Reflection Paper

Science Instructional Analysis and Methods class has afforded me countless learning experiences which I have taken into my intern classroom. I have several take away for this fall’s science methods course. The first being, in Methods class I learned to work in distinct groups of with peers of various levels. My peers who are experiencing classroom teaching for the first time and the graduate interns. Surprisingly, I learned from working with both of these groups. From the graduate level students, I was able to actually make a connection with the content we read about in our text and experiences I had everyday in internship. I appreciate the opportunity, as I felt safe and free to ask questions about the experiences they had in teaching science. I commend you on the way you had broken up the class groups, and afforded us to work with different groups. During this process, I feel I have started to find my voice as a professional. This opportunity allowed me to be more confident to voice my ideas to the teachers I worked with in internship, as I contribute to my PLC group.

When asked to reflect on what I have learned in relation to Canada’s celebration of its 150th year the first word that comes to mind is ignorance. By celebrating Canada as a nation people are celebrating all types of histories, but many parts of Canada’s history should not be celebrated. Canada’s 150 is something that can be comparable to celebrating Columbus Day; a celebration of genocide. Moreover, the celebration of Canada’s 150 also disregards current struggles occurring within Indigenous communities, overlooking the multiple years and traumas that have tormented Indigenous women. The image of Canada as a successful and thriving melting pot is what the banners of Canada 150 convey. This works against its history as it erases and shadows the stories of trauma and resiliency that have occurred since the beginning of colonization. Overall, I have many personal opinions on Canada’s 150th but from my personal experience and from what I have learned in this class I find that this celebration negatively affects Indigenous people and condones the continuation of poor treatment towards Indigenous women in Canada.

One must look at classroom management as a plan for what procedures students will follow throughout the day. Teachers must understand their role in making sure students have a successful experience each day. Wong H. & Wong R., state “Effective teachers teach how to responsibly follow procedures” (2009, p. 165). To have a smooth-running classroom with minimal behaviors, students must be taught classroom procedures from the very first day. In my classroom we have procedures for many things we do each day. Some of these are arrival of children, snack time, lining up and walking down the hallway, and cleaning up centers. I have been teaching these procedures for many years with much success.

When my students enter my classroom on the first day they will know that there are procedures and routines they will have to follow each day. Three of the routines/procedures that will be taught the first day are class rules, morning routine, and enter/ exiting the room. We will also

I’m a light skin woman living in south Mississippi. I do not personally identify with a race of people. However, my family identifies themselves as Caucasian, I debunk race identification as an arbitrary made-up system employed to categorize people. I believe we are one race, the human race. I more identify with nationality as an American.

“But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own” (New International Version, Matt. 6.33-34). If I was told these verses when I was younger, they would contain no special meaning behind them, but after retiring from the military and the trials my family went through to get to where we are today, these verses stand out to me every time I read them. Until we go through our own personal trials we tend to be unaware of how strong our faith and trust needs to be in God. There were moments, when I was younger, where I relied on the Lord, but nothing that could have prepared me for the trust required to give to God during a time where my life completely changed. My family and I were a military family stationed in Hawaii where I lived for most of my life; Hawaii was all I knew. So when my father was ready to retire from his job in the Navy, it meant leaving my “safe zone” that I called home. Living in Hawaii was not an option after retirement for a large family of eight, for it was too expensive to afford. With that said, we went to stay with my grandfather in New York while my father searched for a new job.

I remember where it all started; I sat on the guard stand of an empty pool with a nagging mother texting my phone and time to kill. It was the summer before my senior year, the summer before I would make the most important decision of my life so far. I stared down at the blank list of schools in front of me; where to start? I visited a few campuses, and my mother put a few bugs in my ear, one for her alma mater, and the other for two historically black schools (HBCUs). I wrote the first down, placing it low on my list, but there was hesitation with the other two. My entire academic career have been in predominantly white environments; how would I navigate a majority black space?

After reviewing this assignment, I learned that my approached was going to be a little different from what I was accustomed to doing with other assignments. In previous assignments I referred to a project that my company had completed and had control of from beginning to the end. In that scenario we were in control of and responsible for how far off we were from the schedule/task, cost, and projected finish time. Basically in this assignment the manager was there from the beginning as well; somewhere along the way the project manager’s focus has shifted and we have been given the responsibility to re-evaluate the situation and determine which direction should be taken to get back on track with cost and time. In this scenario the project manager has lost sight of his scope and time schedule.

