Learning Outcome #4: Understanding how students learn and develop
It becomes almost an impossible task to teach without
knowing and understanding how each child in the classroom learns and develops.
Progressing within this element would consist of getting to know the students
and creating an environment where each student feels comfortable learning the
way they truly would (some students might not take a student teacher
seriously). The goal is showing my own true colors, so the students know it is
safe to show theirs. When I have my own classroom, I plan to spend a week doing
educational activities that enrich the classroom with getting to know one
another. It is hard to make that happen when one only has a couple weeks to
teach the students. However, through free writes, discussions, quizzes, test
prep, reading, and essay writing, I have been able to experience my students at
both placements and altered many of my lessons in favor of all students.
At my first placement at Tully there was a lot more of whole class work, as opposed to group work (2.1). This was due to the hindrance of resources causing the class and I to read the novel in class. We had many class discussions, independent assignments, and from time to time a think pair share, but we didn’t do as much group work as I would have liked. I found that one of my foreign exchange students was finding it very difficult to follow along because I spoke too fast. To help her, she would stay after class for a while and we would go through the importance of what was just read. This helped her tremendously, leading to straight A’s.
However, at my most recent placement in Homer, it is more efficient to do group work with the students. They are much more willing to learn and like to discuss and do group work with their classmates. The students are doing their own teaching, their own learning, and their own conversing; they are in control (to a certain extent) and have ownership over their education. This student-centered dynamic is essential to the students’ individual lives as developing learners. I will usually tell the students a task or ask a question, and then in their groups they will discuss, strategize, take notes etc. After, we come back together as a class and I gear them into the most prominent direction (2.4). If there were questions, they would get answered, and not necessarily by just me, but also by their classmates. I also would give the students a “ticket out the door,” which tells me if all the students, even those who didn’t speak as much, understand what was done in class. This way if my objective and goal wasn’t reached for the students, then I know I need to spend more time in class the next day on it.
Beginning my experience at Homer, the students were progressing toward success on the ELA. When creating different types of texts that could be seen on the test, as well as different kinds of questions, I found that the students were using their funds of knowledge to use words and phrases like: “textual evidence” and “inference.” I was scaffolding the language used, and the information about how to read a text successfully and building from there in my lessons (4.1).
Feedback and reflection is so significant to becoming a better teacher because there is always something that can be fixed, altered, or simply enhanced (4.2). At Tully I rarely gave out homework assignments, but when I did the students were amazed by how fast they were received back and one student even asked me: “Ms. Backus did you really take the time out of your day to write on all of ours?” Not only does feedback and getting their assignments back at a reasonable amount of time show them that we care to improve their learning, but it also shows that we know they can, and that means something. I gave feedback on everything: vocabulary quizzes, chapter quizzes, essays, free-writes, and even their reflection at the end of the unit. Not only is it important for me to reflect on my own teaching, but for them to reflect on their learning. At the end of the unit I had the students write a reflection about the novel we read, what they believed they learned, and what they would do to change the unit. This is something that should always be done because this helps create successful students and life long learners.
In Homer, the teachers work very collaboratively (4.3). The social studies teacher gave me her unit plan calendar as soon as I arrived. Throughout the ELA preparation, we used many articles that related to what was being learned in the social studies room. One of my successful lessons was based on the political propaganda posters created during the WWII era. They connected and transferred what they were learning in both classes to one another. Not only did they transfer the content, but they also shifted the skills. I know that the social studies teacher created a lesson strictly based on reading skills, which is something we have been doing non-stop. Not only that, but in Homer there is a lot of co-teaching. This means that I work with the special education teacher and the reading teacher for three periods out of five. We set aside a period a week to go over the lessons and how we can improve the learning of each student. Not only does this collaboration help us as teachers, but it also shows the students the importance of working with another. We also have teams for each subject, and we meet once a week to discuss any issues and possible solutions for the students’ educational benefit.
When introducing the unit based on Chaucer as I left the seniors at Tully, we had a great discussion through the Prezi I designed to show the importance of language (4.4-4.9). Our conversation was about how the language has changed over time and how it changed from context to context. The students connected this to the novel we had read where because the soldiers were in a war their discourse of language changed greatly. This was also associated with how the students’ language changes from their homes, to their friends, to their classrooms. Through much dialogue, and the visual on the board the students were able to explicitly see the ideas of language, the background of Chaucer, and the connections to their funds of knowledge and personal lives.
