Final

Working with Mrs. Bradshaw’s kids has been great. My ideal grade is middle school, so I have been working with that age a lot. This has been a great experience for me because it took me out of my comfort zone and I still enjoyed every second.

Communication

This was easier for me this semester then last. Perhaps this is because I have grown accustom to technology more. Maybe it is because I know Mrs. Bradshaw’s kids well from last semester. Either way, a feel like this went really well.

Communication is important as a teacher. Communication is also a two way ordeal. A teacher must not just be able to make yourself clear, but they must be able to understand the students too. Without good communication the students will never learn, but even more importantly, if they do not know that the teacher cares and is listening they will never open up, and they will never let that teacher help them.

With this class communicating was easy because it was in my element. I love theatre and the chataqua was really fun for me. Through theatre the students could really express themselves which helped our communication because I could see exactly what their strengths and needs were through their performance.

Research

There seemed to be less research this semester than last. I don’t think there was actually less, but because it was different it seemed less tedious. We researched our chapters to present. This was fun for me because I chose the theatre/art chapter. We were also assigned several books to read. We only had to read one, but I read at least a few pages in all of them. This Is a project of my own that I will continue to undertake because research is never done for a teacher. I will continue to read and broaden my knowledge as time goes by. We were also responsible to study other chapters as they were presented. All the research we did this semester we very useful and important. I got a lot from it.

Technology

Some technology that is used in our lit class is the web page. The site will always be there, accessible through the internet on any computer. Hurray technology! I will use the tripod, or something similar, when I start teaching because parents can look at work from anywhere. I learned a lot about web pages and technology and I think as a teacher it will be an important tool.

Collaboration

Collaboration is important because we can learn more from each other than we can learn by ourselves. For this class we collaborated every day and it was fabulous. I learned so much from classmates and I will apply that knowledge to my future cases.

Our class as a hole collaborated with Mrs. Bradshaw and it was an amazing experience. I hope UNM can continue this collaboration with school teachers in semesters to come.

Confidence and Independence

Our students must have the confidence to know they learn and do well. That way they can learn on their own. they must have the independence to know they can do it by their self. Although help isn’t bad, independence and confidence go hand in hand and are very important to learning. one semester, one hour a week just isn’t enough time to teach this, and yes, some of our students lacked it. if they were more confident we could have done much more.

In teaching our students it took confidence on or half to perform our characters and more to teach them how to develop theirs. It took confidence on their half to develop their characters and to perform them. They memorized and practiced independently.  It took a lot of confidence for the students to do this.

having confidence and independence has made me a better student. I know I can learn on my own and I know I can learn to do things the right way. My, how hard it is to teach this dimension in such little time. I learned it because my patient and positive teachers have helped me discover my potential. If I try hard though, when I do get it right, I will truly understand the concept. This is why I feel like I can research on my own and do my work. I hope to be able to teach my students this too.

Knowledge content

A teacher can only build on preexisting knowledge. For some one to learn, especially on their own, they must have a basis of knowledge. Every student has some knowledge content and as teachers we must build on what is already established. We must start at their level, we must start with their knowledge content and build on that. It will do no good teaching something I f they do not understand.

Teachers must also understand the content of what they are teaching. We had to learn about creating a Chautauqua character first hand by creating our own. This was a great strategy because no one can teach something they do not have good content knowledge in.  

Skills and Strategies

A teacher is always working to develop this. As many different students as there are there are that many different skills and strategies necessary to reach them. I tried several different things with my two students. I finally learned that Janielle could work independently; but Brandon needed more one-on-one time. I jumped back and forth between the two and brought them together and finally learned I needed to do both but in different ways. If I had not tried using different skills I wouldn’t have learned how to reach both students. This is something teachers need to teach students too so they can solve their own problems.

Use of Prior and Emerging Experience

I have learned that being a sub for a year has its benefits, but is way different then being with the same kids every day and being responsible for what they learn. I am glad for my experience and it has helped me to be versatile, but I have learned so much by being with the same kids every class. It is a different experience and it will be incredibly beneficial when I start teaching on my own.

I have learned the importance of personally knowing each kid. I observed some of my peers having problems I was not because they didn’t know their student well. I feel lucky to have known the students from the semester before.

Reflectiveness (Critical Awareness)

A teacher must always reflect on the class. This has always been easy for me because I keep my personal journal that I write in every day. It helps to look back on what I wrote to solve my problems. I do struggle with writing it on the internet or my web page because typing feels less friendly to me. This is an issue I need to address because I will need to reflect in a way parents can see it when I start teaching.

By reflecting I can find what worked and what didn’t, who needs help in what area and more.  a journal is helpfull to keep notes about students. It is critical to be aware of the class room, but it is also important to think critically on how to fix any problems. What can I do to get through to this kid? What can I do to reach everyone? And many more questions we as teachers ask ourselves. Reflecting on a class is important. Taking notes is helpful way a teacher notices something. A teacher can always do better. We just need to pay attention to how. Our students will in one way or another let us know.