REFLECTION ON THE VIDEO-NEW TEACHER EXPERIENCES

This video gave a reality check on what’s in store for every new teacher. I believe having the right philosophy and training sets you on the right path to your teaching career. I agree with Ms. Felix’s attitude that being in this career is about changing lives of many children and I always wish that I could be one who had made that difference in a student’s life.

Setting High Expectations-It was interesting how Mr. Torres wanted to establish the culture in his classroom from the very first day. His acceptance of all students and getting to know them is a crucial step that has to be established on the first day. I like the fact Mr. Torres introduces himself as a nerd. Which shows that he’s acceptable of all students in class and there’s no one atypical student. According to Marzano “changing the teacher behavior that comes with low expectations will most probably produce the desired effect on student achievement.”(Marzano,2007) This shows the reality of how simple but well reflected actions and change in behavior on the part of the teacher has the ability transform students from low achievers to high achievers. His actions  sets the tone for acceptance across the classroom for all types of students. This is also evident in Mr. Torres providing the way of Inclusion of Support Students. Mr. Torres made the effort to explain the math to the special ed student. I’m not sure if there was a teacher aid for him but he managed it well by including him in the lesson. He did not show any kind of differential treatment to a student with difficulties.

Classroom Rules: Mr. Torres did not set out classroom rules at the start.  Marzano states “Regardless of how well behaved students in a given class might be, they still need rules and procedures” (Marzano, 2007).In his class some students were on their mobile phones at the start of the year. Once again as Marzano states “teacher awareness of potential problems and quick attention to those situations are at the core of effective classroom management. Such behavior defines withitness.”(Marzano, 2007)Since all rules and expectations were not stated on the first day Mr. Torres did not appear to students as a teacher who thought that rules were important, hence it left  room for class management issues later on. I would like to implement Ms. Felix’s strategy which gave clear expectations to the students. Posting the agenda on the board and expectations for students to be on task is very important. Her method of motivating them in the classroom the “super star” activity is something I would follow. The fact it’s going to be on the wall for students to recall their abilities is a great motivation strategy when things get tough down the year. Her collaborative stance on building classroom rules and procedures is another great strategy for building accountability in students because “evidence shows that the utility and procedures is enhanced if students have input their design”(Marzano,2007).

Classroom management: Ms. Felix pleading with students at times asking them to be mature, I would say is not something I would do. She could have periodically reviewed the classroom rules as Marzano suggests “even when rules and procedures are well designed initially they must be reviewed and adapted as time goes by.”(Marzano,2007). Similarly with Torres talking students personally is great but I think it would work better if he established rules with the whole class, which would be easier class management than individually reminding them. Something I saw consistently was that Mr. Torres would talk over the student chatter. Personally I would first work on getting their attention first before giving out instructions.

Student Motivation-Ms. Felix had high expectations for her students. “ If a teacher believes that students can succeed she tends to behave in ways that help them succeed”(Marzano,2007).Therefore I agree with her pushing students to be better is important and giving some students to retake the tests that are formative will encourage them further. Mr. Torres using the timer is useful to keep students on track and motivate them to work faster.I would definitely take the tip from the mentor that giving appropriate work that is challenging and hands on enables the teacher to maintain respect.

Planning and Preparation: Planning your work time and prep is of utmost importance. The school meetings are scheduled hence it is important to plan ahead.

 Mentor Relationship: The mentor’s insight into the teacher’s teaching strategy is useful as she feels relieved it’s nothing out of the ordinary. Hence I believe I’ll need that encouragement as well time to time that I do not burn out!

Works Cited: 

Channel, T. T. (n.d.). The New Teacher Experience .

 Marzano, R. J. (2007). Art and Science of Teaching. Alexandria, Virginia: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

Reflection on Standards and Objectives in Effective Teaching

Reflecting on this week’s activities I would say it challenged me to an extent where at a point I was confused about the differences between standards, the objectives & the teaching strategies. Using specific wording appropriately for each was a task.

However as I continued to read through the resources it became clearer. My first task was to understand the Common Core State Standards (CCSS )vs. IB Criteria. My school is an IB school that does not incorporate CCSS. In my research I came across an IBO site that had a report on aligning common core to IB which I think was pilot program. This enabled me to venture further and search for possibilities as to how I could align the two standards.For example, in Language and literature in IB the objective C is about producing text where students will “create works that demonstrate insight, imagination and sensitivity” (IBO, 2013) and the CCSS the writing component of the English language Arts standard I chose for this purpose was CCSS .ela- literacy.w.7.3.d “Use precise words and phrases, relevant descriptive details, and sensory language to capture the action and convey experiences and events.” (Initiative, 2015) I aligned the ideas of producing text through creativity (IB) to using descriptive language to convey experiences (CCSS).

