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.

One challenge for any first-year teacher is going to be content knowledge. It is not enough to learn and grow in my ability to teach; I also need to know the content I am teaching! For me, a large part of overcoming that challenge has been working closely with other teachers who have taught this material before and taking home the textbooks to read and study before my lessons. The ease of finding information on the Internet has also come in very handy in many instances. Some other available resources for enhancing content knowledge include magazines, journals, workshops, and videos. However, I truly believe that nothing can beat the wisdom of an experienced teacher. Each one of those resources listed above has proven to be very beneficial during my student teaching, and I plan to continue utilizing each of those throughout my teaching career as well.

 

Using my personal experiences from and knowledge of the Amazon Rainforest to help the students experience life in a biome different than their own

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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.

Since all students are not motivated by the same things or in the same ways, it is definitely not an easy task to ensure that all students learn. Many of my ISU courses on child development and psychology have helped give me insight on the way individuals grow, develop, and learn, but my experience with the children has been the most valuable teaching tool by far. I have found that one of the best ways to reach all children is by using a wide variety of teaching strategies and methods. There are countless resources available, and tapping into that variety can produce such fruit within a classroom. While teaching a concept, I try to include a hands-on activity, opportunities to practice with repetition, a game of some kind, and multiple visual aides. I have noticed how each of these activities helps engage and motivate different students. At my junior high placement we have one student in particular that has been exceedingly challenging to reach and motivate. Since he refuses to do any paper/pencil work, I tried some other learning tools. For one, I made up a song to “We Will Rock You” about the Pythagorean Theorem. The students really got into doing the beat on their desks and having competitions singing it every day. This particular student participated every day in the song, and even had a special part that he did at the end which gave him the opportunity to be a contributing member of the classroom environment! I was very excited! Sometimes it takes a little creative thinking to get students engaged. But I am learning that when one attempt does not work, try try again!

Another part of a teacher's responsibility in this area is to be an advocate for each of their students. Usually no one else in the building knows a child and his or her needs better than that student’s teacher. Therefore, the teacher is the one who the children need to go to bat for them, so to speak. Sometimes the children’s voices get drowned out by the time a question or decision gets to administrators. However, if the teacher’s voice is ringing clear fighting to meet the needs of each individual child, more is likely to get accomplished. I think one important thing I have come to realize is that I as a teacher may be the only one standing up for a particular child, at home or at school. Personally, I have made a conscious effort to maintain the mindset that each child is fully deserving of my best effort, and I hope to let that positive attitude influence the other teachers around me.

"Teaching should be such that what is offered is perceived as a valuable gift and not as a hard duty."     ~Albert Einstein

Click here to view the lyrics of our "Pythagorean Theorem Rocks" song which motivated, engaged, and helped students learn a difficult concept.

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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.

In my opinion it should be every teacher’s goal to tailor each student’s education to his or her individual needs. Coming into student teaching I thought that fair meant every student did the exact same thing and had the same expectations. However, I have come to learn that fair means giving every child an equal opportunity to succeed. Depending on individual needs, the same outcome could be accomplished through different means. I think a quality teacher’s plans will reflect the students' differences in a variety of activities and teaching styles. I know in my fifth grade classroom my mentor and I offered different opportunities and/or incentives such as a lunch time study group, rewards for a certain number of morning problems correct for struggling students, or enriched opportunities for students ahead of the game. Within each lesson, I also try to present the information in a visual manner, talk about the information or have the students discuss the information, and then allow the students to really practice and physically engage in the topic somehow. This is geared toward visual, auditory, and kinesthetic learners. Regardless of one’s best learning style, research shows that the more ways information comes into the brain, the more likely it is to stay there. With that kind of instruction, each child benefits!

         

In my fifth grade placement students had six different project options for how to teach their classmates about a rainforest animal during our unit on the Amazon Rainforest.

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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.

In planning lessons, I believe that goal writing is very important and that those goals are most effective when based on Illinois State Standards. Having set goals in mind allows me build an educational lesson or unit that will maximize student learning and ensure effective use of our time. I think that the more creative one can be in meeting those goals, the higher quality education the children will receive. That is what I try to do in my classroom. I always use the standards and goals as a springboard and then do my best to develop lessons that will engage and challenge the learners. Other influences certainly need to be taken into consideration when planning for instruction such as students' background knowledge, experiences, and specific points of interest. One thing I have been seeing throughout my student teaching is the more I am able to plan ahead, the better the lessons are, the higher quality the instruction is, and the more the students learn and achieve.

