Reflective Educator
Effective urban educators are Reflective Practitioners who can accurately assess themselves and develop plans for improvement.
Often, I reflect on my teaching practice as well as students' learning. This helps in growing my teaching practice further while supporting students' learning. While creating a lesson, I think of all scenarios that may occur during the lesson. Possible glitches, student misunderstandings, possible student questions, and the outcome of the lesson are a few different items that I think about. I think about the lesson as a whole and the way that I am going to present it to the class. For example, if the group of students I am working with for a particular lesson are visual learners I would not have them listen to myself or another person read aloud. This group of students would benefit from watching a performance or video or having the reading piece in front of them so that they could see what was being read.
After a lesson is given, I take time to reflect on the lesson as a whole. I reflect on how the lesson was executed. I go through a process of self-evaluation. During this process, I ask myself what my objectives were and if they were reached by the end of my lesson. Reflecting on what took place during a lesson helps me to identify my own teaching practices as well as helps me to improve them. By reflecting on whether or not a lesson was successful assists me in altering my teaching, if necessary, the next time I teach it. If something was unclear to the students, I think about what was happening while that portion was being presented as well as why it may have been unclear.
One aspect of my teaching in which I would like to grow in is time management. Often times, I have found a lesson that was scheduled for 45 minutes going for an hour and a half. Although this isn't always a bad attribute, as a whole I cannot expand every lesson to be hours long. There are times I can think of when a lesson lasted longer than expected. The reason being the students were so intrigued in what they were learning that we kept on going! The time allotted for a lesson must be realistic to ensure that learning will take place. One way in which I can implement improving on my time management is by creating and following a classroom-pacing chart.
I can recall a time just recently while student teaching that I would add to a lesson plan in order to make it more successful. After a lesson on Stellaluna, students were placed in small groups to further their learning on bats. One station consisted of an interactive worksheet in which I thought was going to take the students longer than it did. While walking around assisting each group, I came to the worksheet station. I noticed a few group members were completed with the activity at that station. I instructed those students to draw on the back of their worksheet and wait for the timer to go off, which indicated it was time for the next station to begin. The students in that class love to draw and are quite talented. Instead of instructing the students to simply draw a picture, I should have had a mini assignment of drawing a picture from the story or to draw pictures that assisted them in retelling the story at hand. This would have been more beneficial for the students.
InTASC Model Core Teaching Standards
Professional Responsibility
Standard #9: Professional Learning and Ethical Practice
The teacher engages in ongoing professional learning and uses evidence to continually evaluate his/her practice, particularly the effects of his/her choices and actions on others (learners, families, other professionals, and the community), and adapts practice to meet the needs of each learner.
Link to Artifact: Teaching and Learning Statement
Description:
The above link is an excerpt taken from my Teaching and Learning Statement. The section that I have provided discusses how I will be an effective urban educator who is reflective. I was to answer the following questions:
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How do you assess yourself as a teacher?
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What are your strengths and what areas have you identified for improvement?
Reflection:
As I read this section of my Teaching and Learning Statement, I found myself saying that I have succeeded in some of the items I wanted to improve upon. Reflecting upon your teaching practice is so important for your students not just yourself. I cannot wait to have my own classroom and utilize eveything I have learned.
