Inquiry Celebration Reflection: April 20, 2012

I gained a lot of very knowledgeable information at the inquiry seminar. One session that I attended was a PDS presentation and the second session was an intern presentation. I learned a lot more information from the intern session than the PDS session. At the PDS session, the teachers did not have any data to support their claims. Even though I believe students need to be engaged in mathematics through number talks, I would have enjoyed seeing data to support their claims. At the intern session, I was very impressed with how much data the interns collected on problem based learning. I am very interested in doing my action research on the same topic so seeing their presentation gave me a lot of wonderful ideas. Not only did I learn a lot about some data that I could collect, but I also learned how to conduct a presentation clearly and effectively. It was a wonderful learning experience to collect information that I will need for next year.

Practicum Plan Reflection 2

In my last post, I said that I would use the Practicum Plan format to keep myself on track next semester. I have recently changed my mind. Even though the design of my Practicum Plan was perfect for my use, I found an App on my IPad that I will use instead of the Practicum Plan.
I want to continue using the goals that I focused on this semester next year. I will be using one of my goals this semester as my Action Research for the fall semester. I will be focusing on Problem Based Learning as my Action Research Project. Also, I want to continue to try to focus on incorporating technology into my lessons. This is very difficult to do at my PDS due to the small amount of funding allotted to technology in the school. Hopefully, I will be able to use technology that I have, such as a laptop and IPad, in the classroom at specific stations.

Characteristics of the Novice Teacher: Post 2

2. We believe a novice teacher should communicate effectively.

Definition: An effective communicator has the ability to appropriately articulate information and process information given to them through multiple forms of communication.

Rationale: We believe a novice teacher should be able to convey information to students, colleagues, parents, and community members through spoken, written, and nonverbal forms in order to be a successful educator. 

Artifact 1: An artifact that I have to express my ability to be an effective communicator is a parent communication website. The website is a place for parents and students to access in order to stay informed about current and upcoming events occurring in the classroom. It also provides parents with an easy way to contact the teacher through email on the website. 

1. We believe that the novice teacher should pursue efforts to continuously educate themselves in order to be an lifelong learner. 

Definition: A lifelong learner is a person who persistently seeks efforts to educate themselves in the teaching profession.  

Rationale: We believe that a lifelong learner is committed to the teaching profession by educating themselves on new research being done about the profession. A lifelong learner maintains the passion to seek out new information in order to enhance their classroom. 

Artifact 1: An inquiry presentation and research paper based on the educational effects of problem based learning in mathematics demonstrates my efforts to seek research in order to educate myself in the teaching profession. In order to fully inquire about problem based learning, I have become an active member in a Professional Development Community. The PLC collaborates once a week to discuss new research and findings. Inquiring about problem based learning and participating in a PLC portrays my commitment and passion for continuously pursing ways to educate myself to enhance my classroom. 

Reflection on Practicum Plan

As I reflect on my Practicum Plan for the Spring 2012 semester, I realize that I have completed everything on schedule. I adjusted my practicum plan throughout the semester when certain situations came up. My science learning cycle was the only main assignment that got pushed back by two weeks. This is because I have moved to a 1st grade classroom instead of my 5th grade placement. It has allowed me to spend more time teaching the assignment at my PDS. The thing I like most about my Practicum Plan is the template design. I enjoy seeing my schedule by a weekly basis. In the future I will use this same Practicum Plan design to schedule my fall 2012 semester. Only two more Practicum Plans to go =)

Artifacts and Characteristics of the Novice Teacher

Characteristic 7:
We believe the novice teacher should adequately apply pedagogy to teach content.

 Artifact:
A mathematics lesson using a problem based teaching strategy effectively demonstrates mastery of this characteristic. My philosophy is that students should be taught mathematics through problem based learning. Appropriately teaching the strategies of this teaching method shows that I can teach mathematics content through the use of instructive strategies.

Characteristic 8:
 A novice teacher should continually reflect on their practice.

Artifact:
A reflection rubric to assess my teaching is an excellent way to show that I am continuously reflecting on my teaching. One of my learning goals for this semester is to assess my teaching by filling out a comprehensive rubric after I teach lessons that I have developed for a two week period. This artifact is an example of how I assess myself as a teacher and shows how I believe the way in which I teach directly affects students learning.

Practicum Plan Post #2

The practicum plan that I created for myself this semester was extremely well organized. I am very happy with how it turned out and how much I relied on the plan. The way I created my individualized plan worked for my own personal needs. As I was reflecting on my plan and how I could make it even better I developed new ideas for next semester. Instead of only writing the week and the assignments due (organized by colors for readings, PDS activities, and assignments), I am going to incorporate the same ideas but in a chart instead of a list. The columns will be titled: Week of, Date, Class, Reading Due, Assignment Due, To Do at PDS. Hopefully this will be as effective as this semesters practicum plan. I think it will be a better visual representation and help me meet all of my learning goals because I will have a specific place for activities to do at my PDS.

Learning Goals Reflection #1

As I reflect on the learning goals I set for myself at the beginning of the semester, I realize what I have accomplished, not accomplished, and found difficult to accomplish. The learning goal I spent the most time focusing on was teaching through problem based learning. Every single day I was at my PDS, my host teacher let me use the lessons she created and adapt them to this learning goal. Using the retrofit approach was very helpful but I learned the most when I made my own lessons where I taught through problem based learning. I have changed my educational philosophy to include this teaching method. It is a method that I am still wondering about but that I have learned a great deal about this semester. I know that I want to use this method in my future classroom. 

The learning goal I spent the least amount of time focusing on was implementing technology. Besides using technology for my lessons that required technology I only used my Ipad once and the overhead multiple times. It is very difficult in my classroom because we only have 4 working computers. I wish I would of have had more time and resources to engage in this goal. Recently, all of the teachers in the school received MIMIO's. One of the teachers recently taught all of the participants how to use the MIMO. Hopefully, next semester I will be able to work harder at this implementing this learning goal into more of my lessons.