Reflection on H3

H3 – Honor the classroom/school community as a milieu for learning.
Teacher-candidates implement classroom/school centered instruction, including sheltered instruction that is connected to communities within the classroom and the school, and includes knowledge and skills for working with others. In other words, teachers should facilitate and appropriately teach the skills needed for peers to work with one another. The classroom, though a location for learning, is also a community that develops daily and needs nurturing and direction by the teacher. Therefore, teachers must actively look for opportunities to foster community values and opportunities to exhibit and practice community skills in the classroom.

My evidence for this principle is a self-assessment given to students at the end of a World Cultures Unit. Students worked in groups of 5-6 students, studying one country, which was the subject of four projects: a recipe book, a report on points of interest, a poster on that country’s tradition, and a report about that country’s environment. The 6 week unit culminated in an annual event, in which every classroom exhibits their country study projects in the hallway for families and friends to visit. At the end of this unit, I gave students the World Cultures Assessment to give them a chance to reflect on the knowledge they learned.

This assessment demonstrates my competency in the H3 principle because of its emphasis on group work reflection. The assessment asks students to rate their contribution to their group and reflect on challenges and victories when working together. Such reflection is key to fostering an intentional community. Working with others requires continual problem solving, communication, and consciousness. This assessment facilitates student discourse about working with group members, encouraging them to express their experience working in a community-environment for this project. Thus, the assessment was one of my means to help students continue grow in their understanding of working as a team.

As a result of creating this assessment, I recognized the consciousness that group work reflection assignments merit. It was difficult to phrase questions in such a way that prompted reflection that was not only honest and considerate but also constructive. Had I considered other prompts, the result might have been reminiscent to “tattle-telling” or blame-shifting. Therefore, the questions required a balance of self-introspection as well as group evaluation. Also, I learned from reading students’ assignments that they are often, when guided by such reflections, more critical of their own contribution to the group than that of their team members. Many students praised their group members, but recognized changes they would make to work more productively in a group. Therefore, these assignments are beneficial for prompting self-reflection about community values.

This principle is vital for students’ learning. When teachers honor students’ role as not only individuals but members of a community, students also begin to adopt this mindset. As a result, students have greater opportunities for learning the skills that will make them successful in school but also in the world beyond the classroom.

In order to bolster my growth in this domain, I plan to create further opportunities for group work. Additionally, several other teachers have suggested having mini-lessons on how to work with group members. Such an explicit approach would prompt greater opportunities for student understanding and adoption of individual responsibility of their roles as community members. Additionally, I would like to create projects for students to work with other members of the school community. Often, the classroom is the emphasis of students’ work with one another. However, the school community also presents many opportunities for students to understand their role as contributing citizens of a greater network of people. Additionally, the school gives students chances to work with a more diverse range of students, both in age and other characteristics. This would provide my me and my students with opportunities to build proficiency in this competency.

Reflection on H5

H5 – Honor student potential for roles in the greater society.
Teacher-candidates prepare students to be responsible citizens for an environmentally sustainable, globally interconnected, and diverse society. In other words, teachers should expose students to greater or unfamiliar issues, people, and communities to prepare students to be world citizens. Ideally, education is not merely about familiarizing students with concepts and ideas but equipping them to use these ideas for greater purposes. As teachers we should enable students to recognize the ideas and needs of other people and cultures and take action to better the world community accordingly.

My evidence for this H5 HOPE principle is the students’ final Country Studies Project. Each year, my mentor teacher assigns this project to engage students in knowledge about another country and culture. As the assignment cover sheet explains, students are to select a country and complete four projects on this country. First, they are expected to construct an object or model that represents their selected country. Second, they are to interview someone who visited or lived in that particular country for an extended period of time. Third, students are asked to bring in objects or relics from that country, such as a recipe or family heirloom. Finally, students are to write a report on that country, based on a series of prompts included in the assignment.

This assignment demonstrates my competency in the H5 standard, because of its connection to global awareness. This country studies project requires students to delve into another culture in order to gain exposure to the customs, issues, and traditions of another global community. In essence, this project is intended to expose students’ to another worldview, which is a prerequisite step for engaging in the world as a global citizen. Without awareness of other cultures and communities, students cannot gain the understanding needed for collaborative sharing and contributing with one another. Particularly, the interview assignment facilitates global conversation and sharing.

