Classroom Reflection Paper

disciplines. Since this class was used for formal instruction, I noticed that they never had a hard time with subtle refinements. These students used appropriate levels of vocabulary while answering questions and understanding the complex syntactic structures of the teacher’s PowerPoint. Although I didn’t notice any such grammar structures or phonology, I did notice how automatic they were with recognizing common words. One of the students had noticed that in the PowerPoint the teacher had used the wrong “new”. The teacher praised the student because he was even unaware he had used “new” instead of “knew” in his instruction. This showed me the ability of how late adolescence automatically recognizes critically evaluation of texts. I wish I had observed a child where they were ELL, but I thought this helped me see the developmental trends of different age groups. I thought everything I have learned in this class thus far, abstracts the idea of a child’s cognitive process theory. These students were advanced, proving that the child’s unique experiences lead to differences in their pathways to proficiency and how they communicate. I thought it was great to hear the sarcasm the teacher used with his students to interrupt the text. For example, he had made a joke about Julius Caesar’s wife and how ugly she actually was. The students laughed and really connected to his humor. I asked the teacher why he liked teaching 10th grade and he said “because I can say and act in different

After completing Module Two, I feel I have a clearer understanding of each of the five core competencies of SEL, and how to begin implementing in the classroom to help the students develop the social and emotional skills, which will help them in education and in life.

To begin the Faculty assignment I first started by trying to email professors using the faculty information document provided. Of all the specialties available under the Business degree, management and marketing most interested me. This is due to the fact that I have an ample amount of experience working in restaurants. Often while performing tasks such as endlessly sweeping floors, scraping gum off tables, talking down agitated customers and so on, I found my mind wondering. Aside from thinking about how much I was utterly and wholly adoring my tasks, I thought about what it would be like to run the establishment. I wondered what it would be like to manage others and plotted ways in which I could improve upon my manager’s skills in the area of management. Because of my curiosity for management I really wanted to speak with someone who is knowledgeable in the area. After sending a few emails to multiple instructors and not receiving any reply I decided it was time for a face to face interview.

This reflection focuses on ELCC Standard 4.1, due to the fact that I had to collaborate with administration, teachers (regular and special education), board members, facilities, parents, and students in order to develop a topic, plan, and carry out a Parent University. After discussing topics with my mentor, we decided that the topic for this Parent University should be the new PowerSchool Unified Classroom Program. The purpose of getting this new PowerSchool program was to improving the overall educational experience for students and parents by having one program that parents, students, and teachers can use to access grades, attendance, discipline, and teacher websites/homework information. The district transitioned to PowerSchool Unified Classroom as a result of parents and students complaining about having to go to five different sites just to get homework (Moodle, Schoology, etc.). Parents and students can not only view all of these components, but this program also streamlines communication between the school and home. In order for the use of Unified Classroom to actually improve the educational experience, parents need to know how to use the program.

For this assignment I was unable to ask the teachers at my normal school setting questions due to them being on vacation all this week. That being said I asked one of my favorite teachers who works at the high school I go to. This teacher's name is Claire Hickman, she is the art teacher at Bayshore High School. One of my questions asked how many years she has been in an inclusive learning environment and her answer was 13 years! That’s just 5 years short of my life time so I am sure I can learn a lot from her. I had also asked the overall composition of her classes she mentioned that each class had about 35 students ranging from grades 9 to 12. Of these 35 students 11 would be ESOL, 5 V.E. students, and 1 gifted student. I had even asked if she makes changes on her lesson plans depending on the type of student that are coming into her classroom she said yes. I asked her questions mainly pertaining to students who are ESOL and students who have disabilities. She is extremely open with her views and I knew she would make the perfect candidate to interview.

Since I was in a middle school setting, I was given the opportunity to observe multiple classrooms which a variety of different students. In my first class, I noticed that most, if not all students were African American. The ratio was 22:1, where about 18 of them were boys. The second class I went to, had a ratio of 19:1. The ethnicity in this class was again, mostly African American, with a few Hispanics and Caucasian. The third class represented a ratio of 20:1. The ethnicity was made up of mostly Hispanics, Caucasian, with 1 African American child. My final class ratio was 18:1, where most students were Hispanic and African American.

The most important resource is children. In order to fully tap that resource and allow children to gain the knowledge needed to perform to the best of their ability, and thus become effective, contributing members of society, competent teachers are needed in classrooms across the world. I hope to become a teacher, specifically for elementary-aged children, once I finish school; however, with all of the varying teaching methods educators across the world employ, I am curious to see which approaches to expanding young minds have been the most successful. Additionally, as a teacher, I would like to provide a creative environment for students that makes learning something students want to participate in, as opposed to a chore. Furthermore, because children all interpret information in different ways, I am interested in finding teaching methods that work for a majority of children.

