EDU 6918 Course Reflection

8.2 Growing and Developing Professionally. The profession of teaching is an ever evolving field that requires educators to pursue opportunities for growth. To me, the standard 8.2 Growing and Developing means an educator recognizes the changes in society and the need to continually reflect and receive feedback on practices used. The educator is open to new pedagogical practices and strives to advance with their ever changing profession to remain an effective educator.

Across many of this quarters coursework, I have seen the term “culture”. It has been used in a variety of ways and phrases: culturally relevant, culturally responsive, differentiation in regards to culture. This repetition has really shown the importance “culture” plays in the classroom. One analogy that has stuck with me, is America not as a “melting pot” but America as a “salad bowl”. In the salad bowl, students remain distinct in their culture while enhancing the class as a whole. They mix with other ingredients (students) to form a unified dish (class) but each gets to keep its unique characteristics. In the classroom, this relates to being an educator who values diversity and recognizes cultural differences. In this way, the educator is culturally responsive. The educator values and makes use of the language and culture students bring to the mix.

Figure 1

Figure 1 is from an Intro to Teaching discussion topic. This post describes my thoughts as to the characteristics of a teacher distinguished on demonstrating knowledge of content and pedagogy. In it, I discuss the importance of a teacher being culturally responsive. One statement that shows my awareness of the need to be culturally responsive as an educator is, “The teacher, concerned with maintaining an engaging, culturally responsive curriculum, continues to educate themselves by visiting other classrooms with successful programs, and reading and researching materials that will help further their understanding, and clear misconceptions or bias.”

This particular posting, I wrote as a foreseen weakness in my current teaching disposition. I welcome diversity and believe all students have the right to a safe, caring learning environment. I also believe teachers must be of the disposition of acceptance and respect for all kinds of learners and cultures.  My weakness comes in a lack of experience and contact with the possible cultural variations in a classroom and community. Because I am aware and concerned with this lack of cultural experience, I will take extra steps to recognize diversity in my classroom. I will also seek out ways to educate myself in this area by engaging in some of the afore mentioned activities: visiting other classrooms, reading and researching, also reflecting on my actions and lessons, and interacting with parents. Maintaining good communication with the parents of students with cultural considerations, will be a valuable tool not only help the student succeed but also to further my cultural knowledge.

For educators the following thoughts are simple and profound, “Perhaps the most important thing diversity issues teach educators is that the opportunity to learn does not end when one leaves school with a teaching degree. Rather, the chance to learn about other people is a lifelong process that is never really "finished." (Franklin).

References

Franklin, J. (2001, March). The Diverse Challenges of Multiculturalism. Retrieved August 16, 2016, from http://www.ascd.org/publications/newsletters/education-update/mar01/vol43/num02/The-Diverse-Challenges-of-Multiculturalism.aspx

Meta-Reflection: Curriculum Design

I came into Seattle Pacific University’s Alternate Route to Certification Program with what I thought was a working knowledge of the teaching profession. I had worked in many classrooms both as a volunteer and as a paraprofessional. The reality is that I knew little of the scope of what teaching entails, particularly in the area of designing and implementing effective curriculum. The Curriculum Design course helped me to realize there is much more to successful teaching than worksheets and lectures. In module one’s lecture the professor related designing lessons to a road trip. A teacher’s job is to make sure the destination is clear and the chosen sites and stops along the way are meaningful and engaging. Our course work then centered on how to design these meaningful, engaging lessons that will take students on their trip to successful learning.

Standards are the road signs of curriculum design and planning. Using state standards as guidelines is important for making sure lessons are taking students to where they need to go. Educators are frequently provided a curriculum which they are to teach. While this curriculum might be aligned to standards, it is rarely perfect for meeting the needs of students. Effective educators know their students are individuals and that each student learns differently(Medina), therefore each classroom will be unique to the students it contains. An effective educator is able to analyze a provided curriculum, identify strengths and weaknesses, and then modify that curriculum to better fit their classroom needs. The end result being students get to their destination with the sites along the way that were most beneficial to them.

“A standard answers the question, Where am I going in my learning? while learning targets show students the path to get there.” [Schuhl; (Goodwin, 2009, p. 90)]. Writing daily learning targets is the next step in creating a clear curriculum. Daily learning targets are the stops or sites that move students incrementally closer to their learning destination. Daily learning targets should be posted in the classroom and discussed with students multiple times throughout a lesson, so that expectations are clear and students, and administrators can see what students are working on. It is then important to design engaging learning activities based on the learning targets. These should be tasks or skills that keep in mind the interests and prior knowledge of students. In the article, Teaching That Emphasizes Active Engagement, I learned that “To engage students, the teacher must do more than lecture. While teaching the concepts and skills, the teacher must help students draw on their own experiences to build a "scaffold" on which they can "hang" new ideas. When students are actively engaged, they focus on what is being taught and better process new information.” (Lorain). One instructional strategy that builds on student’s prior knowledge and works to promote student responsibility in their own learning is the gradual release model.

