Third Blog Inquiry Celebration

This years inquiry celebration was a very good learning experience for next semester. I went to one session which included three social studies interns.The presenters that I saw demonstrated very good action research, and their presentations were authentic and showed successful research outcomes. Their action research was on differentiating assessment. I have learned that I need to make differentating assessments a part of my classroom in the future. Incorporating this into my classroom would be very beneficial. I will use some of the techniques and stratergies that I have learned for my action research.

Blog 2 Spring 2012: Two Artifacts Connecting to Two Characteristics

Characteristic 1  "We believe that the novice teacher should have a commitment to and skills for life-long learning."

To me this is a very key characteristic that teachers must acquire.  Learning must go beyond the basic knowledge of content within your specific subject area.  For teachers to develop a commitment for learning they need to understand the importance of learning and convey this idea to their students.  A teacher needs to instill the value of learning within the students through his or her instruction.   

The artifact I would select to demonstrate my commitment to and skills for life-long learning would be a citizenship lesson I taught this semester.  I feel this lesson demonstrates a skill that I will use through out my entire life.  Citizenship is an area in my life that I will continue to improve on and learn new ways to better myself as a citizen.  With the high regard I have for being a model citizen, I want to impress upon my own students the importance of this in today's society.      

                                                                                                                                               

Characteristic 2 "We believe that the novice teacher should be an effective communicator."

 

An effective communicator has the ability to successfully relay knowledge and information to individuals.  Effectively communicating with students demonstrates the relationships and community you have built in the classroom. 

 

The artifact I would use to demonstrate being an effective communicator is the assignment I completed for my Education 401 class which was a Parent Outreach assignment.  This assignment demonstrated my ability to successfully communicate with parents about my expectations for their children.  Open communication among parent, student, and teacher is essential to having an exemplary classroom.  The assignment allowed me to do just that by establishing communication lines at the beginning of the year.

 

 

Blog 1 Spring 2012: Two Artifacts Connecting to Two Characteristics

The First artifact I will discuss relates to Characteristic #10: we believe that the novice teacher should be liberally educated.  In Economic Geography during my tutor year, one significant project my class was assigned for the semester was to create a commodity chain.  A commodity chain represents the stages of production or the changing of hands that a product or good must go through to rewind up in a particular place.  For the assignment I made a PowerPoint slide that was projected on to the wall like a giant poster.  In my slide or commodity chain I demonstrated how beef cattle change hands numerous times before ending up in the grocery store for consumer purchase.  As part of grade for the assignment I had to present my commodity chain to the class and explain the different stages.  For the project I received a perfect score of 50/50 for both the poster and the presentation.  Everyone in the class seemed to enjoy my commodity chain which made me feel very proud of the work I had done.

The Second artifact I will describe corresponds to Characteristic #6: we believe that the novice teacher should have in-depth knowledge of content. During my History 456: Appalachia Regional History class there were five quizzes throughout the semester.  My professor Kenneth Fones-Wolf brought to our attention that he was going to replace the midterm and final exams with these five quizzes.  The quizzes would serve as smaller tests to check our understanding of the content more often.  One particular quiz in the class everyone seemed to struggle on, but I did extremely well.  I earned a 104 out of 100 on the quiz and felt very proud of myself. This was after Professor Fones-Wolf had given five extra bonus points because he thought the material we had covered was so difficult.  I would later receive an A in the class for the semester.   

3rd Post:: Blog Possibilties Reflection

I feel the blogging experience has helped me discuss my experiences and discuss situations in my PDS.  After reviewing my prior post about blog possibilities, I have found that sharing information within a group is always helpful and lets others learn from your experiences, while you learn from theirs.  The effectiveness of blogging is demonstrated through collaboration and reflection.  As we post new blogs, this gives us time to not only reflect on our experiences but also lets us realize which techniques and practices that worked and ones that did not.  For example, Jessica and I discussed how to better get students motivated in the classroom which we both saw as an important variable in student learning.  Communication or collaboration in a small group is very valuable.  It allows time to highlight mistakes and improve upon them.  But more importantly it allows you and others to see what your doing well so you can keep doing it.  One primary or reflection topic that stands out in my mind is Student Expectations.  As a pre-service teacher, we need to have students know and understand what we expect from them.  Whether this is coming into class and taking their seats quietly or what desired expectations we have on each assignment they turn in.
Jessica, what do you think about Student Expectation experiences as a blog topic?                 

