One of my favorite
authors is John Steinbeck. I vividly remember reading The Grapes of Wrath when I was a sophomore in high school. Even as a
21st century teen in a classroom in the middle of the suburbs, Steinbeck's
writing transported me to the west into the life of the Joad family on their
journey to save their family from their suffering during the time of the Dust
Bowl. Steinbeck writes about the human condition at its most strained and
challenging moments. He illuminates the power of optimism, hope, determination
and love during trying times.
I
bring him up because I recently came across a comment he made about teachers
that I wanted to share. Steinbeck defined teaching as an art. Furthermore he stated,
"Teaching might even be the greatest of the arts since the medium is the
human mind and spirit". This comment should not be taken lightly. This
statement is so important to me because it is so ineffably true, and I feel for
some reason many times fails to be acknowledged by society.
Teaching
is by no means regarded as the "glitz and glamour" profession in America. But,
it lies at the absolute core of every society. What is one of the first
institutions created in new developing country, a school! Teaching is an
immense responsibility. A teacher's job is to inspire the heart and mind of
each individual in the classroom. The manner in which we support and
encourage students' learning determines how they will face challenges and
approach goals far beyond the classroom. How we create a classroom community
can impact how students conduct themselves in their social groups and situate
themselves in humanity as a whole. When a teacher is really doing his or her
job well, he or she has the ability to cultivate something powerfully positive
that can have a ripple effect beyond that classroom. I feel that only once you
have completely dedicated your heart and mind to this profession is this
possible.
I've
seen and experienced through my own student teaching experiences that a true
teacher's day begins far before school hours begin, and continues far after
they are over. A true teacher is crafting lesson plans over the weekend, and
thinking and rethinking lessons to differentiate them in order to cater to the
many different needs of each individual student. A true teacher can't fall
asleep because a student said something so brilliant in class, or another
student seemed so upset during class.A true teacher is fascinated everyday about his or her content and the
students that he or she teaches. A true teacher never stops thinking, caring,
and tirelessly working to encourage and engage his or her students in a
memorable learning experience.
It's encouraging to know that Steinbeck held teaching in such high regard!
I recently finished a unit on the colonial era. It was a really neat experience! Lexington's Heritage Society has such a wealth of data on the history of their residents that each student was able to assume the role of an actual colonial person in the history of Lexington.
The class was divided into five famous families in Lexington, and each student was able to engage in a study of the colonial era through the perspective of his or her colonial person! The history travels all the way up through the Revolutionary War. We will be picking back up with the events leading up to the Revolutionary War this week, starting with a field trip to the restored colonial homes in Lexington, as well as Lexington's historic graveyard! What a great way to really immerse students in the environment of colonial history and really make it come to life for them in the present!
I find that I've become invested in these historical families in the process as well, and I am anxious to see how this immense historical event affected all of their lives. This structure provided by the Heritage Society provides such a unique opportunity to build empathy in students, and really allow them to be transported in history! As part of this unit, we also did artifact study of colonial money and it brought my back to such fond memories of Wampanoag artifact stations that I did in my "Social Studies, Sciences, and the Arts" course that I took with Professor Cormier way back in summer! Artifact stations provide another great hands-on opportunity to actively engage with history!
In starting my fairy tales unit
on Friday, I was shocked to learn how many students were unfamiliar with one of
the most famous fairy tales of all time, Cinderella!Thus,
I ran into a bit of a complication with my next part of the lesson where I gave
students instructions to retell the fairy tale in their own words. I decided to
improvise at this point, and take the small group of students aside who were
not familiar with Cinderella, and probed their general knowledge of fairy
tales, and then worked to see if they had any small information in their minds
concerning Cinderella. Upon
further probing, I discovered that they did. So, one by one I sent them to
write down the bits and pieces of knowledge they had on Cinderella.
Furthermore,
when I enthusiastically shared that our first fairy tale of study would be
Cinderella, I was dismayed to be met with groans! I was shocked at this
response. I suspected that some of my male students, keeping with the
stereotype that fairy tales are for girls, might be a bit disgruntled, but the
girls too were groaning! I decided to take this disappointing moment, and
transform it as a challenge to both the class and myself. I placed a bet with
them. I said, I bet you by the end of this unit, not only will you love fairy
tales but you will also come to like the story of Cinderella! Little do they
know how many versions of Cinderella there are to love!
