Teacher Reflection

Given this massive responsibility of public education, the role of the classroom teacher is equally large. As a teacher, I am responsible for many aspects of my student’s

As I entered the 3rd-period classroom, I noticed the equal division of responsibilities between the general education and special education teacher. The 3rd-period was a math class, so the first half of the class focused on the warm-up which was instructed by Mrs. Ziegler (the special education teacher) while the second half of class focused on the lesson for the day, which was instructed by Mrs. Meckes (the general education teacher). After the lesson, the homework was given out to the students. As the students worked on their worksheets, Mrs. Ziegler, Mrs. Meckes and I circled the room to assist as questions arose. Furthermore, students with special needs were not singled out to receive any additional help. All the students received the same amount of attention. The expectations for all students were consistent with each student being held to a high standard. The students did not regard the teachers as one inferior to each other, but rather as co-teachers. Both teachers

For my practicum, I was placed in a sixth grade English and History classroom. Working with two classes of Fargo middle school students proved to be a great learning experience for me. Prior to my first day with them, I had been questioning whether or not I’d truly like to proceed with earning a degree in education; however, now I am certain I do. One of the most valuable lessons I learned through observation and working one-on-one with students, was that everything in the classroom is subject to change, from the physical learning environment to the timeline of the topics covered.

The changes that I would have made during this unit would include not always assessing with worksheets and varying my instruction. I would have still used some of the worksheets that came with the book, but not after each lesson like I did. I would have liked to use various instructional strategies that would have got the students up and moving during the lesson and not just having to sit there for a majority of them. My student’s performance told me that I taught the material very well and in a way that they could understand. I say this because all of the students improved by at least 15 percent from their pre-test. Yes, my students achieved the level of growth that I expected them to after looking at the pre-test and then looking at their post-test after the unit. The explanation for this is take the students knew what was expected on them each day in class regardless of how the lesson was being taught. When I began teaching and the students were sitting up front on the floor I set expectations for them. If they didn’t follow these expectations I would ask them to move a magnet. In the beginning I would remind the students of the expectations and then after a while I would just say remember the expectations. By setting these right away it showed the student what I expected and left no room to say that they didn’t know what I expected of them. My strengths were presenting the material at a level that the students could understand and being able to be flexible with my

While not every teacher teaches the exact same, there does exist a few, fairly common similarities between those I was able to sit in on. Of these commonalities, there were positives and negatives. Typically, one of the first things I noticed during observations of a “good” class was that from the moment students entered the room they knew what to do. Out of the ten observed classes, eight used some form of bell-ringer that was displayed before and during the ringing of the first bell. Yet, of these eight, only four classes successfully engaged in the bell-ringer. Of these three, there was only one that required the teacher’s full input, which came in the form of reading the question. Even still, the four classes that successfully started off the classroom’s time with learning did so out of routine. The two classes that did not use bell-ringers while I was observing did so voluntarily. One was because the students were to be engaged in a Science project within the class, and the other was because they were expecting to leave to take student yearbook pictures. Excluding the Science outlier, classes that did not start off with a bell-ringer or some form of question/activity at the bell tended not to transition as smoothly into lecture or the next planned activity.

First, when this class began I knew I would learn a lot of beneficial information throughout my career as well as my home life. As the class progressed it helped me see things about myself that I did not think was there. The book has helped me see things about my personality I did not think was there, but as the book ended it seems they were there all along. The class puts things in a perspective where you can hypothetically see yourself in at the workplace. It makes you think about different types of issues people experience daily and helps you learn how to handle them in a professional manner that is best for you, the customer, and the business. Sometimes we must go an extra mile to please people, but it is all about doing the right thing the first time and making people happy at the end of the day.