As a result of constructing and assigning this project under my mentor’s guidance, I first learned how to construct a multi-dimensional project. I am still becoming acquainted with appropriate workloads for third graders. Though I was hesitant to include four projects, my mentor teacher encouraged me to include one project a week. Additionally, I learned the purpose and process for projects such as interviews. According to my mentor teacher’s advice, in order to create global connectedness, it is important to create person-person contact, exposing students to personal contact with another culture and custom. She encouraged me to help students select countries for which they knew a potential interviewee. However, she also encouraged me to offer to use my connections for student interviews as well. Therefore, this assignment facilitated exposure to managing more intensive student projects in order to prompt further learning.

A teacher’s perspective of their students and their students’ learning is paramount in what and how students learn. If teachers honor students as global and responsible citizens, their students will not only gain more information about the world but also the value and respect that the teacher has for other communities and needs. Therefore, the more the teacher values global diversity and assigns projects related to this, the more opportunities students will have to gain awareness and potentially the passion to act upon this.

Though this assignment is a launching pad for engaging students as global citizens, I hope to take many further steps to expand my competency related to this goal. For example, I would like to emulate other teachers in my building, who have assigned their students “action projects.”  For these project, students not only gain awareness of other diverse communities but propose projects to address needs related to them. Therefore, I plan to collaborate with other teachers, investigate projects, and assign projects that not only expose students to other worldviews but encourage them to respond. Additionally, as mentioned above, a student’s understanding of their own global responsibilities is often only as strong as those of the person communicating them. Therefore, I hope to increasingly invest in worldwide organizations and causes to act on my role as a global citizen in order to authentically share my value of global responsibilities with my students.

Reflection on E2

E2 – Exemplify collaboration within the school.
Teacher-candidates participate collaboratively and professionally in school activities and using appropriate and respectful verbal and written communication. In other words, it is important for teachers to intentionally and professionally work together in school activities. After working at my elementary school, I have seen that the school staff is a team that, when most successful, is continually referring to one another for ideas, explanation, and clarification.

My evidence for this particular principle is a MDT form submitted for a student in my classroom. Each week, an MDT or Multi-Disciplinary Team meets to discuss a student for which a teacher has particular concerns about his or her academic or social development. After the classroom teacher completes the MDT form, the form is processed with the special education specialist, who organizes and sets a date for a meeting. For this particular student, I met with the principal, school psychologist, special education specialist, classroom teacher, and the student’s mother. During this meeting, we discussed concerns about this student’s struggle with math and writing as well as his many absences during the school year. I completed this MDT form with my teacher, which was used to guide discussion with the rest of the team.

 

This form demonstrates competency in the E2 standard for two reasons. First, I collaborated with my mentor teacher to complete this form, discussing our interpretations of the students’ strengths and weaknesses and also working together to compile student work samples to share at the meeting. Second, this form was used to guide a collaborative discussion among school staff. Participating in this MDT meeting gave me vital experience for working with colleagues as well as parents to discuss interpretations of student behavior as well as solutions for intervention.

Completing this form and participating in the MDT meeting was a multi-faceted learning experience. I first learned the school’s procedure for requesting intervention for an individual student, which included locating the form in the office, tracking student data, identifying student work samples, and discussing concerns among a team. Most significantly, however, I learned the value of collaborating to discuss student intervention. Multiple bodies means multiple perspectives, and each staff member offered a unique approach to finding student solutions based on his or her area of expertise. Additionally, several staff members even shared from personal experience, offering anecdotes of working with their own children as parents.  As a result, an engaging and multi-dimensional discussion emerged, and my own perspective of the student and his specific challenges shifted as a result. Teaching, I realized, is a team effort, and in order to be successful, I must use my colleagues as valuable resources of help and perspective.

Collaborating is not only beneficial for augmenting my own comfortability in the classroom; it is also vital for fostering the success of my students. When teachers and staff collaborate to address student needs, there is a far better chance that that student will be serviced in full capacity. Additionally, collaborating means not only more resources for the teacher but also for the student. For example, the student who was the subject of this MDT meeting subsequently received numerous tools such as a special seat and a timer from the special education specialist, offering this student a greater opportunities for success.

