Classroom Reflection Paper

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).

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.

Since our group was the only physical education group in the class, I feel like our strength was the ability to bring energy to the classroom. We all did a great job at being energetic and keeping the students engaged in the lesson. We also did a nice job on our delivery and giving multiple medias for learning the material. I thought a strength of our planning and delivery was the activity in our lesson to apply the knowledge learned. As a group we did a good job at going through the rules and applying them to the classroom.

Everyday teachers make decisions that influences student’s opportunities to enhance their learning through different content areas. Thus, it is essential as a teacher to draw upon the content knowledge you want your students to take away from your class but it is also equally important to equip your students with skills that will help them outside of the academic realm as well.

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

When I arrived to Mrs. Beach’s classroom, she began debriefing what had occurred in the classroom since the last time I was there. Two of the boys in her class had almost gotten into a fight, so the seating chart had to be changed so that these students were as far away from each other as possible. She also informed me that when they had a sub the previous day that they were behaving so poorly that the principal had to come in and have a talk with the students. Because of this, Mrs. Beach warned me that she would be much sterner today, because she was going to have to be out two more days this week, and she needed to reinforce what appropriate behavior looks like in her class.

One of the most important things teachers should do is try their best to get along with the parents of their students. This weeks readings were related to the importance of healthy and positive relationships in order for a child to feel a sense of belonging and to feel secure. The textbook stated, “A child’s family is the first and most important place where a feeling of identity and belonging start.” (Bilmes J, 2004). Once a child finds their sense of belonging in their family, not only do they start to understand their cultural identity, like the textbook mentioned, but they also learn about trust. From a very early age, children establish their trust in the grown ups around them, (aka their parents), and from forming trust first, it is easier to then feel a sense of belonging. This is also how teacher student relationships form. When a child knows they can trust the teacher, it is easier for them to find their place in the classroom. The easiest way for a teacher to help a child establish their trust in you is to get their parents to trust you first. In a way it is like that quote “monkey see monkey do”. If a child can see that their parents trust a teacher and see that they have a healthy and good relationship, then the child will be more open to having a relationship with their teacher.

During field, I am in a third grade classroom at Primos Elementary School in Upper Darby, PA. To maintain confidentiality as I write about my field experience, I will be using pseudo-names for the teacher and children mentioned. My field teacher is Mrs. Williams, and her classroom is home to about eighteen to twenty diverse third grades in terms of socioeconomic status, race, and ethnicity. When I am in the classroom, I am fortunate to see the children’s unpacking routine as they enter the classroom which consist of removing necessary materials from their backpacks, taking down their chairs from their desks, and for some students, eating breakfast which they paid for through the school. After the students’ finish unpacking, Mrs. Williams tries to implement a form of morning meeting, although she cannot always do so depending on the behaviors of her students. Typically, however, she finds just enough time to go over news and announcements with her class. After morning meeting, the students have math instruction from 9:15 am until 10:25 am. After math, her students go to their specials class, and then off to lunch. In this paper, I will be analyzing one of Mrs. Williams math lessons, to see if her lesson meets the elements of a lesson.

An affluent stable community in the middle of southwest Minneapolis surrounds the students at Southwest High school. The school promotes community and cultural reflection across all classes. In observing a teacher in this school I found they are very passionate for the multicultural curriculum as well as offering many opportunities for students to use critical thinking across all subjects.

Over the years, I have worked closely with children in various settings from babysitting to the actual classroom, and each time I gain new understanding of children which has allowed me to grow more patient about their behavior. Additionally, I must add that most of the children I have worked with have all come from low Socioeconomic status families which has been proven to be the cause of major behavioral issues. The way I have witnessed the behavior of these children be managed varies between each of the locations. Some teachers and caretakers are quite harsh in their discipline while others are much too passive. In essence, as learned in the Environment and Programs as well as the Discipline and Limits unit, there are several key elements that determine the behavior of children in the classroom. As it relates to Preston Taylor Ministries, behavior management is sometimes ineffective especially when dealing with certain children; however, for the most part, I believe this center handles behavior in an efficient manner.

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.

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.

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.

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