Final Reflection

Final Reflection

As I have completed my Reading Methods Practicum, reflected upon my observations, and organized all that I have gleaned from the experiences in the classroom, I realize that I have grown so much in my knowledge as a future professional educator. I was able to get my hands dirty in the rich soil of teaching as I taught three lessons, which included a read aloud, shared reading, and interactive writing lesson. I got to experience the gratification of seeing the children latch onto the lesson, engage in discussion about the concepts that I was teaching, and grow in knowledge as they participated in the learning process that I facilitated. From my teaching experiences came the realization that there is absolutely nothing as rewarding as teaching and the reassurance of my calling as an educator. I am thankful for all that I experienced in my Reading Methods practicum and the opportunity to reflect on what I gleaned from it all. The following paragraphs document all that I learned from my practicum experience:

Interpretation of Student Learning:
My Reading Methods Practicum was an 11-week, 30-hour practicum at McAuliffe Elementary, which I attended each Tuesday morning from 8:30 AM to 11:10 AM. As I worked with the students and taught three lessons, I found myself successively growing in confidence with each lesson. The students were very receptive to my lessons as evidenced by their body language, eye contact, and willingness to respond when questions were posed. At the end of each lesson I had an informal assessment time where I asked the children key questions about the concept that I taught about. The children always seemed to have a good grasp of what was taught at the end of each lesson. The following list is a summary of my three lessons:

Lesson 1: Read Aloud
Topic: Adding and Subtracting using the book My Little Sister ate One Hare

Lesson 2: Shared Reading
Topic: Counting Money using the poem Smart by Shel Silverstein

Lesson 3: Interactive Writing
Topic: Discussing and creating a definition for “perimeter”

By teaching the different lessons, I realized a lot about not only teaching, but also learning. Students learn best when they are allowed to talk about and assign vocabulary to the new concepts being taught. Language guides thinking and children will learn best when they are able to not only work with the concepts, but also express them through writing, speech, and visual representation (language arts). Children are dynamic creatures. Their focus is always shifting and moving and it is up to the teacher to “roll with the punches” and be flexible enough to catch and refocus their wayward attentions when they begin to wander off. If teachers can make their lessons integrative and take into consideration all of the different learning styles while teaching, the chances of having a class that is attuned and engaged in the lesson go up.

Insights on the best practices and assessments as related to students:
The best practices (DAP and Balanced Literacy) always keep the student as the central point of focus. In order to reach all of the students in the classroom, the teacher must know the students extremely well. Teachers must know their students' developmental levels, strengths, and challenges and help them overcome these challenges in order to participate in the learning process uninhibited. Best practice is always culturally sensitive and takes into consideration the cultural values of the students in the classroom.

I had the privilege of observing a teacher who quite obviously taught according to best practice. She always kept her children’s developmental levels, abilities, and needs as her central focus and guide for teaching. She loved and cared for each of her students and spent time getting to know their strengths and areas of need in learning. She incorporated the different learning styles of her students into each of her lessons and was discerning and flexible enough to gauge her students’ attention levels and adjust accordingly. Her experience lent her the ability to come up with new approaches to her lessons when her students just did not comprehend the material. She assessed her students fairly using anecdotal notes, formal assessments (tests), and embedded assessments in the activities that she had them complete (word sorts, word games, math games, etc.). I felt that I was able to see a clear picture of what a best practice classroom looked like during my observation of Mrs. Overstreet’s class.

Alignment of learning goals with assessment data:
In the preliminary phases of lesson planning for each of my three lessons, I was required to clearly define the learning goals for the lesson and then come up with a way to clearly assess whether they had been achieved or not. For my lessons, I used the Oklahoma PASS Objectives to create the learning goals. These goals helped to shape the lesson that I was forming as they dictated what information needed to be salient and clearly represented and what information was just unnecessary or excessive. As I carried out my lesson, I held these goals in the back of my mind. At the end of my lessons, I informally assessed the children (through observation and questioning) to see if they had achieved the goals that I had set for the lesson. In all three lessons, I found that the children had reached these goals. I feel that I did a proficient job of aligning the initial learning goals with the assessment. It is important to note that my assessments were not formal; therefore I have no official data to prove that my lessons were effective in carrying out my goals. I do, however, have qualitative data in the form of observation that indicates that my goals were reached.

