Integration, Observing, Teaching, Oh My!

Having the chance to go spend an entire day at a school as an elementary education student was amazing. For 350, we observed in a classroom for an entire day to see how things worked and what a normal day looked like. I observed and learned many new strategies that I will want to implement into my future classroom. For 410, we had a discussion on integration and what we thought about the whole integration process.

I learned so many new things, but I want to talk about just a few that I felt were very important for furthering my education and being a teacher soon. The observation really gave me the opportunity to see that integrating technology and other subjects together can be a seamless process that comes naturally. I had the privilege of observing a teacher that integrated beautifully. If I wouldn’t have been walking around and seeing what the students were taking a part of, then I wouldn’t have known when the next subject was being taught because everything connected and was taught without gaps. It was so rewarding to be able to see integration take place and not even realize it, then come into class the next day for 410 and realize what was happening. I know that this teacher worked hard in making her classroom this way, but I also know that there will be days when things don’t go smoothly because of other circumstances.

Being able to make connections with my observations and how I want to teach in the future was powerful. It’s nice to be able to see ways that different teachers do things and pull new ideas from them. Making the connection that the students don’t need to know that they are actually learning science, history, and language arts all at the same time brought a sense of comfort to me because that can hinder a student’s learning. I remember being told it was history time when I was a student and dreading it because it was not my favorite. However, if history would have been integrated into language arts, that I enjoyed, I would have felt better about it.

Being in an actual classroom and learning what integration is ties into all our NCTCS. I could see how I need to demonstrate leadership as the teacher, respect all my students, know what I teach before I teach it, differentiate, and reflect. Even after graduation, when I’m in my own classroom, these standards should be a basis for what I believe and how I teach. In my future classroom, I want integration to be as smooth as it can be. I know this will take lots of practice, but seeing it take place gives me hope. I want my students to not worry about the actual subject they are learning. I want them to just be excited that they are learning new things because the things that don’t particularly enjoy may be something that I integrated and tied with something else.

For my outside research this week, I wanted to research ways in which I could manage my classroom. The classroom I observed was very well managed. I learned a few of the strategies that the teacher used, but I wanted to research and dig deep into ways that classroom management is handled. This article has many good strategies that can help in managing a classroom.

https://www.edutopia.org/blog/big-and-small-classroom-management-strategies-todd-finley

            

Formatively Assessing to Determine the Pyramid

In 350 this week, the thing that really stuck out to me was the Academic Interventions Pyramid that was introduced to us by Dr. Elizabeth Mitcham. Our seminar this week in 410 was about formative assessment and how often we should do it, which was led by Megan and she did an awesome job!

For my outside learning this week, I didn’t necessarily research another article to read. I wanted to take the information we had already been given and critically think about how I could relate the academic intervention pyramid and how often we should formatively assess in our classroom. With this thinking, I made a strong connection and learned some important information. The academic interventions pyramid lets a teacher decide where a student needs to be. The bottom part of the pyramid represents the general curriculum that all students are taught. If a student doesn’t understand it, then they are moved to tier 2 where they are taught it again. If learning is still not taking place, they move to tier 3. For this to be effective and for students to be where they need to be, formative assessment needs to take place often. If we don’t formatively assess our students as often as we can, without it becoming over-whelming, we will never know if they are in the right tier that accommodates their learning.

I feel that this learning relates to Standard 5 in the NCTCS, Teachers reflect on their practice. Assessing our students and determining where they are on the academic pyramid is a small piece that makes up the entire process of reflecting on our practice as teachers.

In my future classroom, I will formatively assess as much as possible. As I mentioned in seminar this afternoon, I don’t want my students to know that I’m assessing them as much as I plan to because that can be intimidating for some students. They may become so focused on being assessed that they forget to listen to the whole lesson. However, I do want to formatively assess my students as often as possible so that I can accurately determine where they are in the learning process.

Reaching the Highest Potential

During this week in EDUC 350, we focused on those students that are classified as EC. These children have some type of disability that inhibits them from learning in some way. In 410, we talked about rubrics and the importance of them. With these two topics, I wanted to learn ways in which I can differentiate my rubrics so that an exceptional student in my class can use the rubric as well and benefit from it.

I found a reading online that talked about modifying education for those exceptional students. This is a very lengthy reading, but one point that stood out to me that I want to talk about is the fact that our exceptional students should not be given something easy just for them to complete. In every way possible, these students need to be given the same assignments as the other students because the best thing for children with a disability of any kind is to be challenged. As with any child, challenges help them to think critically and reach high potential. This made me realize as a teacher that my exceptional students, gifted students, and average students all can receive the same rubric. I can however, leave enough room in the rubric for it to accommodate to that students’ specific needs.

http://mcpsweb.org/wp-content/uploads/STRATEGIES-HANDBOOK.pdf

            My learning this week relates to the NCTCS Standard 2: Teachers establish a Respectful Environment for a Diverse Population of Students. I made the connections and learned that I can’t treat my exceptional students different and give them easier expectations because I don’t want things to be difficult for them. I need to base everything on skill level. I may have a student with a learning disability that is on a lower skill level, but I can also have a student with a physical disability that is on a higher skill level.

I want every student in my classroom to challenge themselves to reach their highest potential, regardless of any label that may have been put on them. With all this to say, I won’t give a rubric to my exceptional students if I know that they need something on a lower level. I also won’t give my gifted students a rubric that will be too easy for them. I want everything my students do to be a learning experience that allows them to reach their highest potential.