I understood that a backward mapping standard is the root that sets forth the learning experience for a student. The primary goal of backward mapping should be to develop and deepen the student understanding. When clear priorities, purposes, and assessments are determined we can avoid the regular “textbook coverage” oriented teaching practices where no clear priorities and purposes are stated. In my inclusion classes I have observed teachers who had both the text book method and backward mapping used in their instruction. The textbook method of just following through pages of work had no clear objective of the desired result apart from taking the test at the end of the unit. This did not really deepen the student understanding of the application of the content. However in backward mapping the teacher has a clear goal of what areas should be focused on and brings it into perspective of student learning. Therefore the stages of backward mapping could be summarized as 1.  Identify desired results. -2. Determine acceptable evidence. 3. Plan learning experiences and instruction.

When unpacking the standard what really got my attention was by Sarah Tantillo’s article that said ““simple” standards require extensive scaffolding”  (Tantillo, 2014) When following the steps of paraphrasing, identifying the skills to achieve the standard and brainstorming various methods of teaching it gave a clear picture of where the scaffolding should take place. When designing the teaching strategies zooming in on the student performance requirement was essential to see to what extent the scaffolding needed to happen. For example in the standard ccss.ela-literacy.w.7.3.d “Use precise words and phrases, relevant descriptive details, and sensory language to capture the action and convey experiences and events.” (Initiative, 2015)

one of the my student performances was “Students will use descriptive sensory language to capture experiences.” Therefore when planning on scaffolding a skill I planned on giving them a strategy that they could use in their future assignments. For ex: Teach students the strategy of adding description in their writing. They use the process as follows:

1) Read over their writing 2) Ask themselves, “Using my five senses, how could I add more detail (sensory language)? 3) Add these details to my writing in order to add meaning.

After unpacking a standard It is important to set specific objectives when planning a lesson. Without a specific objective you could spend your time on something that is not important or it makes it difficult to know whether the whole process was worth it. Therefore without knowing the direction the lesson is heading is like taking a purposeless trip. Hence objectives provide teachers a focal point for planning instruction. It is important that learning objectives should not be too broad which render them meaningless or too narrow that it will limit a teacher’s ability to differentiate. A useful strategy in this process of developing objectives would be to follow the SMART rule as in it being Specific,Measurable,Attainable ,Relevant & Targeted. 

Another essential rule in the  aspect of writing objectives is to have a mix of the varied levels of cognition in the areas of knowledge, comprehension, application,analysis,synthesis and evaluation as set in the Bloom's taxonomy thus covering a range of low to high level of learning in processing information.

It is also important for teachers to communicate these objectives to the students as seen in the video Ms. Noonan’s strategy of SWABAT [Students Will Be Able To] where they will make connections between what they are learning and what they are supposed to learn. Through the learning objective they can determine what they need to pay attention to and where they might be needing help. It could also decrease student anxiety about their ability to succeed. I would use this strategy in my study skill lessons for students needing learning support to help them focus on their learning and build motivation to set personal learning goals.

Works Cited

Heer, R. (n.d.). Iowa State University. Retrieved February 14, 2015, from A Model ofLearning Objectives: http://www.celt.iastate.edu/teaching-resources/effective-practice/revised-blooms-taxonomy/

Initiative, C. C. (2015). Common Core State Standards Initiative.

International Baccalaureate Organization. ( 2013, July). Connecting IB to the Core.

Noonan, T. C. (n.d.). SWABAT Communicating Learning Goals.

Tantillo, S. (2014, January 31). Tools to Unpack the ELA CommonCore Standards.

Teacher & Educational Development, U. o. (2005). Effective Use of Performance Objectives for Learning and Assessment. Retrieved February 14, 2015, from Teacher & Educational Development: http://ccoe.rbhs.rutgers.edu/forms/EffectiveUseofLearningObjectives.pdf

  

MY BIGGEST FEAR

Looking back on the years gone and looking ahead to becoming a qualified special education teacher I feel I have conquered many fears from the day I set my foot to take this path. I've encountered a variety of students who have had varied learning and behavioral issues. Observing a myriad of teacher strategies I try to implement some of them in my class hoping for change in given situations

However I feel my biggest fear right now would be a student not complying with a assigned task and arrogantly proclaiming it in the class and creating a scene, which might or might not draw in a couple of students into the boycott. However much I know when a situation happens I panic and I'm afraid I'll say something that might escalate a behavior.

Reading through the resources this week has helped me to understand the amount of hours of preparation for a class is worth in the end if it means a great learning experience.Being proactive, organized, and watching out for precursors to varied student behavior will help minimize reactive situations.To be able to step back and remain calm will take some practice,as it would not happen every day! To be conscious not to engage in a verbal battle will take effort because I might just forget what to say when I panic.

I guess I'll overcome these fears just as I did the others in time to come.