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 tha make the content meaningful to all students.To be perfectly honest, I have had to refresh myself of some facts this year! I want to make sure I can explain information in detail and be sure I am not telling my students any incorrect information. I make sure I research my information before teaching it to the class. I also use a variety of resources to present my information. I often use a power point on the smart board, especially for math, because it allows students to interact with the board as well as saves instructional time on drawing shapes and tables during a lesson. I do not like always having my students read from a textbook, so I often create my own fact sheets or worksheets.
I recently taught my students about careers they could have in the future. I did not like any of the books about careers, so I created my own fact sheets about different careers and had the students move station to station to read the fact sheets and answer questions on a worksheet I also created. This allows me to teach the students what I feel is most important for them to learn instead of picking and choosing parts of a textbook. I also have a full understanding of the topic because I created all of the materials by doing research.
I have also created an integrated unit about communities which is why the students learned about careers. I had to consider how all of the subjects could be integrated into a community theme which forced me to look at the topic in depth. The students really enjoyed learning about the different careers, planting the flower that their town is known for, and learning about the history of their town.
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Human Development and Learning
The teacher understands how individuals grow, develop, and learn and provides learning opportunites that support the intellectual, social, and personal development of all students.
A benefit of being in a year long internship is being with my students a majority of the year beginning with Meet the Teacher night in the fall. I was in the classroom for all of the getting to know you activities, and I learned a lot about my students along with some of their learning styles. Due to knowing their learning styles, I plan my lessons based on what works best for my students. My hands on learners are able to have hands on lessons as often as I can make a lesson hands on. No matter what the lesson, I always try to make it appealing for visual and auditory learners. I also try to get the students up and moving for activities for my kinesthetic learners. To make sure my students understand a lesson, I sometimes do an informal assessment. This worked great for converting measurements. I would have a table on the board and say, “How many feet are in 4 yards?” The students were given time to think, and they knew they could shout the answer when I said, “GO!” If a majority of the students do not yell out the correct answer, we go back to that particular part of the lesson and go over it a different way. Formal assessments are given at the end of a lesson. There are quite a few formal assessments for math and guided reading, but these are given after the informal assessments throughout the lesson.
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Diversity
The teacher understands how students differ in their appraoches to learning and creates instructional opportunities that are adapted to diverse learners.
As an intern in the PDS program, I had the opportunity to begin the year with a third grade class. I closely observed how my mentor teacher started the year. The very first day he set the procedures, but he also did get to know you activities. The children filled out surveys, played name bingo to familiarize themselves with their classmates, and even brought in biography bags. My mentor teacher paid close attention to the students’ answers. He also observed skill level throughout the first few weeks of school and adjusted his plans according to what the class needed. As I had the chance to teach the class, I tried to key in on the students’ strengths and learning styles. I have several sports fans in my classroom, so simply talking about a sports team in a math problem can capture the attention of the students. My students also respond better to me when I have visual and hands on lessons. By recognizing this interest, I try to plan hands on lessons and use as many visuals as I can. The smart board has really helped with providing a visual as well as a type of interaction for my hands on students. Working in small groups such as in guided reading really helps students work at their own ability level and receive the individual attention they would not receive during whole group instruction. I now know what kinds of lessons to plan because I have taken the time to know my students as individuals.
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Planning for Instruction
The teacher understands instructional planning and designs instrcution based upon knowledge of discipline, students, the community, and curriculum goals.
Student teaching in third grade has shown me the importance of creating lessons that teach the students the required state standards. This is important in third grade because state testing starts at this grade level. In order to make sure my plans involve state standards, I write the district I Can Do It (aligned with state standards) at the top of the lesson as a reminder of what the students are learning. I then plan the lesson the way I think my students will gain the most information. I try to incorporate multiple intelligences by using the smart board and reading the information on it aloud as well as sometimes using hands on lessons. I have also put in a particular sport or sports team to catch my students’ attention when I am teaching. Students usually want to find out more about something they are really interested in. I make sure to put in something like this when teaching a difficult math concept. When teaching predicting and trying, my students were extremely frustrated. Knowing I had many Cubs/Cardinals fans in the class, I made up a problem about the Cubs and the Cardinals. I quickly regained the students attention, and they wanted to solve the problem. This gained my students’ attention and got back to the purpose of my lesson.
