During my first semester of Clinical Practice I led a philosophical chair debate with my students asking the question, “Should schools be allowed to monitor students social media sites in the interest of school security?” This question on the surface doesn’t have connections to any content, but because it was so relevant to students lives they were all instantly engaged. Soon we were having a discussion about civil rights, and to what extent the government sacrifice individual freedoms in the interest of national security. By making discussion relevant to students lives, I saw the highest level of student engagement I have had since entering the credential program.
Controlling physical, social, and emotional factors in the classroom are essential in making sure all students have a chance to be successful. We know from Maslow’s hierarchy of needs that students won’t be able to learn unless they they are well fed, taken care of, and are comfortable in the classroom. I will build a learning environment that encourages everybody to participate and has zero tolerance for students making other students feel uncomfortable. On the first day of school I will make sure students know that it is unacceptable for students to put down or laugh at other students based on their efforts in the classroom, race, gender, sexual orientation, or any other quality. This will allow all students to be comfortable in the classroom so that they can be free to participate and learn. According to Pedro Noguera research shows that strong relationships between teachers and students are essential to improving the education of disadvantaged kids. During my first semester of Clinical Practice I learned that reaching out to students and forming connections is the best way to increase their engagement, this is a lesson I intend to carry with me throughout my career.
When it comes to classroom management I have learned through my clinical practice to control everything I can. I have an easy going nature and am tempted to have my classroom loosely structured, what I found first semester is that this leads to students taking advantage of my generous nature. I have learned to use strategic seating charts to both control and classroom and pair students up where they can both benefit. Students will have a limited number of bathroom passes to use throughout the semester so that they are not frivolously asking to leave class. At the beginning of class I have students clear their desks of everything except what they need for the current activity. This will remove the distractions from them because they do not have their purses and binders sitting on their desk. At the beginning of the class I will outline the agenda for the day and clearly set the expectations that all students will meet.
I will strive to meet the needs of all my students through differentiation of my content and assessments. I believe that students should be assessed by the progress they are making, even if that progress still leaves them behind the class average. I will use a rubric system that allows me to assess my students by measuring their progress against themselves, not against an expected class average. If I create a graphic organizer to help an EL student I will make that graphic organizer available to the entire class. In her paper, Thinking not Shuffling, Wendy Hoffer states that it is our job as teachers to, “support, not eliminate, the struggle of learning to think.” I believe that every student can think, they may just need extra help processing the information or organizing their thoughts. My expectations will not be lowered for special needs students, but they will have the opportunity to revise their writing to receive a higher grade.
Although delivering grades is still a necessary part of teaching in today’s classroom I will strive to give meaningful feedback to parents and students through comments on assignments and through email communication. In their article, Do grades tell parents what they want and need to know?, Jim Webber and Maja Wilson argue that, “parents want teachers that observe their children carefully, develop strong learning relationships, and communicate meaningfully.” I know that communicating with parents and giving feedback on assignments is more efficient than administering grades when it comes to helping students grow. We know from Daniel Pink's What Motivates us? that students, like adults, are motivated better by intrinsic factors than by external factors like grades. I also know that the pressure of getting good grades and excelling in school causes many kids to put up a wall and disengage. Instead, I will strive to make my content engaging and relevant to students lives, and challenge them to to seek mastery in their skills. Although grades are still a reality in our school system I will make my students understand that if they seek mastery and simply learn, the grades will take care of themselves.
Controlling physical, social, and emotional factors in the classroom are essential in making sure all students have a chance to be successful. We know from Maslow’s hierarchy of needs that students won’t be able to learn unless they they are well fed, taken care of, and are comfortable in the classroom. I will build a learning environment that encourages everybody to participate and has zero tolerance for students making other students feel uncomfortable. On the first day of school I will make sure students know that it is unacceptable for students to put down or laugh at other students based on their efforts in the classroom, race, gender, sexual orientation, or any other quality. This will allow all students to be comfortable in the classroom so that they can be free to participate and learn. According to Pedro Noguera research shows that strong relationships between teachers and students are essential to improving the education of disadvantaged kids. During my first semester of Clinical Practice I learned that reaching out to students and forming connections is the best way to increase their engagement, this is a lesson I intend to carry with me throughout my career.
When it comes to classroom management I have learned through my clinical practice to control everything I can. I have an easy going nature and am tempted to have my classroom loosely structured, what I found first semester is that this leads to students taking advantage of my generous nature. I have learned to use strategic seating charts to both control and classroom and pair students up where they can both benefit. Students will have a limited number of bathroom passes to use throughout the semester so that they are not frivolously asking to leave class. At the beginning of class I have students clear their desks of everything except what they need for the current activity. This will remove the distractions from them because they do not have their purses and binders sitting on their desk. At the beginning of the class I will outline the agenda for the day and clearly set the expectations that all students will meet.
I will strive to meet the needs of all my students through differentiation of my content and assessments. I believe that students should be assessed by the progress they are making, even if that progress still leaves them behind the class average. I will use a rubric system that allows me to assess my students by measuring their progress against themselves, not against an expected class average. If I create a graphic organizer to help an EL student I will make that graphic organizer available to the entire class. In her paper, Thinking not Shuffling, Wendy Hoffer states that it is our job as teachers to, “support, not eliminate, the struggle of learning to think.” I believe that every student can think, they may just need extra help processing the information or organizing their thoughts. My expectations will not be lowered for special needs students, but they will have the opportunity to revise their writing to receive a higher grade.
Although delivering grades is still a necessary part of teaching in today’s classroom I will strive to give meaningful feedback to parents and students through comments on assignments and through email communication. In their article, Do grades tell parents what they want and need to know?, Jim Webber and Maja Wilson argue that, “parents want teachers that observe their children carefully, develop strong learning relationships, and communicate meaningfully.” I know that communicating with parents and giving feedback on assignments is more efficient than administering grades when it comes to helping students grow. We know from Daniel Pink's What Motivates us? that students, like adults, are motivated better by intrinsic factors than by external factors like grades. I also know that the pressure of getting good grades and excelling in school causes many kids to put up a wall and disengage. Instead, I will strive to make my content engaging and relevant to students lives, and challenge them to to seek mastery in their skills. Although grades are still a reality in our school system I will make my students understand that if they seek mastery and simply learn, the grades will take care of themselves.