Professional Field Experience

Learning to Plan Evidence

Throughout my pre-internship 8-weeks I have focused on forming relationships with my students along with inclusion and diversity. It was not easy at the beginning but once I was able to form meaningful relationships with my students I was able to create lesson plans that have a connection to each student. For my final lesson Lesson #8 in the eight weeks with my grade 1’s and 2’s we talked about traditions all over the world and some traditions that we have hear in Canada. We do have some students with indigenous backgrounds so we were given to opportunity to talk about indigenous culture and traditions around the holidays. I thought this was especially good for the students to be able to connect as well as get an understanding of their classmates cultures.

I found that the students were very engaged when we are talking about all of the different cultures and ways to celebrate the holiday season here in Canada and around the world. For our one student who is EAL he seemed to be very excited when we were talking about the Philippines because that is where he is from he mentioned. Taking about the Indigenous ways around the holiday we got to hear from a student about what her family does for the holidays.

I have found that I do not make many connections to First Nations and Indigenous culture and it is something that I would really like to work towards. I do believe that it is extremely important to talk about and incorporate in as many lessons as possible. I found that doing many traditions around the world the students became interested in each other as well as trying to find out their own traditions in their families.

Along with relationships I have an a major focus on inclusion and diversity in my classroom. In also all of my lessons I have made sure to focus on the adaptions and ways to differentiate my lessons to be sure that every student has the opportunity to participate as well as be successful. In my lesson #5 I got the students to create a booklet about traditions that they have. This was very beneficial for the students to look into their own traditions as well as see what traditions are found in the classroom.

After having the opportunity to build relationships with my students I realized that they are all at different levels in how they work and how they are able to take in instruction. I started off the lesson by talking about traditions and getting the students to recap on their previous knowledge. I had to use a variety of instructional strategies at the beginning to be sure that all of my students were able to understand all of the directions. I have made sure that I took into consideration that all of my students are not able to learn just by verbal cues so I made sure to have examples as well as an opportunity to do the task together. By using instructional strategies that are not seen in the classroom will allow for a stronger engagement from the students. It is important to show the students that it is okay to not learn the same way everyday.

Overall I have tried by best to incorporate all of our diversities into my lessons as well as all of the students even if there are some students who do not spend all day in the class. I find that it is important to try to include everyone and try to teach to engage everyone so then there is a better engagement rate in the classroom. It has become clear to me that teaching with diverse instructions as well as an open minded way benefits the students who may need extra help. Social justice does not mean it has to be something out of the ordinary. It just means creating something that can be engaging for all of the students and help them understand that their learning and their way of learning matters.

Assessment Practices

Although we have not been taught much on assessment my cooperating teaching was supportive and understanding when it came to assessment and was able to help us assess the students. I have come to realize that assessment includes much more than tests and work sheets. I have also realized that assessment is for more than just a mark or a grade. I realize that assessment may be used to improve lesson, helps us understand what the students do or do not understand as well as assisting us with grading.

Formative Assessment

Conversation/questioning: 

Throughout the eight weeks I have used conversation and questioning in almost every lesson that I have taught. I find that many students have thoughts that cannot be accessed through writing and drawing. I have used conversation through one-on-on, in small groups and also whole class conversation. I have done mostly teacher-led conversation. I have found this extremely helpful to find out where the students are understanding and where they may have areas of growth. It is also possible to do student-led conversation but I found this may be more beneficial in older grades. I enjoy conversation because if it is a good conversation it is possible to keep building off of it regardless of how long the conversation lasts. Often, I have found that conversation and questioning may happen without any thought or planning. It depends on the class and the involvement of the class if this is beneficial or not. 

Observation: 

            This was a strategy that we used constantly without even realizing. While the students are working we would talk around and make sure that the students were on the right tract. Observation provides the opportunity to understand the student’s strengths, abilities, and areas of growth. Observation could be used just to watch or the observations could be written down and tracked. Observation is best used as a formative assessment and could be used without the children knowing so it adds zero stress to assessment. I have realized through observation it has helped me gain a better understanding of my students as well as helped me build professional relationships with them. 

Exit slips:

Exit slips are a great way to understand where the children are in their understanding. It can show areas of strengths as well as growth. Being in a grade 1 2 split I found that the exit slips had to be just drawing or a combination of written and pictures. Often the exit slip will be explained to the students at the beginning of the lesson and it is a paper or a reflection page that will be handed in at the end for no marks. Exit slips can be very simple, and adaptive in needed. They are often quick and an easy way to assess the students. I have done them a number of times throughout my lessons and found that the students enjoyed to reflect back on the activity and lesson that we have just finished. 

Summative Assessment

I have not been able to summatively assess yet but I have been included on assisting my cooperating teaching make summative assessments for the activities that I have planned. 

Journaling: 

I have not created a lesson where I have used journaling to summatively assess but my cooperating teacher has used this method lots. She would get the students to reflect in their journals and have the opportunity to draw and write about what they have learned and what they would like to learn. I found that this could be used for both summative and formative assessment. It is a good idea to make the students aware if they are being marked or not on each journal posting. 

Rubrics: 

Again, I have not created a rubric myself but between my partner and I we created a rubric in two of our lessons. We have found rubrics an efficient way to be sure that each student is being graded equally following the same criteria. Our cooperating teacher will look over our rubrics to make sure that they are useful and made properly. I have found rubrics easy to mark with numbers but difficult to mark using the EU, M, B, and NY marking. It is challenging to know what each percent is classified as. Using rubrics is a method that I would like to improve on, this is a goal that I will try to reach in the next coming placements and opportunities. 

