Looking in the Mirror... Seeing a New Person

I have learned so much over the course of this semester about teaching Science to Elementary students. At the beginning of the semester I was nervous and stressed and by the end I can honestly say that I am excited to teach Science!

 

One important thing I learned a lot about in this class was self and peer reflections.As a future teacher, self-reflection offers an opportunity to think about what works and what doesn’t work in a classroom. Teachers can use reflective teaching in order to analyze and evaluate our own practices so we can focus on the primary strategies that work. Teaching strategies can always be improved and it is important to reflect in order to figure out what can and needs to be improved and how. If I am constantly reflecting and trying to become a better teacher it will reflect and others will be able to see how passionate I am about my career and about my students. A good teacher is a teacher that will do anything and work hard to ensure that their students are learning. In addition, I think it is important to be open to other opinions, criticism and positive feedback rather than taking it negatively. Feedback and reflection motivates change and improvement! At the beginning of this class I took feedback very negatively. I felt personally attacked and as upset when I got feedback but this greatly changed by the end of the semester. I learned how important feedback is and now look to get it in order to help improve myself!

 

Another part that I was extremely nervous about in this class, was teaching in front of a full class by myself. Not only did we teach in front of a 5th grade class, we also taught in front of our whole Science Methods Class, the teacher of the 5th Grade class and Dr. Smirnova. In addition the students were taking notes and making observations to give us feedback afterwards. The first day I thought that everyone was just picking on the first group that went and was tearing them apart but this wasn't true they were helping them and in their next lesson they already showed so much improvement. The feedback was also helpful in informing my groups instruction as well. I have worked with children since I was only 14 years old and have been around children my whole life. I have devoted my life to spending time with kids and have worked as a full time babysitter for over 5 years now. Through this experience I became increasingly comfortable around children and have discovered me love for helping them and motivating them. Teacher is absolutely my future career and is also my passion. I remembered this when I finally had my turn to go up in front of the classroom to teach. I couldn't believe the feeling I had. I was scared but excited at the same time. I have found where I want to be and I cant wait for the day I am actually a teacher!

 

I will be student teaching next spring and this class has taught me so much. I got experience with creating an efolio and working on edTPA templates. I learned how to incorporate technology in my projects and in my lesson plans to use in my future classroom and I have learned each day ways to become a better teacher. 

 In addition I got experience with all different types of teaching instruction. Overall my favorite type of instruction so far is cooperative learning within smaller groups. I love being able to present a project and information to students and watching them utilize the information to create a project or figure out an answer within their group. I feel that it encourages problem solving and independence of the teacher. In this way I can walk around the classroom and work individually with different groups and assess their learning and participation. With cooperative learning it is important to incorporate the 5 PIGS: Positive interdependence, Individual accountability, group processing, social skills and face to face interaction in order to make sure that each person is participating! I also prefer small group because it may get chaotic and confusing if students are working in one big group or as a whole class in cooperative learning. I think it is important to incorporate all different learning styles within the classroom. I can experiment with different types of instruction in order to expand my teaching strategies. In addition, classroom observations, forums, websites and other sources can be helpful in learning about different approaches of instructions. I have found that Pinterest is a great website to find ideas for projects that incorporate thinking skills, crafty approaches and problem solving.

 

I am sad for this class to be over, because as the time continued I began to enjoy it more and more. I made so many great friends that will someday be amazing teachers and I had a great teacher that has motivated us all to work hard and pushed us to do our best. However, ever end is a new beginning. I am excited for my new journey. I have a new outlook on teaching now and am excited for my future experiences. This class was definitely a long journey, but the view at the end was the most rewarding. I am ready... and determined.  I have been determined and with a lot of effort I was able to get through it all. I can honestly say that I learned so much from this class. I can't believe how far I have come over the semester.
Here are the links to my comments on other blogs!

Amanda Luciano:

The End of A Wild Ride & Attention Signals in the Classroom

Alyssa Benincasa:

Finals, Finals and more Finals! Why Stress? & Intoduction - About me

Melissa Kelly:

Our Turn! & Drawing in College? Who knew?

