Classroom Reflection

“Dane why do you never take your book home and read? You know we have a quiz on chapter 10 next class.” said Mrs. Mabe. Growing up I never enjoyed reading because we had to take tests, answer questions, and write journals over the reading. Therefore, I only did it because I was required too. My experience with reading and writing has been a stressful, boring, and opportunistic journey. When I was very young, my parents would read to me, but once I started school it all faded away. I don’t struggle to read and write; only the fact that I don’t enjoy the process. For me, both of these are very time consuming and not enjoyable. Although, none of this was fun to me; my parents strived for my success, and mentored me.

My time spent in the Clinical setting, so far, has been extremely inciteful as to how to become a better educator in a classroom setting. Through the data I collected I was able to connect Borich’s Seven Variables of learning to the students. By being in the clinical setting for nearly two months, I have been exposed to new ways of thinking when it comes to structuring a classroom and instructing a classroom. Within this reflection you will find out how I would better plan an effective lesson for the pupils in my future classroom. You will also discover what I will do about certain issues in the classroom and how I will address/fix them.

Reading is the beginning of every child’s learning. The basis of education begins with learning to read. Short (2010) explained that literature acts as “an inquiry to life” and a “way of knowing” (p. 50). However, in order to support children’s learning, it is essential to show children that learning is interesting from a young age. When Short first began teaching using worksheets and a basal reading program, she wrote, “I often felt that children were learning to read in spite of me” (p. 49). The students were not learning to think critically. However, when she began introducing literature circles to her students, she saw them “critically exploring their understandings with each other” (p. 49).

Literature teaches cultural awareness that can foster an understanding and tolerance for others. It provides education for the whole person motivating people to use their imagination and be creative. Literature engages emotions and helps develop empathy for others. In addition to building a rich vocabulary it also fosters language awareness. Teacher pedagogy plays an important factor in making the decision on which titles to use. There are many advantages of using classic literature in the classroom. It aligns with the educational standards outlined in the Common Core standards to encourage rigorous English and Language arts skill development. It is a excellent match for the text complexity that students needs to attain these goals however, if students are not interested in the subject of these books or if they are not academically prepared to find success in the reading then the assignment can turn into a negative experience which can result in aliteracy. Modern young adult literature also has a plethora of advantage for students. More modernized characters and themes are easier for students to connect with and make it easier to build literacy skills and use literacy

There is no question that a connection between reading and writing exists. Although, to what degree does one have to be immersed into literature for it to influence students’ writing experiences? Some ideas to help formulate answers and support this connection can be found in the two following articles in which, authors address the relationship between reading and writing. In the first piece titled The Reading-Writing Connection, author Olness (2005) offers insight to this connection by assembling many teachers and researchers information on the connection between reading, writing, and the value of quality children’s literature. Olness provides examples and ideas of how to successfully join reading with writing in the classroom. In

While all my courses at the University of Northern Iowa are important and have taught me a great deal, there are three classes I feel prepared me the most for student teaching and as a future teacher. One of these classes is Classroom Assessment. This course taught me how to create assessments that are as fair as possible and to relate them to the exact content that is being taught. I also learned to incorporate the eight multiple intelligences into assessment. Not all assessments have to be pencil and paper and they should not because some students cannot show their learned knowledge this way. One idea that was stressed in this course is that fair isn't always equal; this is something that has stuck with me ever since.

1. After it was all said and done, the presentation was a success in the fact that a good sample of the technology was out to all. The slides appeared to be in a good order that flowed well with the presentation. It was simple and straight forward, and it was in keeping with the technology that I was presenting. Interesting and not so much boring. I like the video clip of the technology that I was presenting. It was a good length and clear audio that was easily understood at the back of the class.

I have been working in Mrs. Bogner’s 5th grade classroom at Columbus Elementary in Edwardsville, IL. The class itself has a mix of different learning abilities, ranging from very low level students to very high level students. Although it is not considered an inclusion class, there are have multiple students in our classroom who spend a majority of the school day in a special resources classroom where they get extra help in subjects such as math, reading, and English, but then come back into our classroom for subjects such as social studies and science. Certain students may go to the special resource class for just one subject, while other students go in for multiple. My CT classifies all of the students in the class into three different level learning groups for each subject: average, which is the normal 5th grade level, above average or high, and below average or low. When picking a student to work with, my CT and I decided it would be a perfect opportunity for me to work with a lower-level math student who struggles with most concepts. By doing this, I would not only be getting my assignment done, but I would also be helping him with the assignment itself and making sure he was answering the problems correctly. After working through the assignment with him, I reported back to my CT about any concepts he struggled with so she could know what he still needs a little extra work on.