Attached here is an Illinois standards-based lesson plan in which I wrote clear goals and assessments directly related to those goals.

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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.

All children need guidance and consistent discipline in their lives as they begin to take more risks and learn the boundaries of acceptable behavior. I do not believe that this should come in the form of harsh punishment, but rather an environment that fosters those appropriate behaviors and treats mistakes as learning opportunities. Of course, consequences are a necessary part of learning to monitor and control one’s behavior. Those consequences, though, should be administered with compassion, consistency, and clarity. In my fifth grade classroom, I participated in creating the classroom rules along with the students. Each group of students worked together to think of several rules that would allow the classroom to run smoothly and foster learning. As a group we narrowed them down and have them posted on the wall. However, rather than focusing on rules and punishments, we focus on procedures. We began learning and practicing our procedures on the first day of school, and I continually implemented those procedures on a daily basis. I try as best as I can to create an environment where students do not have to be fearful of getting yelled at for making a mistake, but instead know that they will be consistently guided towards appropriate behaviors. The goal is that they learn to accept the consequences for their behavior and focus on how to make changes so that problems do not continue to occur. Through these methods, students not only have to work together to achieve classroom goals, but are also learning to individually monitor themselves so that they can work up to their greatest potential.

In this activity students cut out pictures representing their strengths and made a class collage. Learning about our own and each other's strengths helps to build classroom unity and motivates students to use their gifts to contribute to our community.

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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.

I know that as a student I crave variety. Within the lessons, if there is variety I am more likely to pay attention and have a greater desire to learn the material being presented. I have found that using technology and an assortment of resources provides that variety and really peaks student interest and enhances student learning. I have had the opportunity to observe many classrooms throughout the last couple of years and have seen the stark contrast between a group of students who read directly from the textbook day after day versus one in which magazines, computers, videos, photographs, or other people are brought in to enhance the curriculum. The result is usually engaged learners, higher order thinking skills, problems to solve, and an excitement to learn more.

In my teaching, I have been made aware of volumes of resources that I did not even know existed! One example is resources (in addition to books) that some libraries have. I worked with a group of interns to create and implement a social studies unit on the Civil War. The Illinois State University library has history boxes that can be checked out on a wide variety of historical topics such as the Civil War, the Oregon Trail, Abraham Lincoln, and others. These boxes include photographs from the time period, actual clothes worn by people at that time, shoes, hats, informative posters, audio recordings, diary entries, etc. that can be utilized to significantly enhance student learning. Students then can be challenged to put themselves in another person's shoes, reflect on what they would have done differently in a given situation, compare and contrast then and now, apply that knowledge to current situations, and more. This fosters true learning rather than memorizing facts for a test. With these types of strategies and resources included, it often provides the opportunity for more creativity to be expressed and freedom to engage the information in a way that works best for the students' individual learning styles.

A group of interns and I dressed up in character during our Civil War unit to help the students get a better idea of what it would be like to live during that time period

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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.

Good communication skills are necessary for any educator, regardless of grade level or subject. Effective teachers keep in constant communication with parents, students, other teachers, administrators, and other professionals in the field. This written, verbal, and nonverbal communication is also evident throughout the school day as teachers give directions, teach lessons, and signal to their class when it is time to be quiet. As a new teacher I am learning when to use which type of communication for classroom management situations as well as how to include both written and verbal communication in my instruction. My use of nonverbal communication has improved since I began playing a larger role in the classroom. Using proximity control and body language, I have learned that sometimes nonverbal cues can speak the loudest in the classroom setting. As far as verbal communication, I collaborated on a regular basis with other teachers on our team to improve my teaching skills and knowledge. In the classroom, effective verbal communication has an important part throughout the entire day. I have witnessed how the manner in which a teacher talks and addresses the students can set the tone for the whole day and affect student behavior for the positive or negative. I also want to teach my students how to effectively use these various forms of communication to accomplish goals and share knowledge and insights with the rest of the class. I hope my students learn quickly that in my classroom each child is a valued member of our community whose opinions are respected and who has much to contribute to the class.

