Reflection of my Teaching Experience
On December 6th, I had the opportunity to teach the lesson I had worked to design for Mr. Pitcock’s 7th grade science class. Because I had spent the entire semester observing this group, I had many ideas swirling around how I wanted to design the lesson, and what I wanted the students to take away from the experience. I had noted the lack of student focused instruction throughout the fall, and it was something by which I was troubled. I feel very strongly that science is a subject in which it is best to engage students with critical and authentic learning experiences where they can investigate and explore. So, in response to this, my first step, after discussing the topic of the lesson with Mr. P, was to design a classroom activity which would get students up out of their seats, and into a learning experience through which they could work together to investigate a topic for themselves.
Continue reading 'Teaching Experience & Reflection'»
All Posts, ED 327 Curriculum and Instructional Strategies for Middle Level Learners, Standard #10: Collaboration, Standard #3: Learning Environments., Standard #5: Innovative Applications of Content., Standard #6: Assessment, Standard #7: Planning for Instruction., Standard #8: Instructional Strategies., Standard #9: Reflection and Continuous Growth., Standard 3: Inquiry
| Reflection, Student Focus
Waves
Grade level: 7
Subject area: Science: SCI.7.1.5.2010, English Language Proficiency: ELP.7.1.2003
Science Standard:
Recognize and provide evidence of how light, sound and other waves have energy and how they interact with different materials.
ELL Standard:
Language minority students will listen, speak, read, and write to convey knowledge of sounds, words, word parts, and context clues: vocabulary development.
Continue reading 'Lesson Plan: Waves'»
Ed 327 Reflection 5
December 4, 2012
The past few observations I have experienced with Mr. Pitcock’s class, two of the classes have been taking an exam, which has had me thinking about assessments a little bit. I know we haven’t really talked about assessments in this class, but I can’t help but think about it here because it is a definite part of what we do during the school day and year, and well we all have finals coming up soon too! Continue reading 'Reflection of the Fifth 2 Weeks at Westlane'»
ED 327 Reflection 4
November 15, 2012
Observations…
Today was an interesting one. Mr. Pitcock was spending the day in service meetings, so we had a substitute teacher Mr. Akbar. The students we engaged in project work. They had been given a project where the students had to design a plan for a town in which the town engineers had quit. Continue reading 'Reflection of the Fourth 2 Weeks at Westlane'»
ED 327 Reflection 3
October 30, 2012
In the past 3 weeks, Mr. Pitcock’s class has been busy! They had fall break, went on a camping trip and moved from their study of Earth and rocks, to energy. Their end of unit projects about the rocks all turned out well, and I think for the most part, Mr. P. was happy with their work. But conversely, I think most of the students found minerals and rocks to be a bit boring and are excited about the jump to the study of energy. Continue reading 'Reflection of the Third 2 Weeks at Westlane'»
Ed 327 Reflection 2
October 4, 2012
Observations…
Mr. Pitcock runs a very structured classroom. I am not sure if the students recognize it exactly because there is significant freedom with in that structure. Although this was something I recognized in my first impressions of him, it still manages to shock me the subsequent times I have been observing his class. Continue reading 'Reflection of the Second 2 Weeks at Westlane'»
ED 327 Reflection 1
September 19, 2012
First Impressions…
Upon meeting Mr. Pitcock my interest was piqued! He explained he completed his undergraduate degree from Purdue University in elementary education, then after a few years of teaching returned to IUPUI to pursue a few more classes which would allow him the added licensure to teach at the middle school level. Continue reading 'Reflection of First 2 Weeks at Westlane Middle School'»
All Posts, ED 327 Curriculum and Instructional Strategies for Middle Level Learners, Shelbi, Standard #2: Learning Differences., Standard #3: Learning Environments., Standard #5: Innovative Applications of Content., Standard #7: Planning for Instruction., Standard #8: Instructional Strategies., Standard #9: Reflection and Continuous Growth., Standard 1: Content, Standard 3: Inquiry
| Classroom Management, Science Classroom, Student Focus
During the 2012 spring semester, we completed several visits to Pike Township school New Augusta North Public Academy. We shadowed a teacher in our content area and worked with a particular student to examine how content literacy impacted the student and learning in the classroom. At the completion of the semester, we documented the experience in a Case-Study report in which we outlined our observations and experiences with the student. Continue reading 'Case-Study Report'»
All Posts, ED 228: Content Literacy, Standard #1: Learner Development., Standard #3: Learning Environments., Standard #9: Reflection and Continuous Growth.
| Case Study, Content Literacy, Developmental History, Image of a learner, Poverty, Ruby Payne, Student Focus
After reading Ruby Payne’s A Framework For Understanding Poverty, we were asked to complete a reflection detailing how we feel poverty impacts education and whether or not we agreed with Payne’s suggested ways to help students in poverty. While I did not necessarily agree with all of Payne’s points, I did feel she correctly noted the importance of forging a relationship with your students. Continue reading 'Reflection upon the Impacts of Poverty on Student Learning'»
Prompt:
Considering what we have read in Vatterott, Wood and Van Hoose et. all about the philosophy of creating middle schools and high schools that reflect responsiveness to students’ developmental needs, think about your impressions of Shortridge’s attempts to live a student-centered philosophy. With a digital camera, document images of Shortridges “philosophy in action.” What does the image say about this school’s, teacher’s, club’s, etc. image of a learner? Provide 2-3 images and 2-3 counter images. For the reflection component, provide a caption explaining the context of each image. Then, provide a reflective rationale to address the prompt.
Continue reading 'Instructional Patterns and Strategies for Student Focused Schools'»
All Posts, ED 227: Introduction to Middle Secondary Education, Standard #1: Learner Development., Standard #2: Learning Differences., Standard #3: Learning Environments., Standard #4: Content Knowledge., Standard #5: Innovative Applications of Content., Standard #6: Assessment
| Classroom Management, learning environment, needs, Student Focus