Final Reflection...

...of the semester.

Skimming through past entries from this semester, I wonder about how much I have changed or grown since January (I suppose that was the main purpose of maintaining a teaching blog). Much has happened in the months between the beginning of the semester and the end. The conclusion that I have reached is that I haven't changed as much as I have grown as a teacher.

I still hold true to the teaching metaphor posted months ago. The semester has further confirmed the need for teacher creativity, patience, and perseverence. I still love the thrill that a teacher experiences when a student learns or enjoys learning. However, I feel that my thoughts from the beginning of the semester were naive compared to where I am now (perhaps, naive is not quite the right word; perhaps less experienced and knowing would suit better).

I understood the demands of being a teacher to a degree, but teaching an entire unit was a bigger bite and taste of actual teaching. Yes, I understood that creativity is an important element to teaching and creating lesson plans. However, now I understand it to a greater degree of depth from the hours of thinking of ways to reach and engage all children in a classroom. I understood patience and perseverence, but it seems that this semester has been a bigger test and wear on them. This is especially the case considering the issues with my EDIS 530B field work in a self-contained special education classroom, and the management issues with the EDIS 488 work. At the same time, I better understand the thrill and joy from witnessing the fruits of my teaching efforts. I have experienced these emotions several times this semester.

Reflecting on my current place as a growing educator, I see that I am wiser and more experienced now than several months ago. I know more, am better equipped for teaching, and eager for more of those thrills.

Teaching 5 (March 20, 2007)

Our final lesson was a combination of a review lesson and our post-assessment test (since we lost a day on Monday). Though our main goal of reviewing was accomplished in the lesson, there was a lot of room for improvement. The lesson ended too early. We were worried about giving students enough time to take the test, so cut the review activity short. In the end, we had more than enough time to finish the review and give the test. It was a mistake in our judgement. The review activity consisted of a game with three teams answering review questions for team points. We tried to put structure into the activity because of our past experiences. Each child was given the number of their designated team. Though we tried to structure the format of the game, there were some mishaps. Students were chatting as Linda read the question to each student, there was a lot of restless movement, and a lot of crowding (which led to the mixing of the teams). Despite this, the review lesson was a great opportunity to infuse differentiation. Linda told each student their question ahead of time before addressing the class. This allowed for lower ability students to have enough time to think and work out their answer. She also had control over which question to ask the students.

The post-assessment test ended earlier than we thought, as addressed above. Ms. M suggested that establishing a after-test activity before handing out the actual test is a great solution to prevent students from moving around and distracting other students. In terms of the actual test, two test formats were created. One was for the average to high-achieving students, and a second was for lower-ability students. These students were taken aside to have the questions read to them. After grading the tests, it seems that the format change worked out well. However, I cannot imagine making separate format tests when I am in my own classroom. Crreating a test takes time, to make two tests costs double the amount of limited time a teacher has for classroom planning. The only problem I found with the administration of the test was that the fill-in-the-blank portion of the post-assessment did not state that words from the word bank were not to be used more than once. Though it was announced verbally, it would have been much better for students to have those directions clearly written out for them to read and re-read.

Teaching 4 (March 16, 2007)

Today was Linda's lesson. The lesson was supposed to be at our regular time in the morning, but the students had to again be pulled out of the classroom for something else. So, Linda again taught in the afternoon. The lesson was engaging and interesting, but the attention of the students were elsewhere. Linda mentioned briefly that they were in the middle of an interesting science lesson when Linda came in to teach her lesson. Ms. M had forgotten about our lesson again.

Despite the rough start, the students learned and absorbed the information. They were much more engaged and lively as the lesson progressed.

Teaching 3 (March 15, 2007)

After the things I learned from my Wednesday lesson, I decided to edit my Thursday lesson (which was in the same set up and format). It went much better. The timing was better on my part because of the use of a timer. Students were engaged with the making connections (list of celebrations of ancient cultures and ours, then connecting the similarities with yarn), and made a wonderful conclusion about culture from the mini-lesson.

A similar difficulty I had Thursday, as I did Wednesday, was the independent work. I thought that I designed the worksheet and activity for their level, but it seems I over estimated and over assumed (?). Linda had to help the small group doing the government lesson most of the time.

The small group that I was teaching was about the families of ancient cultures, compared to one another and to our modern day families. It was a bit of a surprise. I was thrown by some of the information the students shared, which was highly sensitive and personal in nature. The concluding activity (and form of assessment) for the small group lesson was writing about your family make up on an index card. I decided not to collect the cards, because I understood that one or two of the students felt uncomfortable sharing or showing their card to anyone. I didn't want to intrude on their privacy. It was a lesson for me to be more sensitive to the diverse family forms, dynamics, and make-up of my students.

Teaching 2 (March 14, 2007)

I planned too much in the short time that I had. I feel that I often misjudge the time. When planning for lessons, I estimate how much time it will take to go through the lesson. However, I forget to plan for unexpected things. Today's unexpected things were: one of D's bad moods, K refusing to do absolutely anything until given more individual attention, talkative mood of the students, restlessness of the boys...just to name a few.

I was pressed for time because students kept straying from topic. Ms. M usually cuts them off before letting them go any further with a topic that she doesn't want to focus on for the lesson. However, I don't feel comfortable to do that. On the other hand, I'm not sure how to refocus students quickly.

I think that I'll make changes for tomorrow's lesson. Ms. M also suggested using a timer for the activity switches, which I think is a great idea. I also realize that I'll need more structure and discipline.

Which brings me to another issue. Discipline! I have the most difficult time with classroom management. I'm not sure if this is everyone, or just me. Though I do understand that it is different from a true classroom experience where I am the primary classroom teacher rather than a guest, I still feel that I need more practice. I would like to learn more about classroom management and discipline.

Teaching 1, round 2 (March 13, 2007)

Because of the odd times, I had to come into the classroom late (after my classes ended). Linda was already doing her lesson. The kids seemed lethargic and tired. Ms. M. even looked weary and exhausted. I am not sure if it was the nice weather and having to be stuck inside, or if it was the time of day (afternoon). In any case, the students became a little more lively when we had them discuss their writing at the end of the lesson. I hope that such lethargy does not occur often. The mornings (when we usually do observations) never indicated anything like what I saw today in the classroom. It was too quiet, unlike the peaceful quiet the students take part in as they do their morning activites and work.

Teaching 1 (March 12, 2007)

No teacher, no students. Linda and I went to the classroom, but they were on a mini-fieldtrip.

Pre-Assessment (March 8th, 2007)

The pre-assessment did NOT go as well as I thought it would. The drawing portion (an adaptation for those in the class who have difficulty writing) took up so much time. A little more than half the students finished quickly, while the others took almost half an hour. Many of the students were particularly concerned about their spelling. I tried to assure them that spelling won't affect how I'll see their worksheets, but I don't think they believed me. I'm not sure what that means.

I think that if I were to do this preassessment over, I would tell them a specific amount of time allowed for the drawings. I think that I would also have written directions that if they do not know a concept, to skip it and move on. I said it verbally, but they either a) didn't listen b) didn't believe me 3) didn't want to.

Hopefully, the pre-assessment content will help in lesson fine-tuning.