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.

Before class even began, there I was, making predictions about how this group of students were going to act during class – it was clear from the beginning that they knew how they were to present themselves in that class. As the students came into the classroom, the teacher greeted them all individually, fist bumping some, inquiring about the personal lives of others. It was a very pleasant environment; the students were courteous to their teacher and upon getting to their seats immediately opened up their books to where they left off last class and started setting up their Chromebooks for their reading journals. The teacher then inspired this demeanor in other students by telling students who were trickling in at the last minute to follow the example of their classmates who already had everything out and ready to go. In addition to verbal responses to and reminders of positive behavior, she reinforced this behavior in her students through posters around the room that detail the behavior she and they should expect to see in the classroom.

This semester I will be tutoring Aidan. Aidan is eight years old and is currently in the third grade at Rayburn Elementary. I chose to tutor Aidan for many reasons. The first is my interest in working with ESL students. Aidan was born in Mexico, and learned Spanish before he learned English. Aidan told me that although he spoke Spanish when he was younger, he no longer speaks Spanish. Although Aidan now only speaks English, this background will still most likely have an influence on how he reads. I have tutored ESL students before, and am curious to see how many ESL characteristics Aidan will display while reading. I was also drawn to Aidan because of his attitude. I have been observing in Aidan’s class for several weeks now as part of my Field Based training, and so I have been able to watch him interact with others in a classroom setting. Aidan seems to be bright and inquisitive, however he sometimes has a hard time understanding what he is supposed to do on math problems-especially when they are word problems. However, even when he is struggling, he seems willing to try, and that willing attitude is what made me want to tutor him.

“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.”

In my position as a vice president of curriculum programs, I visit many diverse educational settings in public and charter schools, both large urban and small rural districts. Daily, I face issues of race, gender, culture, socioeconomic class, and disability. Because I work with diverse students and a multicultural workforce, my reflection regarding powerful social and cultural influences leads me to two different conclusions. The first is that many children in the schools I visit are disadvantaged. They are born into immigrant and transient families and live in communities that rank in the lowest socio-economic strata in the country.

My passion about teaching and my students motivated me to learn more about teaching. So, I really have to admit that I enjoyed this course a lot and I was so excited to take this course to know more about the teaching strategies used and the techniques of the classroom management.

The role of the teacher is a critical piece when he or she teaches literacy programming because it is evidence of how a teacher view teaching (Izadinia, 2012). If teachers are prepared to address the diverse, and sometimes complex needs, of their students, teachers much understand phonological awareness and embrace it and work toward understanding the application for a diverse classroom (National Early Literacy Panel, 2008). The capacity to understand phonological awareness and its importance in literacy define the role of a reading teacher who produces an environment of learning that is high in quality (Norris, Lucas, & Prudhoe, 2012).

Pa Xiong’s classroom is room 118 and a couple others that she shares. Room 118 is the Special Education (SPED) classroom. In this room she works with seniors. It is supposed to be CP (college prep) time, but they treat it more like a Resource period. This happens because these students need more help in keeping their grades up than they do anything else. There is always a teacher and a para in this room incase a student comes down to the classroom seeking assistance or support they will find it. Ms. Xiong also has a ninth grade resource class. This class takes place in an eighth grade science classroom. During this class I sit down with a different student every week and we work on getting caught up on their benchmarks (online quizzes worth about ten points each) in any subject. She also has a co-taught English Language Arts class.

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.

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.

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.

The desire to ascertain how the strategies, interventions and pedagogical that we learn in class are implemented by teachers in the course of teaching prekindergarten classes made me visit Mrs. Smith’s PreK 12 class. Before my visit, I had informed her of my intention to avoid ambushing her at the last minute. My visit to her class lasted for two hours, during which I remained nonpartisan regarding the activities that were taking place in the classroom. Before the class started, however, she introduced me to the class for the sake of making the children comfortable with my presence around them.

At Rolling Green, many areas are used for gym classes now. The temperature recently just rose to the mid-60s. Before the temperature rose, students would participate outside on the schools tennis court, around the baseball diamond, and sometimes the old soccer field. Now, students are participating in the small gym towards the middle of the school building. This helps make it easier for students who didn't dress for the cold weather stay warm. As well as not fully protecting students, but avoiding possibility for children to get sick due to extreme climate change. In this reflection, I will give a brief description of the physical arrangements in the physical education classroom inside. I will then give a description of routines and procedures. Next, I will talk about one of the instructors grouping strategies and activities that stuck out to me the most. Finally, I will speak about one change I would make, and why I would make that change.

There are several revolutions in the classroom including: technology, flexible seating in bigger classroom settings, student lead discussions, group based testing, team lead for grades with meetings, and frequent hands on project based learning. I think a lot of these modern classroom changes have been implemented in the district. Not in every school but in most. I know in my school we have all of the above and I can see how these changes have helped in the learning process.