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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.
Classroom management started as a challenge for me as a student teacher. I started the year wanting my students to like me. I quickly learned worrying about students liking me would not impact their learning. However, creating an environment where they could learn earned their respect. There are rules and procedures for a reason. Students were sent home with a brochure on meet the teacher night that listed the rules and told the students they would also be voting on rules during the first week. Students voted on rules and signed the poster with the rules on them. This gave the students ownership of the rules. They were also introduced to the classroom management plan that first week. They understand that if they do not follow a rule, they will have to move their clothespin on the behavior management chart. This is reinforced on a daily basis. There are also procedures in the classroom. For example, the students now know they are expected to come in the classroom in the morning, get a chair, sharpen two pencils, and follow the directions on the board which often tells them to complete their morning work which is placed in the same place everyday. Just like the rules, the procedures are also posted in the classroom as a reminder. This allows the students to know what is expected of them. Through practice and reinforcement, the classroom is managed and learning takes place.
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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.
Student teaching in a third grade classroom has allowed me to show my enthusiasm for learning in several different ways. I have shown my enthusiasm first and foremost by my demeanor. I feel I always have a smile on my face and try to convey the importance of the lessons to my students. For math especially, I even ask the students, “Why is it important to learn this?” I sometimes try to relate to my students by telling them about my own learning. If they are struggling with a subject that I often struggled with, I assure them by telling them I had a difficult time with it at first but eventually understood.
I also model enthusiasm through a variety of different lessons. I try to plan hands on lessons whenever possible to allow my students to be the ones doing instead of sitting and listening. The students have had hands on experiences with spelling and science. A spelling activity the students really enjoyed was using pipe cleaners to create the letters and using the letters to create the spelling word given to them. A science experiment the students did put them in charge of their own discovery. The students filled small trays with water and I sprinkled pepper on top of the water. The students drew a picture of what it looked like and then wrote a prediction of what will happen when dropping liquid soap into the water. Students had some wonderful ideas that would not have been expressed if I just talked to them about how important it is to wash their hands. The reactions saw and heard when the soap pushed the pepper to the sides of the tray was the best part of the lesson for me. They were truly enthralled with the lesson and wanted to know what just happened. I do my best to show my excitement in lessons, but I also try to vary my lessons and put the students in charge of their own learning.
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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 communicate with my students everyday at school. First of all, I am in the hallway every morning to greet them as they enter the classroom. When they enter the classroom, they have directions written on the board. This is the second form of communication they receive from me as they walk into the room in the morning. The message is very clear. “Good Morning! Work is on stool. Please keep it at your seat and read a book when finished.” The students know every morning they can expect to see me in the hallway to say good morning, and they will have a message on the board when they enter. Although this goes along with procedures, it is how I communicate my procedures to them. If I walk into the room and see students off task, I ask them to look at the board and follow the directions. This way, I do not have to continuously say the directions. I have clear directions for the students. This works great.
Non verbal communication is also important as a teacher. I can be reading a story aloud to the class and see a particular student not paying attention. I continue reading to the class and wait to hopefully catch his/her eye soon as long as he/she is not distracting others. A simple look lets him/her know the behavior is not acceptable. If the behavior continues, that is when I verbally have to say something to the student. Clear, effective communication is very important. I have learned even if I can give good verbal directions, students need to be able to hear me. I struggled in the beginning of being too quiet, but I worked on my teacher voice, and I now speak, write, and use non verbal communication to communicate effectively with my students.
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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.
I have used a number of assessments this year. My students have a math assessment almost everyday, but they are not always a worksheet. Recently students have been working on creating surveys and collecting data. Students were given the chance to create their own survey questions and collect the data from their classmates while creating a tally table to show their data. Moth math assessments are formal assessments. Most of the informal assessment is during spelling. We do spelling activities Mondays and Tuesdays, and these activities are not for a grade. They are for the students to review. I observe how the students are doing on their spelling list, but I do not take a formal grade. Students also have binders that have their tests for the semester. They also graph their test results in this binder. The binder can be a type of data when looking to see how a student is doing. I recently had the students complete a SAI test for math. This determines what objectives the students still need to work on. This guides instruction as well as helps my mentor teacher mark the I Can Do It sheets. Assessments are extremely important for students to know how they are doing, but also for teachers to determine if each student is completing the standards necessary for third grade.