Though this MDT meeting was one example of my competency in the E2 principle, I plan to take several steps to develop in domain of teaching. I plan to continue to participate in Professional Learning Communities, which take place after school with grade band teachers. Additionally, I plan to become more intentional about communicating with other teachers throughout the day, specifically special education teachers. Several of my students on IEP and 504 plans are pulled from my classroom for additional instruction. I would like to start having weekly dialogues with the teachers facilitating this instruction in order to better collaborate on those students’ needs within and outside of the classroom.

Reflection on E3

E3 – Exemplify an understanding of professional responsibilities and policies. 
Teacher-candidates demonstrate knowledge of professional, legal, and ethical responsibilities and policies. In other words, teachers must plan and act according to school, district, and state law and regulations. As with any organization, schools have a number of legal obligations that its employees must adhere to. As a result, professional policies are integral to the daily routines and actions of teachers, and must always be at the forefront of teacher’s consciousness in his or her interactions with students, parents, and other staff members.

My evidence for this principle is a permission slip form for our class’ field trip to Soundbridge. This trip concluded a science unit on Sound. The students traveled by city bus to Benaroya Hall to take part in this kid-centered exploratory program in which students participated in a lesson on pitch, vibrations, and dynamics and subsequently fiddled with several different instruments in a designated “play room” of sound. Before the field trip, I gave each student this permission slip, which, according to school standards, had to be completed by parents and returned to school before the day of the field trip.

This permission slip provides evidence of my competency for the E3 HOPE principle because it demonstrates how I followed legal procedures and protocol for planning and approving a field trip. In order to receive this form from the office, I was first required to fill out a field trip request form and submit it to the school’s office for administration approval. Upon approval, this form was emailed to me to distribute to students and their parents. This permission slip was therefore one step in the professional process for approving field trips by the legal standards of the school and district.

As a result of attaining and distributing this permission slip, I learned the specific steps of the process for planning a field trip for my classroom. Additionally, I learned important aspects of completing this process, such as submitting forms in a timely manner. In order to attain this permission slip, I had to submit the field trip approval form a week prior. Therefore, in order to successfully follow legal obligations, I had to plan ahead and submit my documents well in advance of our trip. Additionally, completing this legal process required communication with my mentor teacher and the administration of my school. As a result, I learned that especially as a new teacher, I will need to continually communicate with my colleagues to verify legal processes and responsibilities.

Though such legal processes primarily involve staff and administration, proficiency with professional responsibilities are intended to support student learning. Maintaining professional responsibilities ensures that students remain in a organized, safe, and stable learning environment. Therefore, teacher responsibilities are directly related to supporting student’s learning.

In order to improve in my competency of this standard, I plan to continue to remain in tune with staff obligations through attending staff meetings and communicating with m colleagues. Additionally, it will be important to continually review the staff handbook for my current school and the schools I attend in the future in order to remain familiar and comfortable with legal responsibilities.

Reflection on P4

P4 – Practice the integration of appropriate technology with instruction.
Teacher-candidates use technology that is effectively integrated to create technologically proficient learners. In other words, teachers should use technology to enhance learning and make learning relevant for students.

My evidence for this HOPE principle is a picture captured of one of my science lessons. At the beginning of each science lesson, I post a Focus Question in a pocket chart and ask students to write the focus question at the top of their notebook page. While they write their focus question in their notebooks, I record a focus question in my notebook on the document camera, as demonstrated in this picture.

Modeling with a Document Camera

This provides evidence of the P4 principle, because it is representative of the consistent integration of technology that I use in the classroom. This picture is a snapshot of a daily routine, which begins and ends with the document camera. The document camera allows for modeling of lesson activities, as well as sharing student responses and ideas. Therefore, both I and the students use this piece of technology consistently and for learning purposes as indicated in the P4 principle.

The use of the document camera took a growing sense of familiarity with adjustments according to an awareness of students. The purpose of the document camera is to give students the ability to see and practice what I am demonstrating. Therefore, it is important to make sure that this piece of technology is serving its purpose through appropriate adjustments. Additionally, I believe that routine is important for some technological uses. My students are now familiar with the routine of the document camera, which has become a successful educational tool, rather than a distraction. Technological integration is intimately tied with implications on student learning. Technology can be a beneficial tool to accelerate and enhance learning when used appropriately. For example, in this lesson, technology was used to provide a means for modeling the lesson activity for students to follow.