Collaborating with my mentor and another 5th grade teacher to develop hands-on, engaging lessons

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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 believe that using a variety of assessment tools is a characteristic of a quality teacher. While the standard paper/pencil tests are certainly needed for different circumstances and can be a very useful tool, I firmly believe that they should not be the only form of assessment. Each child learns in a unique way, and each child should have the opportunity to show evidence of his or her learning in a unique way. I have had the opportunity to use several different alternative assessments in both placements of my internship. One that stands out in my fifth grade placement was during a unit I created on the rain forest. One portion of the unit was for students to work in pairs to research and report on an animal of the rain forest. Groups had six different choices on how they wanted to present their information. Regardless of whether a student loves writing, enjoys speaking in front of groups, or is excited by the thought of using technology, there was an option where they could shine. At the junior high level, one project that stands out in my mind was an assessment based on graphing linear equations. Rather than doing practice problems for a week and taking a test, students took a week to create paper stained glass windows using linear equations, coordinate points, and concepts of slope. I found that many of the students who typically do not do well on tests did quality work and earned A’s on this project. I was very pleased with the outcome, and it gave the students something to be very proud of.

Junior High stained glass window projects

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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.

Over and over again in our PDS class, our liaisons have stressed the importance of collaborating with other teachers rather than reinventing the wheel or trying to do everything ourselves. Whether it be during our student teaching or after we have secured a job, we are part of a community. That community will flourish to its fullest only when all the members work together. I have seen how positive relationships among professionals in the teaching field not only benefit the teachers, but also their students! Students receive better instruction, and within the school that cooperation provides a stable, friendly atmosphere.
During Phase I and III my mentor and I switched some students with the other 5th grade teacher on our team, and we were constantly discussing curriculum, sharing activities, monitoring progress, co-planning morning math, and even scheduling conferences together. Also, my mentor and I collaborated on a daily basis, and my university supervisor and I met weekly to evaluate my teaching and progress. In addition, in the PDS program, attendance at staff meetings is required. Because of this I have had the opportunity to collaborate with all the teachers in the school. I will certainly put effort into building these types of positive relationships throughout my teaching career.

Parent support greatly affects the attitudes of the students. Click here to see a letter I sent home to the parents before beginning my formal student teaching phase.

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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.

Personally, I have found many opportunities for professional growth during this year of student teaching and have tried to take advantage of as many as possible. I have attended all of our district's monthly school improvement and professional growth meetings since the beginning of the school year. Outside of opportunities at our school district, I attended several conferences such as a Harry Wong Seminar in Bloomington, several IEA/NEA Student Conferences, and the Illinois Reading Council Conference. They have proven to be great ways to learn valuable lessons, hear credible speakers, network with other professionals in the field, and get free resources to use in the classroom. As I continue to see how meetings, books, and conferences help me to make a greater difference in the lives of my students and in their ability to learn, I will be increasingly more motivated to search them out and learn as much as possible!

As far as reflection goes, “Effective teachers reflect,” is the saying written on a mirror in our PDS room. As interns we are learning to live by that saying. As a teacher there is no such thing as reaching perfection. Therefore, we must be using various means to improve our instruction. One such method is constant reflection. Teachers should reflect on their lessons, curriculum, resources, classroom management techniques, grading systems, field trips, and basically all interactions with students and co-workers. Reflections could be in written form as in a journal, but they could also take place verbally between two people or even silently on the drive home. While writing it out seems time consuming, I can see how reflecting in this manner not only helps to solidify what one is thinking, but it can also serve as a useful resource in future months or years.

Certificate of attendance for an IEA/NEA Student conference

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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.

I honestly believe that teaching is one of the most important and noble professions any person could undertake. A teacher's responsibility goes far beyond filling children's heads with knowledge. Teachers are helping to raise a generation and enable them to become successful, productive citizens. For me, this involves being a role model, building character, and looking out for the well-being of each child entrusted to my care. I look forward to being an active member of the community in which I work outside of school as well as during the school day. I hold myself to the highest of standards personally and trust that I would be comfortable with any parent or child seeing me in any setting and knowing that I "practice what I preach" inside and outside the school walls. Within the school I do make a conscience effort to dress, speak, and act professionally and collaborate effectively with all the staff around me. When all members of the teaching community have those similar standards and goals, we are able to focus all our efforts on improving student learning and making changes according to the best interests of the children.

Click here to see an evaluation from my university supervisor in which she comments about my professionalism at the end.

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