On December 5, 2017, I spent my fifth session with class 3-213. As a prospective student teacher, this day provided me with a plethora of information regarding questioning. For my first few weeks of observation, I focused on the differing forms of instructional planning, assessment, and interdisciplinary instruction. However, this week I listened carefully to the types of questions the teacher asked the students. Mrs. Diaz is truly a remarkable teacher, who carefully plans her questions to execute informal assessments. She uses these questions to measure student performance, while simultaneously stimulating collaborative and encouragement in the classroom. Based on this idea, Mrs. Diaz continuously asks questions throughout the duration

One major drawback that Blatchford (2015) has with the idea of differentiation is ‘the fact that teachers have to do this for 30 students at once’ making ‘it even more difficult’. He further continues to express how you can have great experience in this field which reflects ‘purposeful practice’ but you still would not be able to ‘quite crack’ differentiation. In some ways, I agree with Blatchford as from my first placement, I too have felt the pressure of differentiating for the whole class. I always found myself altering my plans as just when I think I have the best plan for that teaching, another need will crop up, thus starting back at stage one. Additionally, I feel it gives the teachers the impression of feeling intimidated by the number of needs that they would need to measure for when planning.

On November 11, 2017 I attended the Victoria Crossroads Council for Math Educators from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. This event is hosted twice a year, once during the Fall semester and once during the Spring semester. The conference is hosted by Dr. Barba Patton and Dr. Teresa LeSage Clements. Students in the education program at UHV in Victoria and Katy, come together to present and teach lessons on Science and Math. There is a morning keynote speaker, a lunch speaker, and a closing ceremony speaker the speakers are individuals involved in the field of education that present on topics regarding education.

Margaret pass valuable lesson to Joan. The essence of teaching is more than care. It is love, just, and firm. “Isn’t caring the core value in teaching? Asked Joan. It’s critical, but there are other important values that we often overlook. Take Roscoe, for example. You certainly care about him, but it took more than caring. Being loved was not all that Roscoe needed. He also needed to master some basic skills and learn to set higher standards for himself” (Pg. 142). As a teacher, I have learned that I need to be firm, fair, and friendly to fully build relationships with my students. Building relationships on care alone is not healthy for the growth of a student. We need to challenge our students and firmly direct them when they go wrong. Margaret also talked about balance when it comes to the amount of attention we give our students. Margaret also talked about faith. She said, “Faith is believing in things when everything tells you not to” ( pg. 143) . At times, even parents will give up on their own children and many people have already given up on teachers. Having faith that you can be an agent of change is a value that you cannot be compensated for. However, the satisfaction of bringing change to a person’s life is enough to do it again. Educators make lasting impacts on many people. We have a very noble job and are agents of change. Fifteen years later and I still remember my second grader teacher and her impact on my education. That is the kind of impact I want to have.” It’s just amazing all the cards I’ve received. I was just reading one from a girl I taught more than 20 years ago, and I hadn’t heard from here since” (Pg. 140).

2) Describe a time when you were on a team that was dysfunctional in some regard. How did you address the situation? (Teamwork)

The desire to ascertain how the strategies, interventions and pedagogical that we learn in class are implemented by teachers in the course of teaching prekindergarten classes made me visit Mrs. Smith’s PreK 12 class. Before my visit, I had informed her of my intention to avoid ambushing her at the last minute. My visit to her class lasted for two hours, during which I remained nonpartisan regarding the activities that were taking place in the classroom. Before the class started, however, she introduced me to the class for the sake of making the children comfortable with my presence around them.

Over the course of the semester, this class has uncovered a crucial, behind-the-scenes look of education from the perspective of the teacher. My opinion of teaching from the beginning of the course to end has drastically changed. In my analysis, I discovered at the end of the education 200 course that education can be seen as: frustrating, productive, and rewarding.

When Mr. Gibson came in to speak with us today about how he goes about teaching his classes, or getting along with the kids in his class, formulating lesson plans, etc. I was taking down a lot of notes, I had viewed Mr. Gibson as a strong, authoritative figure, with a bright sense of humor when it came to certain things about our class or perhaps people that he had recognized A lot of the little things mean a lot to Mr. Gibson because he is learning every day. He loves that he gets paid to help people by using his belief system and his teaching had clicked Even more when he became a parent. Mr. Gibson makes sure that the “Bellwether” Kids are always focusing in his class. As your kids worry about their home, when they arrive at school and

There are many aspects to being a great teacher. Being a great teacher is not only based on academic success of the students, but they make you want to go to school. Teachers help shape the lives of the upcoming generations. How they affect the students affects the world. They play a big role in a student’s lives. One thing about teacher’s everyone should know is that especially on an elementary school level they need to think outside the box. They need to connect with their students and engage them in the activity. As a student, each child is taught by a number of teachers throughout their lives, influencing them in either a positive or negative way.