“During our last lesson we learned about how the built environment affects health. Today we will continue to learn about health disparities and what you can do to advocate for a solution to a health issue in Washington, DC.”

During my first year of teaching the steps I have taken up to this point are organizing a detailed plan, from before school started, of our daily procedures and routines. Every single day I greet my students and let them know they are welcome into the classroom. Once the students enter the classroom, they know to put their things away, backpack on the back of their chair, and lunchboxes in the cubbies. They then know to open up their bell work journal and begin the bell work question or worksheet that is provided for them at their desk. My students will know that every morning they should have 3 sharpened pencils in their pencil box and one pink eraser. They have finished work in their green folder and unfinished work in their yellow folder. By being

The changes that I would have made during this unit would include not always assessing with worksheets and varying my instruction. I would have still used some of the worksheets that came with the book, but not after each lesson like I did. I would have liked to use various instructional strategies that would have got the students up and moving during the lesson and not just having to sit there for a majority of them. My student’s performance told me that I taught the material very well and in a way that they could understand. I say this because all of the students improved by at least 15 percent from their pre-test. Yes, my students achieved the level of growth that I expected them to after looking at the pre-test and then looking at their post-test after the unit. The explanation for this is take the students knew what was expected on them each day in class regardless of how the lesson was being taught. When I began teaching and the students were sitting up front on the floor I set expectations for them. If they didn’t follow these expectations I would ask them to move a magnet. In the beginning I would remind the students of the expectations and then after a while I would just say remember the expectations. By setting these right away it showed the student what I expected and left no room to say that they didn’t know what I expected of them. My strengths were presenting the material at a level that the students could understand and being able to be flexible with my

While STEAM instruction relies on making authentic and engaging connections between the disciplines of science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics, the implementation can look slightly different from classroom to classroom. The first video demonstrates how a STEAM unit can be incorporated in a single content: middle school science. The video shows students working collaboratively in groups to complete the assigned lab and asking questions as needed. The teacher is seen facilitating the activity, as she moves from group to group, addressing those questions, providing suggestions, and guiding students towards the completion of the activity. Although neither the problem nor the driving question of the lesson were explicitly stated or reiterated during the observed clip, the ‘lesson essential question’ and the ‘learning target’ posted on the board communicate and reinforce the objective of this lesson (e.g. students will identify minerals and explain why minerals are important). Thus, based on this and my observations of the teacher and students’ interactions, I predict that this lesson is focused on assessing how well students can identify minerals, as a way to introduce students to the characteristics needed for identifying and classifying rocks. This skill is especially important as students need to solve the problem scenario, which involves describing different types of rocks to assemble a group of “rock” musicians. As I was analyzing the video clip using the

This class had taught me a great deal about myself and who I want to be as a teacher. When I finally reach my goal of having my own classroom, I will reflect back on this class due to the valuable knowledge I have received. As an educator, I hope to be the kind of teacher that makes learning fun, that is able to engage the students and have personal connects to each and every one of them. Thinking about the future, it’s scary. I have general fears of how I’m going to teach children on an everyday basis, but I know I’m going to be okay and well prepared by the time my college career is over. I hope to make a lasting impact on the people of tomorrow.

Many aspects within the third observation have been previously covered, due to its relationship with the previous observations. Mr. Clark’s classroom is full of diversity. The diversity within Clark’s room is not just of gender, race, and colour, but also in the fact that he teaches a grade three-four split. Through the use of a social environment, the students are brought together. Working at tables does more than simply bring students together to discuss and work on school work, but it also builds relationships and friendships. The social environment builds a community within the classroom, a community in which students can go to each other for help and not simply rely upon the aid of teachers. Although the students can discuss problems

This lesson took place at Lawton Elementary, which sits in Oviedo, FL. The second grade class is predominately Caucasian with a few minorities. In the class, there are 11 girls and 7 boys. The class gets along with one another fairly well. I chose this lesson because the topic was aligned with the timeline of the school’s math book and framework. Furthermore, I wanted to try to add art into the math curriculum because there’s a misconception that the arts cannot be integrated into the math curriculum. I liked this lesson because it seemed like a fun way for students to become creative and to visualize a math symbol in a different way. I like that students can view something in multiple perspectives and views.