Keilani Wilheim:

Science in the News & Tradebooks 

 

 

Efolios... Ahhh the Stress!

This is my most unstructured blog this whole semester but in this blog I am going to talk about the stress and experience of creating an efolio and filling out edTPA.

This semester has been one long ride and after it all we are finally wrapping it up, and parts of this includes completing the efolio. The efolio is the best and worst thing I have ever done. Being in both Social Studies Methods and also Science Methods has made it all twice as hard. Not only did I have to do one livebinder but two this semester! Talk about a lot of hard-work and determination! These last two weeks have been filled with nights of only getting 4-5 hours of sleep, working 55 hours/week and finishing all assignments to be submitted now that classes are over. I am beyond exhausted.

 

 

Overall, completing these assignments and filling out the efolio has required to put my effort to its full potential. I have finished all parts of both efolios completely! wohoo! I am so nervous to get my grade on it. I have tried so hard on this and I have tried so hard all semester. I have a hard time not being able to see my grades until the semester is almost over because once I submitted it all, there is nothing I can do to change that grade. I have had a high GPA all my life and have managed to work hard in all my classes with all A's (except for one B) which is something I am extremely proud of. I hope that the same continues with this class as well!

The efolio includes many different parts, including an about me section, a projects, section, a unit plan section and also a edTPA section. Each section took a substantial amount of time to fill out. I honestly can say that I wish I started it the first day of class and I highly recommend it for anyone that is going to take this class. I was always so scared to tackle it because I had no idea what any of it was. However, I wish I asked Dr. Smirnova about it earlier so I could have gotten a head start at the beginning of the semester, and I could have filled it out as the semester went on. However, with proper time management and the will to sit and work on it, the efolio took me about a full month to be finished. It sounds crazy but it is true! My favorite section of all was the about me section. I really liked this section because I could include my personal opinions, my thoughts, my philosophies, my personal experiences, my blog, etc. The EdTPA tasks and the Unit Plan were definitely the hardest part of the efolio. They both took a long time to fill out and required a lot thinking and writing! However, at the end, the efolio outlines the whole semester as whole. It was a great way to reflect and keep all the assignments organized. Looking back at the experience, I think that it was a great idea to use in this class I just wish we were taught more of how to use it and were influenced to write in it every week!



"Teachers who love teaching, teach children to love learning."

Even though I included this into my efolio I felt it necessary to include this into my blog to look back on one day. I hope to continue blogging about my experiences of teaching and I look forward to seeing how my philosophy of teaching may change over time!

My philosophy is that teaching in passion driven. If you are passionate about teaching and don’t just look at teaching as a job, then you will be successful in exceeding your students’ needs and in encouraging your students to learn. Teaching is a demanding, challenging and a stressful profession. My main goal of teaching is to reach my students, to engage them and to encourage them to love learning. Teaching is about finding ways to grasp each student and also accommodating a classroom of students.

 

It is important to be an expert in what you’re teaching but even more important is that you know how to communicate your knowledge to your students. It is important for a teacher to relate what they are teaching to their lives and their future. As a teacher I will always strive to make the classroom a meaningful environment for student learning. In addition, a teacher should always work his or her hardest to generate continuous growth within their students. I believe in including student centered learning and using technology to bring independence into the classroom. A teacher should be able to have complete control over their students and classroom but also be compassionate and approachable. Also, a teacher should be patient, flexible, hard-working and loving.

Teachers inspire students and play a large role in the future of their students. This is why they should always try to teach the importance of what students are learning in relation to how they will somehow use it in their future. If students feel that they will never use the information they are learning, then they will have no motivation to study it. A teacher doesn’t just teach, they learn. They are always learning new ways to improve themselves. A teacher needs to continue their education and stay current on their knowledge and also incorporate student’s interests in their teaching. A teacher should also actively be involved in their students learning at all times. Finally, they should teach respect, honesty, compassion, and kindness in their classroom every single day in order to shape their students to better people.