McConnell-Doidge Week 3
Wow! I can't believe week 3 has already come to an end, time is really flying by. This week I feel like I finally fell into a groove and really got comfortable with a routine and my environment, and even though it's not permanent a feeling like "i belong" has really set in with me. This week I felt myself building relationships with my team, and using them as resources to ask questions and grow in this experience. This brought me to Standard 8 - Collaborative Relationships – The competent teacher builds and maintains collaborative relationships to foster cognitive, linguistic, physical, and social and emotional development. This teacher works as a team member with professional colleagues, students, parents or guardians, and community members. I had my first team meeting this week during our late start on Wednesday. Each teacher presented their smart goals to the rest of the group. It was interesting to hear about how each group planned and implemented their strategies with the overall goal of meeting their smart goals. They also took time to reflect if they didn't meet their smart goal and see what they could have done differently. This brought on a thought for what I am currently going through with student teaching. Every lesson the goal is for the students to master the learning objectives however not every lesson is a success and it is important to reflect on that.
I have learned throughout this week that every class is not the same. Although I have three freshman classes and they are all learning the same thing from one period to the next I am figuring out what works and what doesn't or given the specific group of students what modifications and adjustments will need to be made for that lesson to accommodate that specific groups learning needs. Which makes me think of Standard 5 - Instructional Delivery – The competent teacher differentiates instruction by using a variety of strategies that support critical and creative thinking, problem-solving, and continuous growth and learning. This teacher understands that the classroom is a dynamic environment requiring ongoing modification of instruction to enhance learning for each student.
A win for me this week was my lesson that I gave today. This was a fitness lesson for "fitness Friday". In this lesson students were given a note card that had six exercises listed on it. They were broken up into five groups where on their note cards they had to assign each exercise reps using each number so that one exercise would be for 30 reps, one exercise for 25, and so on all the way down to 5 reps for one of the exercises. This allowed the students some freedom on their exercises for the day and allowed them to collaborate as a group to decide which exercise would be designated each amount of reps. After the students completed all six exercises they had to check in with me and they were then instructed to run one lap before starting set two. They would repeat this process until they completed three sets. After, all the groups completed their sets we as a class played a game of "noodle tag" which the students all really enjoyed. The reason I call this lesson a win is because one of the teachers saw my lesson and asked if she could use my idea for her lesson when she gets observed. It felt really great that a long time teacher noticed what I was doing and wanted to use my idea. Standard 2 - Content Area and Pedagogical Knowledge – The competent teacher has in-depth understanding of content area knowledge that includes central concepts, methods of inquiry, structures of the disciplines, and content area literacy. The teacher creates meaningful learning experiences for each student based upon interactions among content area and pedagogical knowledge, and evidence-based practice. This was a lesson where I really felt connected with my students and felt it was impactful in that they got to collaborate and come together and they all participated and stayed active throughout the lesson and took ownership on their fitness by assigning the reps.
All week I have felt myself growing as an educator, while still accepting the fact that everyday is a learning experience, and as much as my students are learning from me I am learning from them. I have a student who has a lot of behavioral issues and is out of class more than she is in class. Every time she has been in my class she is apprehensive at first but then has participated from start to finish and really has done a great job. After every class she has come up to me and asked "how many points did I lose today?" and my response has always been "none, you did a great job and thank you for participating" and it makes her really happy. She is a student who needs that reassurance and doesn't like to stay on one task too long. Standard 1 - Teaching Diverse students- The competent teacher understands the diverse characteristics and abilities of each student and how individuals develop and learn within the context of their social, economic, cultural, linguistic, and academic experiences. The teacher uses these experiences to create instructional opportunities that maximize student learning. We had a drivers ed presentation on Wednesday where the students didn't have to dress and after the presentation was over this same student asked to go to the bathroom. Mind you she is on a pass restriction so she is not able to go into the hallway by herself so I had to go with her. When we got back she said "this is so boring when can I leave" because she really doesn't know what to do with any unstructured time. I told her she had to wait till the bell rang, and she ended up staying and talking to me until the bell rang, and it was a great conversation and when the bell rang she didn't want to leave to go to her next class because she was happy just talking to me. A student like that can often get dismissed due to behavior yet there is always a bigger picture and a lot we don't see. We always have to remember our students are people too, with real lives and they just like us have a lot going on.