Reflecting
on my puzzlement that students were not as familiar with fairy tales as I had
assumed, I came to a number of realizations. First, a great deal of my early
exposure with fairy tales was derived from classic Disney films, which were at
their peak during my early years of life. Fairy tales like The Little
Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, and Mulan were extremely popular and visual during my
childhood. Their popularity made their predecessors like Cinderella and Snow
White, created by Walt Disney in the late thirties and early fifties, were
corralled in with the more recent Disney box office hits, therefore widening my
exposure to fairy tales. This early exposure to fairy tales engrained a love of
this genre that led me to seek fairy tales in literature. In contrast, the
students that I am currently teaching are much more familiar with Disney Pixar
films. The boom of Disney fairy tales died out before they were born. It is now
attempting to make resurgence with such new releases as, The Princess
and the Frog, as well as Tangled (a new version of Rapunzel), but fairy tale films are
nowhere near as popular and abundant as they were when I was young. A comment
made by a student that helped lead me to this realization was sparked from his
question, "Is Cars 2 a fairy
tale?". This comment marks a large difference between my generation and my
students'. Fairy tales are not nearly as accessible to them! I must change
that!
In
spite of the immediate disappointment I felt hearing their lack of enthusiasm
for fairy tale literature, I now have renewed determination to make them really
fall in love with this unit, and I am excited at the challenge of transforming
their perspectives towards the genre, as I have a particular affinity for it
myself! I passionately believe that it is crucial for students to gain a
foundational understanding, and exposure to fairy tales. They are one of the
first forms of literature, and tell a great deal about the values and societal
traditions of cultures all over the world. I will use historical context as a
driving force to emphasize the importance of this genre as a document of the
human condition. Furthermore, they are strong fantasy pieces that stimulate
imagination and creativity. I will use these concepts to scaffold my teaching
and engage students.
Recently I have
been leading mathematics lessons in accordance with a multiplication and
division unit that my cooperating teacher and I are currently piloting. This
unit, created by Catherine Twomey Fosnot and Antonia Cameron, explores
multiplication and division through the use of arrays. The unit centers on a
character named Muffles that owns a chocolate truffles shop. Arrays are
introduced to students in the form of chocolate truffle boxes. The truffle
boxes serve as an entry point for students to begin to conceptualize arrays and
use them to approach a series of challenges that become increasingly more
complex throughout the unit. The unit creates a strong scaffolding to support
students' gradual understanding of concepts and how these concepts build on one
another. The unit provides an interdisciplinary approach to mathematics,
enticing students that are more interested in literacy through its narrative
plot base. Most importantly, it encourages students to be creative problem
solvers!
The unit is structured in a format that
empowers students to really look at mathematics from a creative and innovative
standpoint. Students are placed in pairs. I then pose a challenge to the class.
After posing this challenge, and providing some basic parameters, students are
encouraged to explore their own strategies to determine the answer. Fosnot and
Cameron apply an exploratory approach to mathematics, which I find extremely
refreshing. Delivering the message that there are many different approaches to
solving a math problem validates different learning styles and ways of
thinking, a critical concept to teach to students.
Once students have been given the opportunity
to work on the given challenge, in teams they create posters to represent their
thinking. From this point, the class engages in a museum walk, where students
are able to view the thought processes of others. Finally, students engage in a
math congress, where a few teams are given the opportunity to teach their
thought process to their classmates. My cooperating teacher and I usually
choose a few posters that represent very different approaches to the problem
that range from simpler to more advanced approaches. Sharing a variety of
strategies to approaching a problem exposes students to many different ways of
thinking emphasizes the idea that there are multiple approaches to solving a
problem and provides many different entry points for students to access
information. I find it so valuable to give students the opportunity to show
others how they think out a problem. I love any chance for students to become
the teachers. I think it is empowering and confidence-building for their
learning.