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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.
One of my greatest collaboration during student teaching has been reflecting on lessons with my mentor and liaison. I feel I can learn from every lesson I teach. I learn what works and what does not. Even though I talk to my mentor about my plans, there is always room for improvement. Reflecting through conversations and even evaluations has shown me those “little things” that I did not think about as a beginning student teacher. For example, my first spelling activity with the students during my student teaching experience went well for the most part. I prepared myself for the lesson, had my materials ready, and I addressed unacceptable behaviors immediately. However, I did have some problems. The students enjoyed the activity at first, and then I somewhat lost their interest as time went on. I also had a student struggle with the addition when adding his/her team’s points. Another student tripped over a book bag on the floor when walking back to his seat. During reflecting, my mentor and liaison both suggested ways to prevent the struggle with math in the future and ways to keep the students’ interest. The safety issue was addressed also, and I immediately thought of a way to prevent that situation. Without the guidance of my mentor and liaison, I would have been frustrated with these small errors in the lesson. Instead, I now feel confident to make the changes and do this activity again.
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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 professionals in the learning community and actively seeks opportunities to grow professionally.
I reflect when planning, teaching, and after teaching. I reflect when planning to think about how lessons similar to this have worked for the students. I consider if I should change certain aspects of the lesson or leave it alone. For example, I know I can gain my student’s attention when I use technology based on what I have seen in the past. Because of this I plan to use technology in the classroom often. I reflect during teaching by seeing how my students are reacting to the lesson. If I see it is not working for them, I shift my plans to what I think will work best for them. After the lesson is when I really sit down and reflect. I think about what went really well and what I would like to carry onto other lessons. I also think about what did not go so well, and how I can change those aspects before teaching again. I also sit down and talk to my mentor as well as my liaison at times. They often help me decide how to fix those parts of the lesson that I felt could be improved. Reflecting on the lesson itself is important, but it is also important to reflect on aspects such as classroom management throughout the lesson.
Many times after warning a student I have thought to myself, “You have already warned him, he should have had to move his clip that time!” I feel I have began moving clips more often and for more consistent reasons than I have in the past because I have truly thought through what I have done in the past and how it should be improved. My Seminar in Education class helped me set up how to reflect by requiring me to journal and write my reflections. By being required to do this in writing, it allowed me to think this way when reflecting. Even though I do not always write down my reflections, I constantly reflect because I want my lessons to reach as many of my students as possible, and I can only do that by learning what works best for them through my experience with them.
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Professional Conduct
The teacher understands education as a profession, maintians standards of professional conduct, and provides leadership to improve student learning and well-being.
Being a professional and keeping students' best interest in mind means keeping up with current reserach. The research I have become most familiar with during my internship is Harry Wong’s classroom procedures and routines. I have read his book, The First Days of School, and I was fortunate enough to go listen him speak. He emphasizes the importance of classroom procedures starting the first day of school. I saw my mentor teacher take these steps the first day of school, and the students now know what is expected of them during certain activities such as lining up because the procedure for that has been stated, modeled, and practiced. Listening to Harry Wong, reading his book, and witnessing his practices in my mentor teacher’s classroom have shaped my philosophy of presenting procedures and continuing them throughout the year. My own experience in the classroom also affects how I teach.
I often reflect on my lessons, and I try to think of how I can improve it for the next time I teach it. I also know that I do not have the experience of others, so I ask for help from experienced teachers. For example, I asked my mentor the best way to go about teaching volume because I knew this would be a concept my students struggled with. After receiving his advice, I felt more comfortable planning for and teaching the lesson to my students. Collaborating with peers has been beneficial to get ideas from one another as well. I also attended the Illinois Reading Conference this year to improve my pedagogical knowledge of reading. I feel I learned several new ways to teach reading to my students. As a teacher, I will continue to attend professional development opportunities, stay up to date on research, collaborate with fellow teachers, and continuously reflect and improve upon my own lessons.
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