Overall this week was full of firsts, and great experiences and I am very grateful for the opportunity to be at such a great school and work with amazing educators and to teach my wonderful students!
I have learned throughout this week that every class is not the same. Although I have three freshman classes and they are all learning the same thing from one period to the next I am figuring out what works and what doesn't or given the specific group of students what modifications and adjustments will need to be made for that lesson to accommodate that specific groups learning needs. Which makes me think of Standard 5 - Instructional Delivery – The competent teacher differentiates instruction by using a variety of strategies that support critical and creative thinking, problem-solving, and continuous growth and learning. This teacher understands that the classroom is a dynamic environment requiring ongoing modification of instruction to enhance learning for each student.
A win for me this week was my lesson that I gave today. This was a fitness lesson for "fitness Friday". In this lesson students were given a note card that had six exercises listed on it. They were broken up into five groups where on their note cards they had to assign each exercise reps using each number so that one exercise would be for 30 reps, one exercise for 25, and so on all the way down to 5 reps for one of the exercises. This allowed the students some freedom on their exercises for the day and allowed them to collaborate as a group to decide which exercise would be designated each amount of reps. After the students completed all six exercises they had to check in with me and they were then instructed to run one lap before starting set two. They would repeat this process until they completed three sets. After, all the groups completed their sets we as a class played a game of "noodle tag" which the students all really enjoyed. The reason I call this lesson a win is because one of the teachers saw my lesson and asked if she could use my idea for her lesson when she gets observed. It felt really great that a long time teacher noticed what I was doing and wanted to use my idea. Standard 2 - Content Area and Pedagogical Knowledge – The competent teacher has in-depth understanding of content area knowledge that includes central concepts, methods of inquiry, structures of the disciplines, and content area literacy. The teacher creates meaningful learning experiences for each student based upon interactions among content area and pedagogical knowledge, and evidence-based practice. This was a lesson where I really felt connected with my students and felt it was impactful in that they got to collaborate and come together and they all participated and stayed active throughout the lesson and took ownership on their fitness by assigning the reps.
All week I have felt myself growing as an educator, while still accepting the fact that everyday is a learning experience, and as much as my students are learning from me I am learning from them. I have a student who has a lot of behavioral issues and is out of class more than she is in class. Every time she has been in my class she is apprehensive at first but then has participated from start to finish and really has done a great job. After every class she has come up to me and asked "how many points did I lose today?" and my response has always been "none, you did a great job and thank you for participating" and it makes her really happy. She is a student who needs that reassurance and doesn't like to stay on one task too long. Standard 1 - Teaching Diverse students- The competent teacher understands the diverse characteristics and abilities of each student and how individuals develop and learn within the context of their social, economic, cultural, linguistic, and academic experiences. The teacher uses these experiences to create instructional opportunities that maximize student learning. We had a drivers ed presentation on Wednesday where the students didn't have to dress and after the presentation was over this same student asked to go to the bathroom. Mind you she is on a pass restriction so she is not able to go into the hallway by herself so I had to go with her. When we got back she said "this is so boring when can I leave" because she really doesn't know what to do with any unstructured time. I told her she had to wait till the bell rang, and she ended up staying and talking to me until the bell rang, and it was a great conversation and when the bell rang she didn't want to leave to go to her next class because she was happy just talking to me. A student like that can often get dismissed due to behavior yet there is always a bigger picture and a lot we don't see. We always have to remember our students are people too, with real lives and they just like us have a lot going on.
Overall this week was full of firsts, and great experiences and I am very grateful for the opportunity to be at such a great school and work with amazing educators and to teach my wonderful students!
What an impactful week! I am glad that your week unfolded some authentic ways for you to see things are indeed moving in a positive direction as you feel yourself growing. The more comfortable you feel, the more you accomplish.
ReplyDeleteOnward to week 4!
Dr. Austin
Danielle, Thanks for sharing the experiences of your week. It sounds like it was beneficial for you, your students and your colleagues. How rewarding to have an experienced teacher ask if he/she can use your lesson plan for their class. You go girl ! Congrat's on that. You are correct in that we have to view our students and their lives beyond the 50 minutes that we see them every day. How great for you to be able to spend time with a student who needed and seemingly appreciated the time you gave her in simple yet meaningful conversation. That is professional growth at its best.
ReplyDeleteKeep up the great work and I look forward to seeing you on Monday.