Students'
spelling and vocabulary instruction is based on a program titled, Words Their
Way by Donald R. Bear, Francine Johnston, Marcia Invernizzi, and Shane
Templeton. This program structures spelling based on a series of word sorts. In
the classroom, this method presents a strong opportunity for differentiated
instruction. Students are divided into small groups based on their spelling
ability. Each group is given a word sort to work on each week. The word sort
usually highlights certain word structure patterns such as, similar
affixes, suffices, compound words, homophones, pronunciation differences, and
many other themes. Students cut up their words at the start of each week and
meet in small groups led my cooperating teacher or me. During these group
meetings, students discuss patterns that they notice in their words and then
sort them based on a series of given categories. Once each student has finished
sorting, members of the group compare their sorting with other members of the
group. We discuss differences when they occur and further discuss the reasoning
behind patterns and categories. It is a great method to emphasize visual
associations and word groupings to build in students' memories. I find
words sorts help students begin to look for common spelling patterns and relationships
between words that enable them to make more educated judgments when they
approach spelling new and unfamiliar words.
These small group meetings also
function as a great time to examine new word definitions and allow students to
share prior knowledge of words with their group members. Many times if we
encounter a debate with a word's definition, or have a question about a word
pattern, or pronunciation, I encourage students to consult the classroom
dictionaries, and share their findings with the group. I've been pleasantly
surprised to learn that students in this class love consulting the dictionary!
If you think about it, dictionaries are quite an amazing resource, containing
all the words in the English language! They're excited to learn new words,
their pronunciations, as well as make connections between words. I've
experienced many great discussions during these small group meetings and active
student engagement.
On Tuesday I launched my
first Science unit that I will implement for the next four weeks. The unit
focuses on the study of chemicals and their properties. Students are provided a
challenge to determine the identities of five unknown chemicals in pairs. The
unit centers on cultivating keen observation skills, teamwork, and prior
knowledge in order to discover these chemicals actual identities. The unit also
provides a strong introduction to students to become informed about
experimenting techniques, important safety precautions, collaborative brainstorming,
and information recording strategies.
I was a bit unsure about
how students would receive this unit as the study of chemicals can provide a
bit of abstract thinking that can be a challenge to process. So, I was
pleasantly surprised when my introduction was met with a great amount of
excitement. Third graders love learning about chemicals! Great news for me! We
began the lesson with a class brainstorm about, "what we think we
know about chemicals." During the discussion, I discovered that there was
quite a range in students' prior knowledge about chemicals as well as the depth
of understanding, which was quite extensive for some and then fairly limited
for others. For instance, one student described a solid as, "an object
that has molecules packed closely together." I found this initial
brainstorming very useful in creating a baseline of data for me to learn
students' varied levels of understanding and to see where each student is
coming from in their knowledge on the subject. The challenge becomes to find
ways to structure my lessons to make them accessible and challenging for all
students. This concept is something that I will be further exploring with each
lesson!
I have also begun a bulletin
board for this unit. Already, I find that the bulletin board is functioning as
such a strong visual tool to reinforce and guide student learning. I hung up
our first brainstorm, and we are going to return to it throughout the unit to
compare new knowledge gained through experimentation with our initial thoughts
about chemicals. I also have put up experiment safety rules to remind them of
appropriate behavior during experimentation, as well as some guidelines to
scaffold their thinking when observing these unknown materials. Lastly, the
materials that we use during each experiment will be posted on the bulletin
board to help make gathering materials more efficient and also give students a
sense of responsibility in regards to keeping track of their supplies. So far
it is working well!
Lately during Reader's Workshop in the
classroom, we have been engaged in a "Characters Unit". I find examining
characters an excellent strategy to help students delve deeper into their
reading. By having students pay close attention to characters, encouraging them
to imagine them with enough detail so that they almost become living breathing
beings standing right in front of them, students can really transport themselves
into the world of the story.
The characters unit is focused around the
novels of Dick King Smith. His characters are so vibrant and complex, making
Smith a great choice for character analysis.We are currently reading Babe: The Gallant Pig as the class read aloud. Most
of our whole class lessons focus on analysis of characters in Babe, based on
our readings. We have studied characters' patterns of behaviors, changes in
behaviors, points in the story where characters are faced with challenges and
tests, and many other elements that support character analysis. My co-teacher
and I often use personal anecdotes to help demonstrate the connection between
how we think, feel, and act as human beings, with how characters think, feel,
and act in literature. In this sense, we hope that characters will come more to
life for students. These teaching points focus students in their reading and
comprehension of stories, and help them follow the trajectory of the story,
make more accurate predictions by examining characters' behaviors more closely,
and become more passionate about their reading and more invested in the
characters as they learn more about them.