I have several future goals to improve my competency in this standard. For example, I hope to give students more opportunities to use a variety of technological resources. Currently, students primarily have access to the document camera and class computers. However, I would enjoy giving students the opportunity to use a set of iPads in order to supplement a math lesson. Additionally, though students are familiar with the document camera, their use of it is primarily dictated by my lending of permission and help. It would be beneficial to have students practice adjusting the document camera to gain some autonomy with using this technological device. Additionally, I hope to use our class computers more often to introduce new resources to students, such as exploratory websites.

Reflection on P3

P3 – Practice standards-based assessment.
Teacher-candidates use standards-based assessment that is systematically analyzed using multiple formative, summative, and self-assessment strategies to monitor and improve instruction. In other words, teachers should have aligned assessments that are intended to provide a window into opportunities for strengthening teaching.

My evidence for this HOPE principal is an Exit Ticket  that was designed to assess students’ understanding of the math lesson’s learning target for the day. The learning target was “I can multiply a 2-digit number by a 1-digit number.” During the lesson, we reviewed three different methods for tackling these problems in order to provide flexible, self-selected strategies. At the end of the lesson, students were given an exit slip to demonstrate their understanding. Following the lesson, the exit notes were graded and evaluated. Based on the evaluation, I identified seven students who needed reteaching, which was provided the following day.

The Exit Ticket provides evidence of two aspects of this HOPE principle: formative assessment and self assessment. These prompts were intended to both gather information about what students know, provided by a given multiplication problem, as well as what they think they know, prompted by a learning target reflection question. The same assessment was given to all students, though struggling students were encouraged to just respond to questions 2 and 3, thus making the assessment systematic in order for consistent analysis. Also, most importantly, this assessment was used specifically to inform instruction. The Exit Ticket provided wonderful insight into students’ knowledge and understanding, identifying what students understood and what gaps needed to be addressed, both on a class and individual level.

This particular evidence for HOPE Principle P3 was extremely didactic for my teaching practices. Before this point, my coordinating teacher did little exercises like this, primarily using workbooks and verbal feedback for formative assessments. While those are important, this assessment illustrated how beneficial written feedback can be. Though verbal assessments provide a general sense of student knowledge, written assessments provide a means to account for every student individually and intently. The implications on student learning for this assessment as well as other assessments are crucial depending on how this principle is applied. If assessments are merely given for a grade in the grade book, students and teachers treat misunderstandings with a reactive rather than pro-active approach. If, however, understanding is assessed repeatedly with fluidity and feedback, teachers and students have the ability to recognize holes and work together to fill them.

In the future, I plan to continue to assess students’ knowledge in order to modify and alter my teaching strategies for student success. I would like to make Exit Tickets a more regular part for instruction in math and other subject areas to receive continual written assessments for review and consideration. I also plan to create a more systematic means to assess students verbally during the lessons. Checklists are a great way to gain insight into what students do and do not know as I circle during student worktime, and I hope to incorporate this more regularly into my lessons.

Reflection on P2

P2 – Practice differentiated instruction.
Teacher-candidates apply principles of differentiated instruction, including theories of language acquisition, stages of language, and academic language development, in the integration of subject matter across the content areas of reading, mathematical, scientific, and aesthetic reasoning. In other words, teacher must adapt and alter their lessons in order to accommodate for the needs of students at all stages of development and learning.

My evidence for this HOPE principle is a math lesson on division. The lesson focused on division number sentences, in an attempt to introduce them to the mathematical concept of division and its relationship to the symbols that represent them. The students in this lesson were read Pat Hutchin’s The Doorbell Rang and discussed the meaning of “equal sharing division”, using cookie cut-out manipulatives to act out equal sharing situations. Division Lesson.

This lesson provides evidence of this HOPE principle because of the supports and modifications included in the lesson to tend to my students’ learning needs. First, the learning target was reviewed and analyzed at the lesson’s onset, during which we discussed the key vocabulary words necessary for the lesson’s content. Additionally, I modeled writing the key vocabulary in a math dictionary, which the students repeated in their own math dictionary. I also prepared additional challenges and supports based upon my individual students’ needs during a group activity, in which students were dividing cookie-cut outs and writing an equation to represent this. I prepared additional tasks for groups that finished early, asking them to split up their cookies in alternate ways, thereby representing them with different equations. However, I also prepared hint cards for students who needed additional support writing the division number sentences. Though we had written number sentence frames in our math dictionaries, I also wrote out number sentence frames for students who needed additional support. This proved to be very beneficial to engage students in the lesson who otherwise may have been stuck.

