Classroom Reflection

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.

Education is the key to many doors. The way one uses that education allows for many different doors to be unlocked. The student I am today and will be in the future is a direct result of my journey through different doors into who I am no. Whether it was procrastinating throughout high school, studying hard in college, or planning courses for a new semester, each choice is a door leading to the next room.

Question 1. How do you make work more meaningful to your students? What motivators are you currently using with your students? Examine the climate in your classroom. What would you change to make it better?

When I arrived to my classroom today, Mrs. Beach’s students were still at their special. This gave us about ten minutes to talk about my upcoming less. Mrs. Beach would like me to teach my lesson on October 24. I am not certain which standard I will be teaching, but I do know that I will be teaching students how to solve story problems using the standard subtraction algorithm. I am excited to teach this lesson, but I am also very nervous because I don’t know exactly how to introduce this topic to the students. At 10:10 A.M., the students returned to the classroom, grabbed their math baskets and sat down at their desks. I am constantly amazed at how well behaved these students are. I cannot to learn more about the management strategies that Mrs. Beach implements in her class.

My fourth period’s classroom resembled a computer lab. The five students (who sat on the back row) kept me tip-toeing on pins and needles.

The purpose of this workshop is to explore the vision of and values placed on inclusion of special needs students in a general education classroom by special education teachers as well as general education teachers and how they both can work together to create a shared sense of purpose. “Although scholars have long considered how leaders communicate visions and values to establish a sense of purpose, they have overlooked how these messages can be used to establish a shared sense of purpose, which is achieved when multiple employees possess the same understanding of the purpose of work” (Carton, Murphy, & Clark, 2014). Thus the workshop is recommended for special education teachers and general education teachers, however, special education supervisors and administrators are also invited to participate. “These workshops or clinics are most effective when they are in the teacher's subject area” (Professional Development for Teachers,” n.d.).

One major drawback that Blatchford (2015) has with the idea of differentiation is ‘the fact that teachers have to do this for 30 students at once’ making ‘it even more difficult’. He further continues to express how you can have great experience in this field which reflects ‘purposeful practice’ but you still would not be able to ‘quite crack’ differentiation. In some ways, I agree with Blatchford as from my first placement, I too have felt the pressure of differentiating for the whole class. I always found myself altering my plans as just when I think I have the best plan for that teaching, another need will crop up, thus starting back at stage one. Additionally, I feel it gives the teachers the impression of feeling intimidated by the number of needs that they would need to measure for when planning.

2) Describe a time when you were on a team that was dysfunctional in some regard. How did you address the situation? (Teamwork)

My first day at Roberto Clemente taught me the most critical and foundation characteristic of the school in that all the staff are there of their own accord with inspiring goals for the students. It is clear that anyone who enters the school with the intent to support the students in one way or another is welcome.

When confronted with learning new and challenging concepts in the field of science, I rely on a variety of strategies to help me make sense of the content material. To begin, during my early educational experience (K-12), I quickly realized that I am a visual and verbal learner, meaning that if I was to truly learn and remember the concepts of a class (and succeed on assessments), I needed to 1) pay attention when the teacher was explaining the content, 2) write down my own notes—both in the form of words and charts/diagrams—and 3) review my notes and other class material frequently.

The compelling question that I plan on using for my inquiry lesson is; “What are some important physical and behavioral adaptations that help animals survive in their environment? Students will work in pairs to investigate two animals in a symbiotic relationship, for example, Oxpecker birds and Zebras. Students will research the animal’s habitat, the animal’s physical and behavioral adaptation and how it helps the animal survive and how the animals interact with nonliving and living things.

This term, Nina has made noticeable improvements to stay focused during classroom discussions. Despite her best efforts, Nina still finds it difficult to follow instructions, learn specialist vocabulary, locate and join words together to form meaningful utterances. Furthermore, her language and communication difficulty extend to interactions in collaborative tasks, group work and social situations where she struggles to use social language, such as ‘turn-taking’ and to consider what others say. Due to such communication and interaction difficulties, she requires a lot of support and structured activities to help with her learning.

My experience was informational. I was able to see how my students are inside the classroom environment with my teacher how they are in art. I was also able to observe another classroom and see how they differ from my class. All of these are completely different spaces where the children act differently. Comparing these different environments provided a unique insight into how these children act differently depending on who is around. Having been with these children a lot now, I have the ability to interact with them and get to know them individually. This helps in my classroom assessments because I am able to differentiate between how children normally behave and what the normal classroom routine is like.

One of the most difficult things to master while teaching is classroom management. Through my experience I have noticed how easily a classroom of seventeen first graders can get off task, but also how easily a teacher can help guide their focus back on task.

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