Groups
Gallery Walk Lesson
Essay Feedback
Chaucer Prezi
At my first placement at Tully there was a lot more of whole class work, as opposed to group work (2.1). This was due to the hindrance of resources causing the class and I to read the novel in class. We had many class discussions, independent assignments, and from time to time a think pair share, but we didn’t do as much group work as I would have liked. I found that one of my foreign exchange students was finding it very difficult to follow along because I spoke too fast. To help her, she would stay after class for a while and we would go through the importance of what was just read. This helped her tremendously, leading to straight A’s.
However, at my most recent placement in Homer, it is more efficient to do group work with the students. They are much more willing to learn and like to discuss and do group work with their classmates. The students are doing their own teaching, their own learning, and their own conversing; they are in control (to a certain extent) and have ownership over their education. This student-centered dynamic is essential to the students’ individual lives as developing learners. I will usually tell the students a task or ask a question, and then in their groups they will discuss, strategize, take notes etc. After, we come back together as a class and I gear them into the most prominent direction (2.4). If there were questions, they would get answered, and not necessarily by just me, but also by their classmates. I also would give the students a “ticket out the door,” which tells me if all the students, even those who didn’t speak as much, understand what was done in class. This way if my objective and goal wasn’t reached for the students, then I know I need to spend more time in class the next day on it.
Beginning my experience at Homer, the students were progressing toward success on the ELA. When creating different types of texts that could be seen on the test, as well as different kinds of questions, I found that the students were using their funds of knowledge to use words and phrases like: “textual evidence” and “inference.” I was scaffolding the language used, and the information about how to read a text successfully and building from there in my lessons (4.1).
Feedback and reflection is so significant to becoming a better teacher because there is always something that can be fixed, altered, or simply enhanced (4.2). At Tully I rarely gave out homework assignments, but when I did the students were amazed by how fast they were received back and one student even asked me: “Ms. Backus did you really take the time out of your day to write on all of ours?” Not only does feedback and getting their assignments back at a reasonable amount of time show them that we care to improve their learning, but it also shows that we know they can, and that means something. I gave feedback on everything: vocabulary quizzes, chapter quizzes, essays, free-writes, and even their reflection at the end of the unit. Not only is it important for me to reflect on my own teaching, but for them to reflect on their learning. At the end of the unit I had the students write a reflection about the novel we read, what they believed they learned, and what they would do to change the unit. This is something that should always be done because this helps create successful students and life long learners.
In Homer, the teachers work very collaboratively (4.3). The social studies teacher gave me her unit plan calendar as soon as I arrived. Throughout the ELA preparation, we used many articles that related to what was being learned in the social studies room. One of my successful lessons was based on the political propaganda posters created during the WWII era. They connected and transferred what they were learning in both classes to one another. Not only did they transfer the content, but they also shifted the skills. I know that the social studies teacher created a lesson strictly based on reading skills, which is something we have been doing non-stop. Not only that, but in Homer there is a lot of co-teaching. This means that I work with the special education teacher and the reading teacher for three periods out of five. We set aside a period a week to go over the lessons and how we can improve the learning of each student. Not only does this collaboration help us as teachers, but it also shows the students the importance of working with another. We also have teams for each subject, and we meet once a week to discuss any issues and possible solutions for the students’ educational benefit.
When introducing the unit based on Chaucer as I left the seniors at Tully, we had a great discussion through the Prezi I designed to show the importance of language (4.4-4.9). Our conversation was about how the language has changed over time and how it changed from context to context. The students connected this to the novel we had read where because the soldiers were in a war their discourse of language changed greatly. This was also associated with how the students’ language changes from their homes, to their friends, to their classrooms. Through much dialogue, and the visual on the board the students were able to explicitly see the ideas of language, the background of Chaucer, and the connections to their funds of knowledge and personal lives.
Groups
Gallery Walk Lesson
Essay Feedback
Chaucer Prezi