My discussions with Mrs. Overstreet yielded some pretty interesting observations. Mrs. Overstreet expressed to me that she rarely ever created the kind of lesson plans that I created for my Reading Methods lessons. She told me that with time, the natural progression of planning, teaching, and assessment will come and that I will find a way of planning that works best for me. For now, however, I will rely on organization and attention to detail to guide my instruction. It will be very important to be knowledgeable about education standards such as the PASS Objectives in order to create good learning goals and then meet those goals as evidenced by assessment data.

Implications of a Christian Worldview in the learning community:
Having a Christian Worldview is, in my opinion, absolutely essential in the teaching field. In many of my Education classes I have been taught that having the power and discernment of the Holy Spirit is more impactful than having any number of great teaching ideas. There are unseen forces warring against the souls of the children (Eph. 6:12) and the only defense that they may have is the power of a praying teacher. Prayer is powerful in the classroom and the guidance of the Holy Spirit will help teachers to be effective leaders not only mentally but also spiritually.

My participating teacher, Mrs. Overstreet, is an incredible woman of God. She is bold with her faith and when her students pose questions about faith or God, she freely and boldly answers them. In one scenario, a child asked about the purpose of the moment of silence at the beginning of the day. Mrs. Overstreet responded that that was the time that she used to pray to God. Prompted by further questioning, she explained that she was a Christian, loved God, was incredibly involved in her church, and prayed for each of her students every single day. She was unafraid to share her faith.

I realize that I may not be as fortunate as Mrs. Overstreet and may work in a school in which I cannot share my faith. Regardless of whether or not I am permitted to share my faith, I will remain active in my faith, communicating with and trusting in the Holy Spirit to guide me in my teaching. A Christian Worldview promotes love, kindness, peace, patience, joy, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness (loyalty), and self-control. These are all extremely positive attitudes and actions that I will encourage in my classroom whether I am allowed to talk about God or not. In even the most strict, anti-Christian expression schools, my students will know my faith by my actions rather than my words.

Implications for future learning:
In the future, I hope to grow in my confidence as a teacher. I realize the confidence is something that can only be acquired with time and exposure. I am willing to devote the time and resources to acquire these experiences. I am eager to learn about the things that I am unaware of like classroom management, assessment techniques, and different ways to differentiate my instruction. I have learned so much in my Reading Methods practicum and I hope to sink my roots deeper into that knowledge as I become more familiar with the Balanced Literacy approach.

I feel that my experiences in my Reading Methods practicum have laid the foundation and exposed me to a great amount of knowledge that will be applied to more experiences in the future. I am excited for what lies ahead- the many read aloud, shared reading, and interactive writing lessons that lay ahead for me.

Implications for professional development:
I am in a field in which professionalism is essential, but is often unrecognized. Unfortunately, teachers are not frequently labeled as “professionals”- a term reserved for businessmen or doctors. I intend to break that mold. The ORU College of Education produces a unique and professional brand of teachers that not only dress the part of excellent professionals, but also have the knowledge and adeptness to back it up. I am proud to be a part of such a prestigious college of Education that is preparing me for the rigors of the education field. With each class and practicum experience, I feel that I am developing more and more into a professional teacher. The consistent positive feedback that ORU Education students receive for their appearance, rapport, and knowledge is telling of the kind of preparation that my peers and I are receiving.

In this particular practicum, I grew very close to my teacher, Mrs. Overstreet, and gleaned as much information from her as possible. She always answered my questions and encouraged me with constructive feedback after each of my lessons. I view her as a professional teacher and wanted some of her knowledge and wisdom to rub off on me. Mrs. Overstreet.

As I progress in my course of study in Education, I have gleaned and continue to glean quite a few pieces of information about both teaching and learning. It was not until this semester that I began to see the pieces fitting together and making sense. My brain finally began to connect my instruction with my experience. I am thankful for my experience in the classroom during my Reading Methods practicum and am fully confident that I will use all that I have learned as a foundation to build on in my future teaching experiences.