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.

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

LP 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9 are evident in this teaching session.

There were many ways to monitor students' understanding and achievement of the mastery objectives during my lesson. Students were continuously informed me about their learning and interpreting information through discussions, explanations, ans written work. These informal observations provided me with opportunities for instruction to be adjusted according to students' needs.

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.

On November 11, 2017 I attended the Victoria Crossroads Council for Math Educators from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. This event is hosted twice a year, once during the Fall semester and once during the Spring semester. The conference is hosted by Dr. Barba Patton and Dr. Teresa LeSage Clements. Students in the education program at UHV in Victoria and Katy, come together to present and teach lessons on Science and Math. There is a morning keynote speaker, a lunch speaker, and a closing ceremony speaker the speakers are individuals involved in the field of education that present on topics regarding education.

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)

Dr. Karen Lea (2016) stated that aggressive behavior has been shown to grow from overly severe and punitive parenting, association with highly aggressive peers, and heavy viewing of television and film violence. Several of my students have clearly experienced such environmental influences which have led to the development of attention seeking behaviors, violent behaviors, poor attitudes towards school and learning, truancy, and below average academic progress. My students have also faced poverty, close family ties to gang activity, death or incarceration of a parent, lack of parental supervision, abuse, hunger, online bullying, inconsistent friendships, and rape.

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.

When I evaluate my school year, many things come to mind. I think about friends. I think about the highs and lows.I also think about how I have grown.My 7th grade year at CMS was full of concepts learned, memorable experiences, and personal growth.

As I enter Miss Stralow’s classroom she is teaching the students in math. Miss Strawlow introduces me to the class, they smile and wave/say “Hi Mrs. Jasso”. I’m early so I sit in the back of the room observing her teaching and the students interest and participation in the math sheet, it’s about subtraction. Miss Stralow does not have a smart board in her room but she does have a projection machine and a dry erase board which works just as well for this second-grade classroom. It’s quite amazing to watch Miss Stralow in action teaching simple subtraction solutions. As I glance around the classroom I do notice a couple students who are not like the other students, I can’t wait for this interview to begin

In the mornings between the hours of 8:00 am and 9:45, I had the opportunity to help out in Ms. Foy’s third grade class at Oak Ridge Elementary School. There is one teacher to 26 students in the class. The students, eight and nine year olds, work on Language Arts when I arrive to the classroom. Later they have snack and math. I take one student at a time to a table to read a fluency card to ask them questions about what they read. I also spend five minutes at a time with them to do subtraction flashcards. The classroom is set up so that every student has their own desk that are all in groups. There are posters on the walls and artwork that the students have made.

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.