This lesson-planning process was an excellent exercise in adapting and providing support for learners who needed it. Most significantly, I learned how key intentionality and devotion are to preparing for a successful lesson for my particular class. Therefore, planning must integrate sufficient time to account for this part of the process.   I also realized how different supports look, depending on which group of students we encounter. While planning “supports” for hypothetical students in coursework was beneficial, the application of these theories look quite different when using them an actual heterogeneous mix of varying academic needs and personalities. This aspect of planning and instruction also has drastic implications on the students. Had I not prepared higher level tasks and supports for my students, half the class would have mentally vacated the lesson, and thereby, would not have learned anything. Differentiation, therefore, is essential in order for learning to take place.

This lesson is only a small representation of differentiation necessities and strategies in the classroom. In order to take further steps to improve my familiarity and mastery of this HOPE principle, I hope to come up with a more consistent means for a word bank for math in my classroom. While students have their math dictionaries to reference for academic terms, a math bank would provide a more visual, consistent resource for students who need it. Additionally, I will need additional practice tending to my students needs accurately. Though I continually aim for providing developmental approximations of students learning, I will need to continue to become familiar with my students and their capabilities in order to best serve their needs.

 

Reflection on P1

P1 – Practice intentional inquiry and planning for instruction.
Teacher-candidates plan and/or adapt standards-based curricula that are personalized to the diverse needs of each student. In other words, teacher must plan with intention in regards to both state specifications and student needs. In order for teachers to remain on the same page, teachers must adhere to the content standards approved by the state and must teach from the curriculum mandated by the district or school. Additionally, teachers must adapt curriculum so that it is suitable for whole class and individual student needs. This requires intentional and conscious planning.

My evidence for this standard is a lesson plan for a math lesson on equal sharing division. This lesson was derived from the Everyday Mathematics Curriculum, which is the required text for math education at my school. However, this lesson was adapted to include a literature element, for which I read The Doorbell Rang by Pat Hutchins as well as a hands-on activity that involved students counting and dividing cookie cut outs. This lesson was part of a unit on multiplication and division that developed students’ conceptual understanding of these topics and introduced them to mastering basic skills.

This lesson plan demonstrates my competency with the P1 principle because of the detail with which I evaluated students’ overall and individual knowledge and planned accordingly. First, as described in section 2 of my lesson plan, this lesson was selected because of its location within the Everyday Math curriculum. Additionally, I evaluated the lesson in respect to my class’ prior knowledge and experience with division concepts. Thus, I used a collaboration of the curriculum’s suggested lesson material and my interpretation of student readiness to devise this lesson. I made several changes to the proposed lesson to engage students’ interest according to my knowledge of this class. For example, students were given a hands-on task in which they were to divide up cookies with group members, activating cooperative learning and kinesthetic engagement that the original lesson lacked. Additionally, this lesson plan accounts for individual student needs. Different students are given different tasks according to my evaluation of their proficiency with multiplication and division concepts. Modifications are also made according to specific IEPs of this group of students. Examples of differentiation include hint cards that were given to students who need additional support. I also planned additional challenges for gifted students who often finish baseline tasks with ease and speed.

As a result of planning this math lesson, I learned several lessons about intentional planning. First, it is necessary to plan according to a specific group of students’ prior knowledge. Though the curriculum suggested a lesson with sharing money to teach equal division concepts, I knew that my students would not be exposed to a lesson on money until later in the year. Thus, though the curriculum implied money concepts were part of students’ prior knowledge, my understanding of my students suggested otherwise and I adapted the tasks to sharing cookies instead. Therefore, I am continuing to learn how essential it is to evaluate suggested lesson plans and adapt them based on whole class needs. Additionally, I learned that intentional planning takes time. Completing this particular lesson plan took multiple days of preparation. Therefore, in order to engage in effective planning, I must continue to commit to making time for reflection and detailed planning.

Intentional planning is vital to student success. Lessons should meet students where they are at both as a whole class and at an individual level in order for learning to take place. Finding students’ “zone of proximal development” as Vygotsky calls it, depends on teacher knowledge of students and the modifications they make to serve this well.

