Students are Students...

Today during class we discussed the second NCTCS standard, diversity. However it was important for us to first define what diversity looks like in 2015. The view of diversity has greatly changed since we were in elementary school. But what does that matter to a teacher? EVERYTHING! Our students depend on us to help them learn and meet their needs for learning. This means accommodating different learning styles to being respectful of different religious beliefs. Every student comes from a unique background and we, as future teachers, have to learn to be adaptable to what that entails.

In my future classroom, I want to be connected to my students so I can be respectful of the diversity present in my classroom and also so I can encourage a growth of learning to the best of my ability. This will not always be easy because I have 25 different students that all have different needs that all need to be accommodated. This will require a lot of planning on my behalf to provide an individualized learning experience for each student.

Before class today I had not truly thought about what diversity looks like in 2015. Today I realized to not understand that, is to do an injustice to my students. By not recognizing diversity as it is today, I could possibly be inhibiting that student's ability to learn and grow. Thus, doing the exact opposite of what my job is as a future teacher. This fact reassures the need for teachers to stay plugged into society and to know what is going on in the world. Students are constantly changing and thus our method of teaching students should be also. Because when it boils down to it I have a room full of students and my job is to teach them and help them overcome any obstacle in the way. My students will need different pathways adapted to their specific capabilities but they will all still have one common goal, to learn and grow.

Assessment Assessment Assessment..

During the past two classes we have discussed types of assessment. Immediately the word TEST popped into my mind. Going through schools the importance of tests and EOGs were forced on us like it was a life or death situation. These past few classes made me realize how truly unnecessary this truly was. I, as a student, tested horribly, so of course I hated any test thrown at me. Then on top of that feeling, my teachers placed so much importance on it. The amount of stress and worry spent over the tests replaced what actual learning could have taken place.

As a future teacher I have the opportunity to change this. I have the opportunity to never make my students feel the way I did when given a test. Now I cannot completely do away with testing because certain tests are state mandated, thus I have no option. Instead I can focus on the learning. I can prepare my students so well that the test seems like a piece of cake. Now this is easier said than done! In order to actually achieve this goal, I have to include several formative assessments into my lesson plan. Formative assessments are simply different ways, I, the teacher can keep updated with how well my students are internalizing the content I am teaching. This can include, but is not limited to, exit tickets or checkpoints. These assessments can lead me in two directions, I either keep building on the students knowledge because they understand the content or I go back and recap what has been done in a different way to help the students understand the concept better. After the various steps of this are done then it is time for the summative assessment to truly put their knowledge to the test. This is when the test comes in except now that the students are truly prepared it doesn't seem so scary!

Back to High School...

This week we went into High School classrooms for observations. The classroom I was in was excellent! Nothing I would ever want to do but this teacher had done excellent job of running her classroom and made even me want to be there! I could easily spot what we had been talking about with NCTCS in her teaching.

Standard one Leadership... She was a very petite younger teacher which can sometimes lead to students not giving her respect but ALL of her students respected her. You could tell from day one she had established her ground rules and stuck with them. She gave her students respect and in return she was given theirs as the leader of the classroom.
Standard three, Content... The love for her content area was obvious. She did not read from a textbook what her students needed to know but rather she knew it so well she could translate it to a way that was easily understandable to her students. She related things to the real world by talking about political cartoons or the manufacturing of Jordans to make her content important to her students.
Standard five, Reflection... During our observation the teacher made time to come and talk to us by why she did some of things she did in her classroom. For example, she gives her students printed notes that match her presentation but have blanks for them to fill in. She explained to us that she did this because this was a lower level class and they would focus too much on copying notes than actually listening to what she said. She said her method gave her students time to be engaged in what she says but the blanks also keep the students paying attention. She had tried both ways and this had been most effective for her students.

High School is definitely not for me, however, I learned a lot about excellent teaching specific to your students during this visit.

Back into the Classroom...

This week we observed a middle school classroom. The differences in setting and tone of the classroom were very obvious as I sat in the back of the class to observe. There was two main things that I took away from this visit, I want to encourage my students to stay excited about learning and I want to encourage organization. This was something I felt lacked in that classroom. I do not think it is fair to blame that specific teacher nor the students in class. However somewhere along the line the excitement for learning disappeared.

Even though I am not future middle school teacher, I truly valued this experience because it helps me set goals for my students. In this case I do not mean I want my students to achieve middle school level work but rather that I want to prepare my students for middle school. This means not only making sure that they know and understand the content I teach, but also their behavior in the classroom. I as a teacher should help them with things such as organization or staying task without being monitored constantly. Middle school gives students more freedom and with that freedom comes much responsibility. During my observation I saw students with papers crammed in books and wrinkled and I also students with well organized binders and could find what the teacher asked for very quickly. This skill may not be viewed as vital to some but in my opinion even an elementary teacher can impact their future career in this way by helping students learn the importance of staying organized.

Another thing I saw as I observed this middle school classroom was a lack of excitement for learning. Often students would moan and complain at the thought of having to write notes or being assigned homework. As I said this blame does not fall on that particular teacher nor the student. But, as future educator this encourages me to instill this value in my students. When excitement for learning disappears often does the amount students retain. When students are disengaged they do not remember as much as they would if they were interested about what they are learning about. This supports the fourth standard, facilitating learning, by facilitating learning in an encouraging and exciting way.