of the book called We’re Going on a Leaf Hunt. First, I read the book with exaggerated expression. Then, as a class went on our own leaf hunt outside in the school yard. After that, we came back inside and made accordion books. In our books we made leaf rubbings with the leaves we collected. Whichever color they rubbed they had to write that color word at the bottom of the page. Even the students who normally want to give up quickly or not work were trying and having fun.
In my experience, I have always tried to show enthusiasm with each lesson. When I was working with junior high math classes, there would have been no hope in getting their attention if the lesson was boring. The teacher I worked with understood this and we planned exciting activities and projects instead of doing book work everyday. The majority of the students were on task and making progress towards completing the Illinois State Standards check-off list.
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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.
During the debriefing we broke into smaller groups, here we were able to discuss what we had decided to include in our substitute folders. I was able to get ideas from other interns that I had not thought of. Through out the week I collected these extra items and added them to my substitute binder. I shared the idea of having a floor plan in addition to a seating chart and others at the table considered making one. We also shared our letters that were going to be sent home to the parents of our students. After this we also talked about other ideas that we may want to add to the already existing letters. I had not thought of including my e-mail as another way to keep in contact with the parents, so after the meeting I decided to go back and add my contact information; and then I sent out the letter. I had come to class with a letter all ready to go. Mine had pictures on it and other individuals thought it was a great idea to make the letter more than just letters on a page. We were able to feed off one another some great ideas and overall the debriefing as a whole was a positive experience.
I wrote a letter to the parents/guardians of my students and sent it home the first week I was back to school. I was letting them know that I had returned and was excited to be back in their child’s class again for another eight weeks. I also included my contact information so that the parents/guardians would feel I was a little more accessible to them if they had any questions or comments. I never received any e-mails from parents, but we do have several students who are picked up after school. This has always been a great time for parents to come and discuss quick items of worry or thought with us.
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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.
While we were reading Tornado, I questioned the students to check for understanding. The book is about an old man telling stories from his youth about him and his dog, Tornado. At the end of the book he mentions a story about a rooster, but says that the story will need to be saved for another time. As a summative assessment, I had my third graders right the lost chapter, “Tornado and the Rooster.” They needed to use some of the characters from the story, but could introduce news ones if they liked. Also, I made a story frame for them to fill in to help them sort out their ideas. Once their chapter was proof-read and checked by a teacher, they copied it to their final draft paper. Reflecting back on the last few days of reading, I was thinking about how the children had spent so much time on these papers. I talked to my mentor and said that I felt they needed something a little less strenuous for the following day. We came up with an activity that suited the job. The students created dog houses from construction paper to paste their paper on. The students really enjoyed this activity and were really creative with their stories.
Also with the third graders, I would take them to the Learning Center to play education games like Jeopardy on the Smartboard. I could informally see how they were doing with math, science, or social studies. I could see how the group was doing as a whole, but I could also assess individuals since only one person at a time went up to the Smartboard to answer questions.
When I was teaching kindergarten, I had science facts that they were suppose to know by the end of the year. I made these into yellow science fact cards. Each morning the two helpers would draw out a card from the “Science Fact Bag.” I would either read it as a true statement or a false statement. I would tell the children what to do if the fact was true and what it do if the fact was not true. Some days I would have them give me a thumbs up if it was true and a thumbs down if it was not true. This way I could see who had it and who did not. At the end of each week we would have a science facts test. This involved me reading seven science statements to the class. They had a paper numbered from one to seven. They would write “yes” if what I read was true and “no” if what I read was false. I graded these and then recorded them. I could tell over the weeks if they were improving or not to see if I needed to change our study habits.
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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 the community to support student learning and well-being.
During this year I am finding that one of the most important parts to teaching is receiving feedback from my mentor. After I implement a lesson we talk through parts of the lesson and figure out what I should try differently the following lesson. We discuss which lessons she will handle and those which I will take over. During the day we have two planning sessions; during these we are almost always in the room discussing future lessons and ideas for the classroom. This time has been very valuable to me. I have been able to ask questions which arise during lessons that I have delivered. Also at this time I can change my plans for future use for that particular lesson.
Attending the kindergarten grade level meetings has also been very valuable. Here, we teachers brainstorm and feed off of one another different ideas. At first I was not sure how much of a valuable asset I would be to the group; but as I soon found out, I am able to share with the group and build off other’s ideas to help the kindergarten corner of C. B. Smith Elementary School become even greater. We have come up with a support system; whenever one of us gets something new and exciting, we make a copy for all the other kindergarten teachers and put it in their mail boxes. I have really gotten to know the kindergarten teachers well.
In March I volunteered at the regional competition for Destination Imagination. Here I was teamed up with professional teachers to appraise students’ problem solving skills that had been incorporated into skits. I was working with my fellow appraisers and discussing how we each graded the last skit in order to give the team a score. My panel of appraisers worked out very well and I had an enjoyable day at the school.
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Reflection and Professional Growth
The teacher is a reflective practitioner who continually evaluates how choices and actions affect students, parents, and other professional in the learning community and actively seeks opportunities to grow professionally.
During some of my earlier evaluations most comments seemed positive, but as for consistency with consequences to actions I was lacking. In my kindergarten class I had one individual who was particularly harder to get into daily routines than the others. He liked being argumentative. My mentor made the suggestion to give him as little attention as possible and to talk to him as little as possible when he was misbehaving. I tried this and it seemed to work a little better than the way I was handling the situation prior to the suggestion.
When my liaison from Illinois State University has come to observe me with my classroom, I have always looked forward to our post-lesson discussions. There she praises me on what I was doing well and then she will make comments for future lessons. When she observed me in kindergarten during journal writing, she had a few great suggestions to help with class management. During the lesson she saw, the students were very active and noisier than what was required for journal writing. She made the suggestion to talk about what good journal writing looks like before the next journal writing activity. Before the next journal writing, we talked as a class about what should happen during good journal writing; bottoms in seats most of the time, raise hands for help, whispering at their tables, only using the colors at their own table, etc. This seemed to slightly help the first time I tried it. The following journal writing sessions we had a similar discussion. This time was even better. I was truly excited to see the difference in my class that the suggestion from my liaison made.
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Professional Conduct
The teacher understands education as a profession, maintains standards of professional conduct, and provides leadership to improve student learning and well-being.
In February 2008, Harry Wong, a very well known teacher, author and speaker, came to Illinois State University. I had the honor of seeing him speak, collecting the hand-outs which her provided, and buying his book. He is an advocate for “procedures, procedure, procedures.” He spoke about the overall classroom environment. “It’s not what [curriculum] you do. It’s how [procedure] you do it.” While in my education classes, teachers lecture on how to teach, but very rarely spoke about procedures and how the classroom should be set up for success. Now that I am in a classroom five days a week, I see how important it is to have a good understanding of procedures and what role they play on how much a student will learn. Now that I have left my kindergarten class and moved on to third grade, my kindergarten mentor has had the class to herself. She has become ill and has been gone for five days. The substitute teacher is not aware of all the minimal procedures that mean so much to the kindergarteners; making the substitute’s day a very hard and exhausting one.
I have found that as an educator, I am constantly reflecting. My reflections may not always be written, but they are at least shared with my mentor or thought out in my mind. All throughout the day I am thinking about how lessons and conversations have gone and how I can change the way I present or say something in order to make it run more smoothly the next time a similar situation appears.