2nd Post: Practicum Plan

For one of my learning goals, I decided to implement better Time Management skills for myself.  Last semester I tended to procrastinate with some of my assignments.  I feel as though I have not completed those assignments to the fullest potential.  I figured utilizing better time management skills would allow me to get assignments done early.  So far this semester, I have used my time more wisely allowing me to give my best effort on each assignment. I believe this was a very useful learning goal for myself as it will improve the quaility of my work as well as give me more free time.   

During the semeter, my mentor teacher and I have altered one lesson I was planning to teach around March 1st. Due to some extra material and activities my mentor teacher wanted to cover, we have decided to push the lesson back to March 9th.  I feel as though this hasa benefitted me allowing me more time to prepare the lesson.  I have been on schedule with all my other class assignment due dates and have not removed any activites or assignments.    

I feel my activity completion progress has been going excellent.  My activities have all been implemented either in the PDS classroom or in my own assignments.  For example, at the begining of semester in my PDS I had my students write a short information paragraph.  The paragraph included having students write their names, their row and seat number (so I could put names with faces), and some information about theirselves: favorite activities, what they did for fun, if they played sports ect.  This activity will allow me to have a deeper connection with my students, be more comfortable with them, and hopefully let the students feel a since of individualism as I will be able to call them by their names. 

1st Posting: Digital Story Prompt

During my time in the PDS, I have had many good experiences with the students.  Last semester, I tutored a group of 5 to 6 students in which I taught them different math fraction problems.  I used interactive technology with my activity and the student really enjoyed using the technology.  The students also found it exciting to have a new face teaching the lesson to them.  I got many great pictures of this activity, so it would be easy to share my experience in my digital story.   I noticed how the students loved this change of pace within the classroom and was just one good experience I have had in my PDS thus far.

One story I had that other tutors may be interested in hearing was a time when I tutored a student one-on-one.  This student was in a special education classroom.  During our tutor time he tried so hard and wanted to do the very best he could when I was assisting him.  He was determined to work through each math problem even when he struggled.  With a little advice and some helpful hints from me, he was able to complete the more difficult problems.  I feel as though my presence helped motivate him to do well.  This is one story I would like to share with my other peers.  I believe was makes a good story is a story that keeps its listeners entertained and excited. Also, the story has elements that may teach the listeners something valuable or something they can apply in their own classroom.   

When using different digital multimedia during story telling, you can captivate your listeners.  Using this technology will allow you to present the story in more exciting and personal way.    

 

   

2nd Post: Relationships within my PDS

In my PDS, I have learned many things about the relationship with my students and their learning.  I am in an 11th and 12th grade Special Education classroom.  I have learned that at times during a lesson it is difficult to keep the students focused and engaged in the lesson.  These students are easily distracted by the slightest interruption.  To help keep these students engaged, my mentor teacher often makes the learning activity into a game or has the students out of their seats interacting with the lesson.  She does this by having them work through problems on the board or have the student enter their answers on the computer as they figure them out.  When working one-on-one with these students, I have found that positive reinforcement and positive feedback during each step in instruction is a key element for their learning and success for that particular lesson.  One student I worked with would get discouraged at his slightest mistake when trying to work out a math problem.  He demonstrated learned helplessness where his actions would ultimately lead to failure.  I countered his discouragement with positive feedback.  The student wanted to learn and put forth effort but needed lots of encouragement and positive reinforcement.

Most of the students in my classroom had difficulty learning the concepts or facts on the first lesson.  These students seemed to learn best by visualizing the information and then hearing my mentor teacher repeat the material.  My mentor teacher was very good at reviewing with her students.  Her reviews were not just for a couple of days like in most classrooms, but weeks, even months through the semester.  

I have found that students in the Special Education classroom are more relaxed, confident, and interactive with this type of setting.  In the collaborative setting the students seemed to be less confident, reserved, and quite with the fear of perhaps being made fun.  The Special Education classroom allows the students to interact with only Special Education peers creating a more comfortable environment which allows them to want to be more out-going and interactive with the classroom activities.

Jessica, have you had any students that were unmotivated to learn?  How did you get these students motivated?  What were the most effective learning techniques your students displayed?