In order to improve on this principle, I plan to continue to commit to intentional planning for my lessons. Additionally, I hope to become more adept at planning units. Though I have crafted a few unit plans, I hope to create more unit plans to apply intentional planning to a broader scope. Additionally, I plan to discuss and reflect on my lesson plans with other teachers. In order to improve intentional planning, I will need to use the expertise of surrounding teachers as resources. Though continual experience planning will augment my competency in this standard, collaborative input from veteran teachers is an invaluable asset to grow in this area, and I plan to take advantage of this as I finish the remainder of my student teaching.

Extra-Curricular Event #2

Students participated in the culmination of an eight-week pilot program with the Seattle Symphony: A concert performance at Benaroya Hall. A program that marries vocal singing with instrument, “Link-Up ” offered students one hour of instruction per week in singing and playing recorders. Using recorders provided by a local music company and guided by a guest instructor from the Seattle Symphony, the students practiced stretching, breathing, projecting, reading music, and playing notes. Their music teacher also worked with them during extra music classes to prepare them for the culminating event.

Students joined together to sing and perform with the Seattle Symphony. The event was both engaging and didactic. The students sat in the audience, facing a segment of the Seattle Symphony, which was arranged on stage. However, the students were active participants in the performance. Singing songs vocally was interspersed with playing songs on their recorders, which were connected with an emphasis on the idea that the symphony “sings” through music. When the students weren’t singing or playing their recorders, they were still actively participating, moving their hands up and down with the melody that the Seattle Symphony played.

This event illustrated the importance of student exposure to rich experiences and actively engaging students in learning. Though it is easy to rely on routine activities or curriculum, teachers must be sure to include experiences that keep students interested and appropriately challenged. Students need the chance to touch, feel, hear, and see learning experiences, filing them into those parts of our memory that remain vivid because of the emotions and sensations attached to them. This experience also illustrated how capable students are of mastering tasks when taught effectively. Students of all abilities and interests were able to master the songs instructed when the task was broken down, when expectations were set high, and when practice was enacted efficiently and consistently. The Seattle Symphony experience therefore, not only connected students with a memorable experience, but also demonstrated what rich and meaningful learning and instruction looks like.

Intervention Plan Reflection (P1 Reflection)

P1 – Practice intentional inquiry and planning for instruction.
Teacher-candidates plan and/or adapt standards-based curricula that are personalized to the diverse needs of each student.

The diverse needs of students demands different levels of intervention. It is the teacher’s responsibility to ensure that students receive enough support to prepare them their for their future academic and professional lives.

This Intervention Plan is a hypothetical example of the type of differentiation necessary for ensuring student success. This intervention plan is based off of the assessment data of a student in my internship classroom who is a below grade level reader. A presentation of his assessment results, an interpretation of the data, and the recommended steps for improvement based on this data are outlined in the plan.

This plan was informed by the interpretation of the students’ needs and the research-based practices that support them. Personalization is only effective when it is based on an accurate analysis of assessment data. Without sound information on the students’ strengths and weaknesses, students are at the mercy of the dangers of assumptions and variability. Therefore, the first step in crafting this intervention plan was an evaluation of verifiable data. The subsequent step was taking research-based steps to address the findings. Much of this intervention was informed by Teaching Struggling and At-Risk Readers, which details what works for designing reading instruction for struggling readers. The core tenets of this book, and as a result, this plan, are increased time, systematic and explicit instruction, and ample opportunity for practice and feedback.

As a result of this plan, I became acquainted with the steps needed to design an intervention for a struggling reader. As stated, effective interventions must be based on the specific needs of the student, which can only be reliably determined through an evaluation of sound assessment data. Additionally, this task provided a clearer picture of what reading instruction entails in order to fill gaps in reading success as quickly as possible. The implications of these steps on student learning are the reason their necessity. When intervention is based on student needs and research-based practice, variability and false assumptions are minimized. A decrease in student variability increases the likelihood that students succeed.

In the future, I plan to take increasingly more steps to individualize instruction for various students’ needs. While individual plans are an important component, it will also be necessary to include intentional planning for whole class instruction. More planning to accommodate the range of students needs in the classroom will be part of my future teaching.