The unit I chose to focus on as an ongoing class assignment, was a literary unit on character study, which specifically addressed the 8^th grade standards: RL.8.3: Analyze how particular lines of dialogue or incidents in a story or drama propel the action, reveal aspects of a character, or provoke a decision, and SL.8.1: Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grade 8 topics, texts, and issues, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly. The Big Idea for this unit was to show how “Authors use characters and dialogue to teach life lessons.” After establishing the standards, writing daily learning targets, and designing engaging learning activities for ten lessons, I further developed five complete daily lessons. A more complete view of this can be seen in LessonPlan Artifact. I worked to provide opportunities for formative assessment throughout the lessons. The use of ongoing assessment will allow me to determine where students are in meeting the daily learning target and which teaching strategies are proving effective. It also allows for determining which students need differentiation as struggling or exceptional students. Because each student learns differently, it is important to be vigilant and flexible in providing students multiple ways to engage with informational materials. Throughout this course work of designing curriculum, I had the opportunity to share my work with classmates, receive feedback, and adjust my lessons to be more effective and engaging.

As I reflect on my progress throughout this course, first with analyzing a familiar curriculum and then working to create my own, I realize how much my appreciation of the teaching profession has grown. My views on what makes a great teacher and what a classroom should look like has changed dramatically. Gone are the old school ideas that classrooms are quite places of learning. Now, I have images of classrooms filled with discussions, hand-on activities and movement. “Teaching is one of the most complicated jobs today. It demands broad knowledge of subject matter, curriculum, and standards; enthusiasm, a caring attitude, and a love of learning; knowledge of discipline and classroom management techniques; and a desire to make a difference in the lives of young people.” (GreatSchools). I now realize curriculum design is a critical element in effective teaching and student success. On my student’s road trip to successful learning, I am the driver and navigator. Through this course, I have discovered that there is an array of teaching methods and strategies available to be effective in this role. The first step is to first consider my students, then continually evaluate and adapt lessons to ensure they arrive at their learning destination with enduring memories and knowledge.

References

G. (2016, June 8). What makes a great teacher? Retrieved August 12, 2016, from http://www.greatschools.org/gk/articles/what-makes-a-great-teacher/

Lorraine, P. (n.d.). Teaching That Emphasizes Active Engagement. Retrieved August 12, 2016, from http://www.nea.org/tools/16708.htm

Medina. J. (2014). Brain rules. Seattle, WA: Pear Press

Schuhl, Sarah. (n.d.). How Do We Write Learning Targets to Assess Students? Retrieved on August 12, 2016 from, http://soltreemrls3.s3-website-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/solution-tree.com/media/pdf/HOE_Schuhl-WritingLearningTargets-CFF305.pdf

1.2 Component 3a: Communicating with Students in the area of Expectations. To me, 1.2 involves a few key teacher understandings and actions, including acknowledging each student as an individual, maintaining quality interactions with each student, assessing student knowledge and interests, and presenting lessons that access student knowledge and call for peer collaboration or feedback. Establishing each student as a person who feels valued and respected, is an essential first step in engaging them in the learning process. Marzano (2007) relates how the teacher treatment of high-versus low-expectancy students is one of the most influential differences in a student’s success therefore, I must form and maintain quality interactions with each student. In order to create a meaningful learning environment, I will need to get to know my students and provide ways in which I can assess students existing knowledge, skills and interests. When students can relate their own personal experiences with the lesson, they become active learners who are motivated to achieve because they care about what they are learning and according to Medina (2008), generate longer lasting retention of this learning. Embellishing explanations with vivid language and content that connects the lesson with prior student experiences and real world applications, produces more meaningful and transferable

understandings. The provided text box further addresses the benefits and methods of having students create personal connections with lessons. I wrote this for EDU 6132, Learners in Context.  One particular quote from this text box that acknowledges the need for connections to prior experiences is, “In a middle school classroom, the more personalized I can make a lesson the better, showing why they need to learn the information and when and where it will be used.” By presenting lessons in ways that incorporate more of the student’s senses, such as with visual, auditory, and hands-on components, as well as, providing ample time for students to think and talk about the presented information, I will help students make a more enduring memory (Medina 2008). I think it is important for students to realize that they have the information and skills to solve a lot of problems already. Lessons that call upon and promote this awareness will help build student’s self-confidence and result in engaged, active learners. A couple of ways I can increase my effectiveness in this area is by understanding the cultural backgrounds of my students, learning to incorporate multimedia components, and collaborating with teaching mentors on cross-curriculum projects.

Reference

Marzano, R. J. (2007). The art and science of teaching: A comprehensive framework for effective instruction.

Medina, J. (2008). Brain rules. Seattle, WA: Pear Press