Checklists: 

I find that checklists are similar to rubrics. I have created a checklist with my cooperating teacher to grade one of my activities that I have planned for my students. Checklists are beneficial because they are quick and easy. There does not have to be a certain number of items on a checklist. I do find that, like the rubrics, it is difficult to find a proper grade to put the checklist. Again, I hope that this is something that I will be able to work on and improve in my future placements and opportunities. 

Professional Development Plans

Week 2, 6, & 8

Goal: Communication Skills- I specifically want to look at enunciation, language usage and mannerisms. 

For my first week I was extremely nervous in the classroom. I knew how I was presenting in front of my peers and it is not very calm, it is red faced, sweaty palms, and just shaking nervous. I thought that if I teach like I present in front of my classmates we are in for a long eight weeks. I understood the content that I was going to teach so I had to focus on the way that I was going to deliver the lesson. The reason I chose this PDP was to ensure that I was talking at an appropriate rate for my students to hear me as well as understand what I was teaching. I was mainly focused on my mannerisms and how I carried myself as well as my voice. 

After reflecting with my cooperating teacher, she asked how I thought it went. I was honest and said that I felt like I was talking way to loud, I thought I stuttered on words and did not look professional. She smiled and mentioned that it was the opposite. She said that my enunciation was clear although there were a few times I would not finish words fully such as “ca” instead of “cat”. She mentioned that I looked very calm and made sure that I was making eye contact with all of my students. I was relieved to hear that my volume was good for talking to the class as a whole but also quieter and at an appropriate volume while talking to individual students. In my general feedback she said that I need to be sure that I have all of the student’s attention before continuing on with the lesson so that all of the students are receiving the instruction. Overall, I was extremely happy with the first PDP feedback and took into consideration all of the ways that I can improve. 

I did revisit this goal for week 6. For week six we decided to co-teach a physical education lesson. I have never taught a lesson in the gym before and was unsure that the students would be able to hear me or stay focused. Again, I felt very different than how I looked delivering the lesson. My cooperating teacher said that I had good management, I as at a good volume and kept the children engaged. In the general feedback she mentioned how she apricated the time I took to allow the students to choose their own actions for the game to allow them to be more engaged. 

To me being able to communicate is one of the most important skills to have with the students. I thought for the last week I would make sure that my communication was perfect. In the general feedback my cooperating teacher mentioned that I had a good flow of instructional strategies. She also mentioned that I had an excellent review and delivery of the instructions to make sure that all of my students were understanding. She said this is a goal that we do not need to revisit heavily anymore. 

Week 3

Goal: use inclusive language and give clear instructions

I decided to use this PDP because in my everyday language I tend to say “you guys” and other “slang” often. Once we were going over the PDP my teacher mentioned that I did not use any improper English which was a relief. She mentioned that the instruction that I gave about the steps were good because the majority of the students did not have any questions about the steps and understood what to do. I focused on getting the students to repeat the instructions back to me so that I was sure that they understood and I believe that this helped myself and them understand the instructions better. I tried to do attention getters such as “if you clear me clap once…” and it worked for the majority of the students but there were still a few that were not listening. My cooperating teacher suggested that I need to do it a couple times to ensure that every child is listening. 

At the end of my general feedback my cooperating teacher left a “next steps” section which I really apricated. She said that the next steps to work towards are attention getters and more detailed modeling. I found it beneficial to hear what I should be focusing on next so that I can work on it myself and think of ways to improve. 

Week 4

Goal: Classroom Management- Awareness & responsiveness. Making sure I have all of the students attention before starting the lesson. 

Due to previous feedback that I have received I thought that this would be an appropriate PDP to try next. My cooperating teacher mentioned the previous week that classroom management is something that I should work towards. She mentioned that I scanned the room an appropriate amount and that my eye contact was good so that the students felt as though they were heard when sharing. I tried to do the clap attention getter again with the students and she mentioned that because I did it once and then again to make sure that the entire class was listening worked better than just doing it once. She mentioned that my classroom management improved over the week and that I had all of the students engaged in the activity. One thing that she mentioned stood out to her was having a non-example. By doing this I allowed the students to pick out the errors in the work before they had the chance to create their own. 

Week 5

Goal: Giving direction 

For this lesson plan I had many steps for the students to understand so I decided to do a giving directions PDP. For the most part my students were engaged in the instruction. I had two students who I had a hard time getting on track. Although I have been in the classroom for 5 days, I was not too sure how to handle these students and if they needed constant reminders to pay attention. I tried several things to get their attention but it was a place I struggled. My cooperating teacher suggested having more visuals with my instruction so that my students who are EAL would understand even if they did not understand the verbal instruction in its entirety. Overall, my cooperating teacher said that my classroom management has improved immensely over the course of the time being in the classroom. 

Week 7

Goal: Set, Development, and Closure

After observing and creating lessons for 7 weeks I have realized that often we do a repeat of things such as read a book, then do an activity and to close draw a reflection. I thought that I would try something new. I started off the same way by reading a book and showing the students a video but instead of doing an individual activity I got the students to go around on a scavenger hunt to look for materials around the classroom. My cooperating teacher was happy with the idea and said that the students were all engaged.