In addition to our read aloud, we have five
small reading groups that are reading a collection of other Dick King Smith
books: The Invisible Dog, Funny Frank, Ace: The Very Important Pig, A Mouse
Called Wolf, and The School Mouse. I feel
that our whole class reading of Babe
supports students' deeper comprehension of their reading group books. Many
strong connections are made between characters in Babe and students' guided
reading group books. During a portion of Reader's workshop where students were
sharing moments in the story where characters are faced with a challenge, a
student stated. "I've noticed that all the characters in Dick King Smith books
seem determined." Determination is a concept that we had been discussing as a
class, and I had been discussing with this student's reading group for A
Mouse Called Wolf. The group share allowed
students to share comments about characters in their reading group texts,
broadening student exposure to many new Dick King Smith characters. This
student picked up on these varied characters patterns of behavior during the
share, and made quite an astute connection, which I feel definitely deepened
his understanding of the characters he is reading about as well as his
understanding of the term, determination and how characters demonstrate
determination in literature in many different ways.
I am so pleased with how this unit is going. Students seem very attached to the characters and they are constantly asking if we can read more! Furthermore, they are making connections from our lessons about Babe in other times during the day beyond Reader's Workshop. One funny anecdote took place when two students were engaged in a small dispute. One student walked up to another student and wanted to work next to him, but seemed to be invading the other student's personal space. The other student became frustrated and said, "Go away!", to which the other student responded, "I will not leave until you ask politely." I spoke with them about their interaction and how they could have approached the situation in a more positive way. I talked with one of the students about being aware of personal space, and then talked with the other about voicing his feelings in a way that makes his peer want to listen. The other student then interjected by saying, yes, "you should be more polite like Babe. The sheep listen to him when he speaks nicely!" It was very difficult not to laugh at this moment, as I could see this comment made the other student a little peeved. I did find it a strong connection to the text and was pleased to see the student really investing in concepts learned from Babe!
During my experience student teaching, I have been given opportunities to attend and participate in a number of team building and collaborative activities with faculty members and administration at the school. I feel these opportunities are really great experiences for me to begin to understand how faculty members work together in a system wide effort to maintain a successful educational environment for their student populous.
Time designated for collaboration between teachers creates a strong forum for problem-solving, the inspiration of new ideas, and most importantly a support system, as all teachers share the aim of attending to the education of their students. In my experiences in these meetings so far, I have witnessed many great discussions and encouraging comments between staff members. They appear to have a positive dynamic within their working community.
Recently I attended a faculty meeting that focused on the idea of assessment. At this meeting, a new report card was presented that is going to be implemented next year school wide. Assessment is a concept that is constantly being worked on and reinvented. Assessment tackles the enormous task of quantifying student learning in a way that provides data for teachers to use as a tool to continue to effectively support students' continued improvement in the classroom. Creating a universal report card that attends to the objectives in all individual classrooms is an enormous challenge. It was very interesting to learn more about the process that is involved in the creation of report cards.
This new report card was assembled by a group of faculty members from a variety of academic levels. They shared their insight and personal classroom objectives in order to determine the most important components to incorporate into the new report card. I agree with their choice to represent each of the different grade levels of teaching in the creation of the new report card in order to have the important objectives in all these grade levels spoken for.
Attending to the needs of so many grade levels, and individual teaching styles in one universal report card is a complex process. The committee provided the chance for all faculty members to personally comment and question elements of the report card following their presentation by passing out copies to each individual along with a questions and comments sheet. The committee explained that these comments would be considered in the final revisions of the report card. I really appreciated this aspect of the presentation. I noticed a great deal of openness regarding their explanation of the new report card that they have been working on tirelessly to create.
Obviously, a report card is just one tool of assessment, and assessment tools can never quite capture all the aspects of learning in a classroom, but it really seems that the faculty are working hard to produce a tool of assessment that acknowledges as many classroom objectives as possible.