Writing is a tool that will be used throughout my lifetime. It is a tool that is worth taking the time to perfect because it will only be beneficial in the long run. On my writing assignments, I earn A’s, but I still have areas that I need to work on. The areas that I struggle the most would be with simple grammar errors such as the use of commas, writing with an active voice, and writing short,simple sentences. First of all, I often do not know where to place commas in my sentence. I struggle with this because I tend to add commas in the wrong place, so I have become confused with the proper use of commas. This is a small grammar error that I can easily correct by learning where and when commas are needed. I have also found and been told that I write in a passive voice when I should be using an active voice. This is a technique that I have to work on by practicing it and noticing the difference while I am writing and reading. Finally, I often write run on sentences or sentences that include unnecessary information. This makes my writing unclear and difficult for the reader to understand. I could improve by writing shorter and simpler sentences that include only the essential information to get my point across. I have noticed these mistakes in my writing and it has also been brought up by others, so I am currently working on improving it.

To an extent, I have lived a sheltered life. I grew up with a helicopter mother, an anxious father, and two over-protective older brothers who wanted me to live a happy, healthy, and safe life. They shielded me from everything bad: death, war, pain, destruction, and suffering. I was -- and still am -- the baby of the family; I will forever be the little baby girl who needs to be watched over and taken care of. To them, I am innocent and fragile and delicate and small.

My mother does genology for my family so I know that I am mostly a mix of African, Native American and not enough European to really think about. I look like a normal African-American girl and most people I come in contact with assume the same thing. To define myself without race I would say I am invested in the betterment of other peoples lives and performing in front of an audience. As a black woman I am affected mostly in my major, theatre, because being black is a factor in whether or not I am cast in certain roles. Personally it has been a rollercoaster going to predominately white-schools and still finding a way to love and appreiciate my blackness. I’m reminded of my race daily when I have to mix my foundations to find a shade that isn’t offered or when my theatre professors suggest I do a monologue from “A Raisin in the Sun’ and as of recently when I look at the news I am affected by the fact that the injustice in the world based on race could happen to me or a loved one in a heartbeat.

We are all strong. Some people never realize this, but everybody has an inner warrior. While it’s true that not everyone has great physical power, but mentally and emotionally everybody has some kind of strength. For me, I am not physically as robust or as athletic as some, but mentally I am strong. There are times when I bring myself down, but I know that my strong mind will soon return to its normal balance and pick me back up. There are times when I am down and I feel I may never be the same, but no matter what my mental strength lends a hand, and returns me to my ordinary routine. The perfect example of my strong mind is my relationship with swimming. My beloved sport, swimming, is meant for someone with a strong mental mind. Therefore, feel like I was born to swim.

As a teacher my classroom management philosophy will strive to have high expectations for my students and allow them to learn in a safe environment, which is built on trust between the students and me. As a class we will work together and challenge each other every single day. We will develop expectations and rules to help reduce behavior problems that we may face as a class. Throughout this class I have found many resources to support my vision. I will discuss how the resources we have looked at will shape my classroom management style incorporated in my first five-day plan. After I outline my first five days I will explain how Wong, Marzano, Fay and Funk support my overall philosophy of my classroom management style

Going into this term, I wasn’t sure what to expect. My initial plan did not include taking this course this summer. Somehow, Troy ended up changing the schedule and it worked out for me. At least, I thought it was going to work out for me. This term has been very interesting. The classes that I took are PSY 6645 Evaluation and Assessment and CP 6642 Group Dynamics. This paper is going to be about my experience in PSY 6645. I’m going to discuss concepts that were new to me, experiences that caused me to think differently, if I feel as if this course is meaningful, and what can be applied to my professional practice.

The first procedure I would implement in my room would be Entering the Room appropriately. The students will be instructed to enter quietly and politely. The students know not to wear hats and to not interrupt their peers. In the morning, they will get their journal out and complete their Bell Work. This routine will help them understand what is expected of them. There will be no distractions at the beginning of class because the students will be completing their assignment leading to a smooth transition into instruction. The environment is efficient as the students are challenged to prepare themselves quietly and for their day. Each Bell Work will be assigned through the projector. Their journals will be