Critical Reflection On Student Learning

Planning and preparation of teaching is supremely important, the teacher and teaching assistant need to work together to achieve the best learning result. Lesson plans and structures will be implemented and will be catered for each learner; they will include teaching methods and techniques, assessments and targets. Teachers have policies, procedures and regulations to adhere to and within organisations will have to take into consideration budgets and resources.

Teaching demands a lot of creativity and being able to adapt to different situations and environments. However, in order to experience lasting success, more than pot luck, charisma and spontaneity are required. Planning is essential. Planning and preparation gives a certain level of confidence. Whether it is a single lesson or a whole course, planning allows you to design the learning journey you wish to take your students on. In designing, you can make sure that you are catering for all your learners’ needs. This includes sufficient differentiation; for SEN needs as well as your gifted and talented students. In planning you can ensure that your lessons have a definite beginning, middle and end and have clear aims and targets. At this stage you will also prepare and plan resources. Also, you must plan your assessments. How will you know when the students have learned what you set out to teach? How will they know? How are you going to prove that learning has taken place at the end of the course? All these points will be addressed in the planning stage of the teacher training cycle.

Over the course of this semester, I have spent an ample amount of time serving as a mentor with Gonzaga’s Center for Community Engagement Youth Program, Campus Kids. In Campus Kids, we develop one-on-one relationships with mentees between the 4th-6th grades to assist them in succeeding academically, socially, and emotionally. Every Thursday afternoon at 3:10 PM, each of the Campus Kids mentors in our group meet up in the Center for Community Engagement in the basement of the Hemmingson Center. We spend this time doing icebreaker activities with the other mentors to get to know each other while we wait for our mentees to arrive in their school bus from the local Garfield Elementary in Spokane, WA. From 3:30-5:00 PM, we spend one-on-one time with our mentees where we engage in a variety of different activities such as playing educational games, working on homework together, sharing a healthy snack, talking about the activities we have done the past week, and exercising outside. In addition to meeting with my mentee every Thursday, I also ride in a carpool with 3 other mentors to Garfield Elementary every Friday from 11:00 AM-12:00 PM for a school visit where I get to sit in on my mentees’ PE class and provide support and encouragement for him as he works on developing his physical education. In this class, I help him out if he’s having difficulty understanding what his teachers are asking him to do, or I will help count the number of push-ups or sit-ups he has trying to reach

Established on these aspects of reflection I will discuss in this section the importance of critical reflection on development of my teaching. I will firstly aim to explore theories on critical reflection on teaching. Secondly I will explore critical reflection in the context of my own teaching. This includes reflecting on planning, delivering lessons, using activities and the role of assessment for learning.

Within the planning of lessons the teacher needs to identify the necessary resources to be used, they will also need to adapt and develop the learning activities to suit the requirements of different groups and for

When setting up an inclusive learning environment we need to focus on individual differences. Francis and Gould (2013: p65) explain, that “it is important to recognise the differences in the learners we teach, as these influence how we interact with them.” Francis and Gould (2013) list few typical differences, like age, physical disability, mental health issues, ethnicity, etc.

The upcoming changes taking place in my district provide an excellent opportunity for me to facilitate opportunities for differentiation in other classrooms. As the "owner" of English 11, I plan to focus on creating many different differentiated activities for the upcoming school year; this is the first step in my action plan. This will allow two other teachers to witness and implement these activities in their own classrooms. As Tomblinson and Imbeau (2010) explain, the barrier from some teachers in creating a differentiated classroom is the thought that they just do not have enough time (pg. 2458). My work developing differentiated instruction activities into the English 11 curriculum will allow other teachers to sample differentiated activities and decide what works for them without having to do all of the planning themselves. This will also open up dialogue between teachers to discuss how we can modify activities and assessments. To ensure materials are available to teachers, I will create a shared Google folder that contains directions and sample work. As a leader, I will also make sure to speak with teachers who are sharing English 11 to discuss differentiated activities and make possible modifications. As we work through the year, I will ask other teachers of English 11 for increasing input and ideas for differentiated activities. Chapter 4 of Leading and Managing a Differentiated Classroom suggests that inviting colleagues to be a part of the planning process incorporates each teacher's strengths and allows educators to learn from each other (pg. 1310). Furthermore, I will engage our special education teacher in designing activities that will best meet the needs of her students. Tomblinson and Imbeau further explain that co-planning enriches the repertoire of each teacher and forges teams

This assignment will be looking at four key areas in the planning and enabling learning unit. It will define the different sections of the module from negotiating with the Learner, inclusive learning, functional skills and concluding with communication. It will show that through research, I have been able to demonstrate that I have an understanding of how planning and enabling learning relates to the practical and theoretical side of teaching. How I am able to cater for the individual needs and to continually improve the educational development of the learners, through a positive scheme of work and transparent lesson plans.

When I do plan my lessons, I focus first on my student’s interests, readiness skills, and learning profile and take into consideration that their interests, readiness and learning profile follows in the content that I teach. I then apply my teaching lessons with various activities to keep their brains active and engaged in the learning

Planning and executing small group and whole class lessons and /or units of work in major learning areas including English (literacy), Mathematics, Science, History & Geography, Health and The Arts.

The National Curriculum advocates that teachers need to be implementing strategies in lessons in order to make education inclusive and accessible to every pupil, including those pupils that have a special educational need and disability (SEND). Consequently, these learning needs must be supported in order for them to overcome any learning barriers that are presented. In 2016. 1,228,785 pupils were documented as having a learning difficulty, of which nearly 26% of these pupils had the condition, Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD). The aim of this rationale will be to justify the strategies implemented in the science lesson plan, making it inclusive for the named child George.

- According to the student, he has started a new class and he could not find where he could change the info that he has right now on his account.

Reflection is thought by linking recent experience with early experience to promote more complex and interrelated mental models or patterns. The thinking involves looking for commonalities, differences, and interrelations beyond their superficial elements. The goal is to develop higher order thinking skills.

Reece and Walker (2000) discuss, there are several building blocks to be considered when planning for effective learning. I will discuss the sections of the planning process that need to be considered planning for a lesson.

I believe a successful learning experience is engaging and valued by the students. I believe students’ will value what they are learning if they believe what they’re learning is relevant. Relevance is important to teaching and learning because it is directly related to student engagement and motivation (Frymier & Schulman, 1995; Martin & Dowson, 2009). Marsh (2008), states a positive classroom environment provides a sense of security, community, belonging and identity (Marsh, 2008). Based on my experience as a practicing teacher, I have found establishing clear expectations within the classroom assist in maintaining control and discipline, to create a safe learning environment (Fatt Hee, 1996). I believe within all classrooms, students’ diversity should be valued. This creates a discrimination free environment and ensures students feel safe and included (Philips, 2010). According to Stanford & Parkay (2007) students are more engaged in class when learning experiences are satisfying, challenging and friendly.