Two behaviors I am currently
focusing on in the classroom are student engagement and understanding of the
lesson and material being instructed on. In my classroom, as I am sure is true
of many, students are working at a range of different developmental
levels.My aim is to equally
engage all students in the classroom with the content I teach and be able to
help students access, and be challenged by my teaching. There are a number of
advanced students in my classroom with complex ideas that they share with the
class using sophisticated vocabulary that other students might not be familiar
with.
An example of this occurrence took place a few times during a recent reading lesson geared at observing patterns of behavior in characters in Dick Kind Smith's novel, Babe.
In our discussion about patterns of behavior in characters, one
student described a character as "modest". In order to allow all students to
understand these student's astute contribution, I took the time to first assess
the volunteer's understanding of this term by explaining it in his own words,
and then defined it myself in more detail in order to provide further
clarification. I want to support and encourage the comments made by all
students equally, and scaffold comments made in a way that allows all students
to access and benefit from the information.
I feel integrating student comments
into my instruction is essential in order to promote student empowerment and
self-efficacy in students' learning as well as to maintain active engagement. I
continue to work to create a learning environment where all students understand
the content and simultaneously feel positively challenged in ways that further
their learning. Lastly, I am really working on efficiency in my delivery,
providing enough clarity, while remaining within the appropriate time
constraints.
The classroom that I am currently student teaching in engages students in a group meeting once a week, called "team circle", that specifically addresses social goals and issues in the classroom. The purpose of meeting is to strengthen classroom unity, and social skills in the classroom. I find these meetings essential for improving and maintaining a positive classroom climate.
The classroom is a critical source where students learn and build on social behaviors. School is the first environment children are introduced to outside of their family. The teacher's values and attitude directly affect each child's perspective towards many facets of learning and in many senses determines the social climate of the classroom. The teacher is thus given the enormous responsibility of fostering a positive environment for children to learn in, and to grow in a positive direction, not only in their academic skills, but also social development. And, make no mistake the social environment can really dictate the amount of learning that happens in the classroom.
Creating a forum for students to talk about social issues on their mind fosters a respect for individuals and the idea of community, and also creates awareness for its importance in the classroom. Team circle is a great time for instilling positive values that aptly apply to, and eventually transcend the classroom environment. I believe it is essential to nurture a positive environment for children to learn how to value ideas, each other, and above all themselves. Team circle aims to build a sensitivity to others, personal integrity, leadership abilities, and teamwork skills. These are skills that they will carry with them throughout there life. Most importantly, students are empowered in this experience, by having the chance to voice their opinions. These qualities come up throughout the day, but I think specifically creating time to discuss them is such a great idea. I plan to institute team circle in my classroom in the future!
The topic of team circle depends on a number of factors. My cooperating teacher generally structures meetings by centering on a certain topic that she feels needs to be addressed by the classroom community, or based on ideas that students bring to her attention. In order for students to share concerns or meeting topics that they would like addressed, my cooperating teacher has created a section of the room for students to write and post sticky notes.
One student recently voiced that he feels a bit left out during social activities in the classroom. When he explained his reasoning, I was so impressed by his courage to voice this feeling and the articulate manner in which he voiced it. Children never cease to surprise me with insight, intelligence, and incredible empathy. I am constantly learning in the classroom. Back to this student, he explained that he has been feeling left out. It feels to him that a lot of people in the class seem to have close friends already. He explained that he was new to the school last year, so he understands why he doesn't have any close friends yet, and he said he knows that no one is intentionally leaving him out, but it is just how he has been feeling lately. The maturity with which he described his emotional state was just, in a word, inspiring. Since then, we instituted a tally chart in the class during snack time to encourage students to explore sitting with new people, and I have seen great improvements with students choosing to sit with new friends. The student also seems to be feeling much more included, and voiced this change of feeling to the class.
In our most recent team circle meeting, students watched a movie about different kinds of families. During one part of the discussion, we discussed adoption and talked about how families do not need to be related to be a family. To this remark, a student raised his hand with an adamant look on his face. He responded, "Actually, human beings are all related. We all began as microbes, and we are the same species." Once again, never underestimate the amount of insight you can gain from talking with a third grader!
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