Classroom Reflection Paper

According to Jessica Hornibrook, the chromebooks might help, but they can hurt the students who learn other ways. It may be helpful to some students, but other people might not learn best this way. Most of the work done at school is now on the chromebook, and gets turned in through there as well. A lot students like to learn using paper, and it might help them achieve better grades and even learn more. When teachers only assign schoolwork on the chromebooks, it prevents them from learning the way they do best.

The amount and usage of technology around the world is constantly growing. Because of technological advances, more and more schools are opting into technology-based learning, even with students as young as preschoolers. Many teachers (and parents as well) trust that the increasing exposure to and implementation of this technology is helping children’s learning abilities when used responsibly (Sharkins et al., 2016, p. 437).

There are many different types of attachments that I have observed in the Magnolia classroom. Some are attachments to the children’s personal belongings and others are attachments to people, such as the teachers. Growing out of these attachments is good for the children’s social-emotional development.

It is really amazing how excited students get with the possiblity of using the computer in the classroom to assist them with their lesson. The teacher added that she uses it as a reward system, stating how affective it is in maintaining order and control in the classroom. Students knew how to navigate, go to various websites that were related to the lesson and create a folder in which to put their assignments in.

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.

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.

The lessons were taught in a classroom in a New York City public school. The school is in a low-income neighborhood in Sunset Park, Brooklyn. The school’s demographics consist of a majority of Chinese students followed by Hispanic students. A majority of the parents of the students in this class do not speak English. The students were engaged throughout the lessons and it helped that they experience a positive learning environment in this class.

1. 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.

Since taking this class, my mind has been opened to so many new ideas and perspectives about the society we live in, and teaching in general. I have always considered myself to be an open-minded person, and have always striven to be socially aware. I would make sure to be on date with current social events that were happening and especially during the election, I made sure to know all sides of a topic before trying to talk about it. When I had to sign up for this class last semester, I thought that it would be easy, and that we would not talk about anything I did not already know. I thought I was socially aware about everything at the time, and that I did not need to be educated anymore on the topic of multiculturalism. Well, having been in this class for half a semester I can honestly say that I have learned more in the last eight weeks than I have taught myself. I feel like I have been able to broaden my multicultural lens extensively since starting that class, and I know that it will continue to widen as the semester goes on.

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.

Before I began this observation assignment for my SPED class I was nervous and a bit skeptical about how everything was going to be, because I have never observed an inclusion class. After my first day of observation I felt more confident about my career choice. In this reflection paper I will talk about the assignment and all the things I found interesting, important, and challenging. I will also talk about how I overcame the challenges, my misconceptions prior to observing, and how this field experience will affect my education environment. The last things I will talk about is how my future behavior will now be affected by what I learned and how this experience helped me better understand my personal and professional goals.

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

Students in classrooms complain of having to sit in classrooms all day. A story from ideas demco about changing the seating in classrooms is, “With 7 different types of seating available, it took about 2 ½ weeks for students to try all of them. After that time, I allowed students to “free choose” each day. It became obvious after the first several months that students could handle working with their friends, and we eliminated the signs. I had a few issues with students not being able to focus, but when I did, I simply asked the student to move to a new spot with his or her comfy seating. It wasn’t a problem because they couldn’t argue with my philosophy that students should be able to be comfortable and learn at the same time. I was able to get more teaching done, and the students were able to get more learning in, as they quickly got ready each day so as not to lose their choice spots. After the first month, the students were ready to eliminate even more desks. I asked if any students wanted to “desk/locker share” with a partner. This brought on a HUGE response. Pairs quickly formed, and students moved desk items into one space instead of two. We eliminated another 6–8 desks. Collaboration and neatness came into play for those sharing storage space. Desks were becoming a place to work instead of “homes” for individual students. We finally had only 6 desks out of the original 30 by mid to late September. I placed a tablecloth over these after we emptied them and gave the remaining students cubby bins. Now that all students had a bin on one of the bookshelves against the wall they no longer wanted the desks.”

This semester of co-teaching has been very eventful and eye opening. I not only learned about what I might find challenging about teaching, but also what I love about is as well. During my last lesson, while visiting with students, I was content as my role as a teacher for the first time in a while. I was more confident and comfortable and cared less about what the other teacher and students thought of me while I was working with students. During this lesson, I was also able to interact with most students one-on-one and explore their drawing and creativity with them, which was amazing. Working with this particular group of students really showed me how different students can be within one classroom setting as well, the good and the bad differences. Working with this particular teacher, I also learned about who I want to be as a teacher to my students and how your approach to teaching can either increase students’ educational success or it can hinder it.