In our classroom my mentor and I have tried and are still making adjustments to create a learning environment where our students feel safe and are able to speak their minds. I think over all we have done a good job in creating a safe environment where our students can speak freely without judgment or teasing from other students. What I have learned when working with students with English Language Learners on IEP’s is that small groups really benefit their learning, giving them the opportunity they need to express their ideas. Having smaller groups allows each student to have a voice, and gives a chance for others to find theirs. It’s hard for some students to speak out in class especially when learning a new language so having a more intimate setting allows them this opportunity. Being able to work with groups of two to five students at a time allows us to really listen to what students have to share and letting them get their entire thoughts out, not cutting them off or manipulating their words into what the teacher thinks is the right answer. This is not what I want to happen, I want all of our students to share their ideas and help one another build upon them. As their teacher we will have to facilitate more and make accommodations for our student learning a new language so they understand the content of the lesson and are able to take this knowledge with them into their future.

In the classroom where I am doing student teaching I have observed students utilizing a science notebook only three times in the school year so far. Some schools have clusters, while other schools integrate science into their curriculum through other subject such as reading and writing. According to one teacher, the students receive science instruction through STEM, which creates more of a focus for her teaching in social studies instead of science. At my assigned school, the students receive instruction in their native language in science one day and social studies the next. Most teachers put a lot of planning into ELA and math, but not a lot of planning into the science lessons that are part of the curriculum. Part of my belief that science isn’t taught at the same level as other subjects is that teachers don’t feel confident enough when it comes to different science topics.

With all of this in mind, you as the educator are able to understand your classroom and structure it in a way that it is beneficial to all students. Most of the time in my clinical setting the students are arranged in a strict manor. They must face towards the front of the classroom at all times. Even when it is time to partner up for activities they are extremely limited on how they can form groups. When structuring my classroom, I want to create an environment that is open to discussion. To keep students from feeling left out and to keep students from simply not wanting to participate, I plan on structuring the classroom in a circle instead of rows. This gives everyone an equal chance to voice their opinion and start a discussion.

When the students are learning about science in my field placement, the teacher has a set routine or schedule that they would follow. As I am observing my classroom, I have notice that the students would go to the science lab to be introduced to the science topic that we are learning. While the students are in the science lab, they are doing experiments that are very hands on. The science lab’s teacher would also introduce the students by connecting to their prior knowledge and have them explain their thinking. Since the students are very engaging in science lab, they enjoy attending the class because they get to learn something new every week.

I observed Ms. Bannon’s third-grade classroom that consists of twenty-three students in the Lower East Side Manhattan. Her classroom was very well organized with colorful labels, completed classwork a along the windowsill and the students’ desks were arranged in groups. The lesson I will be referring to is Mrs. Bannon’s lesson on finding the main idea in English Language Arts. The Common Core Standard Ms. Bannon used was ELA.RL.3.2, ELA.SL.3.2. Her lesson objective is to, “Identify and write the main idea of a story in one sentence. ”

I have learned so much in the fifteen weeks of this course about how children think. How my future students may think and how things can affect them. Such as poverty, trauma, learning abilities, primary language, and health issues, these are just the tip of the developmental iceberg. Students are exposed to so much before they can understand it and teachers need to be ready for anything they may bring in to the classroom.

Walking into the first two weeks of the EDU program I desired to experience what it would be like to be a future educator and have a grasp of how to help the molding of our youth and giving them the possibility to become future leaders. Doctor dresser was able to bring in a Concordia alumni who had just begun to experience his professional education, career and is teaching multiple different grade levels as a young teacher. When he first walked into the classroom my first impressions were that unfortunately he looked very inexperienced and unsure of what was to be expected of the lecture I thought to myself in the position of a younger student in his classroom this is a person I would not take seriously. He then proceeded to communicate

Meet Joe. Joe is bored in class. Joe feels the need to grab the classes attention when he's bored in class. Joe chooses to drum his pencils on his desk when he wants to grab attention. The class begins to drum along disregarding what the teacher is saying when they hear Joe. The teacher begins to get frustrated and loses focus of what she is saying because the whole class is drumming. The teacher yells for the students to be quiet due to her frustration. A girl in the back begins to cry because her teacher yelled. The class laughs at the girl because she is crying. The classmates start to run around their seats because they are laughing. They run into each other and get bloody noses because they are running around. The