Week 3- Let's do this!

     This week was my first week of slowly taking over by teaching one subject each day. We decided to start with science so from this point forward, I will be teaching science every day. I like it, but it's still pretty intimidating. They are currently studying ecosystems and biomes, and food webs. Students seemed confused about the concept of an ecosystem, but after three days of questioning, having students fill out graphic organizers on main ideas, and drawing pictures, they seem more comfortable with the concept of an ecosystem.
     While moving to the idea of biomes, we read about each of the type of biome then did the "Explore" activity in their book, which incorporates math. There were two data tables, one with temperature and the other with precipitation averages, for two cities with different biomes. Students were to create a line graph and a bar graph, then answer the questions about the data. However, what was intended on being a short exercise turned into a full-blown lesson on graph making and we did not even get to the questions. Most of the students did not even finish making the first graph, even after providing a template. I was baffled and caught off guard. I definitely did not anticipate that about 80% of the class could not plot points on a graph.
     I was faced with the dilemma of reteaching the concept of graphing or forgetting the entire exercise. I conferenced with my mentor teacher about how to proceed. She suggested that I did try to explain the graphs, only to have students watch using a document cam and answer questions rather than to continue on trying to make their own. As I explained, students correctly answered and understood that those with the taller bars were the ones with higher precipitation averages where as the lines higher on the y-axis is the city that holds the higher temperature. Students could read the graph, just not make one themselves.
     I again am faced with a dilemma. Do I make it a point to teaching graph-making skills even though the students are all separated by ability level for math, or do I leave it to the responsibility of their math teachers? Currently, I made the decision to hold off on directly teaching more graphing skills, but if they opportunity arises to integrate it with another subject, I will refer back to it.
     I feel like I over-plan when making lessons. It's hard to fit both the content they need to read and the activity to practice the skills. The activity is typically the "fun" part that students enjoy, but often times it is to practice rather than initially learn the content. No wonder teachers just stick to the getting the content as fast as possible. They are constantly on a schedule and feel a push to keep moving through the content. I also am bored, so I'm sure my students are, of reading to them, having them read alone, and reading in partners/groupings. How can I get my students to learn the science content without reading directly from the book? Will my PDS classroom even let that happen? I'm a little too timid to try to suggest any other way other than what they're used to, and I'm even still unsure about implementing learning in a new way when I'm not exactly sure how I would implement it. I just don't believe reading it in a textbook is working.

The Last First Day...

     Even though we were back a week before WVU students arrived, it was really a blessing in disguise. I hated leaving home before anyone else, but I had the time to move in to my apartment (for the last time!) and prepare for the road ahead of me. Ever since the end of July, I've been anxious, nervous, and of course, excited. It's always so difficult to leave a mentor teacher for another completely new one, especially after you're just getting comfortable working with and talking to that person in an open way. I've been lucky, my mentor teachers at Mountainview Elementary have been amazing, so I expect nothing short from Mrs Law. However, it's all new rules, a new classroom, and new students! Oh wait, not all new students. I followed my fourth graders and into their new role as leaders of the pack, fifth graders.
     Mountainview Interns reported the Monday before students arrived. I had always wondered what really went in to setting up a classroom. I now know, and it was not at all what I expected. We put up posters that had to be taken down, just for the summer. We personalized name tags,  folders, paperwork, etc. We leveled out all the desks to make sure they were all the proper size. We cleaned, and cleaned, and cleaned. The one thing I learned....Clorox wipes are your best friend.
     Something else I learned, teachers miss each other just as much as students miss other students. On their first day back, there were hugs, tears, and even stories to be told! There were also many, many meetings ranging from teacher representatives on councils and even professional development seminars set as stations across the school. Although informative, it was all very overwhelming. How can a school and its rules/policies change so much over the summer if no one is at the school?! Someone, and I'm not sure who yet, is very, very busy making changes year-round. Even when I went to visit my old mentor teacher, she was the only one with her classroom completely set. When I questioned how she did that, she revealed that she had been coming to school for weeks in order to prepare her classroom before all the hustle and bustle began again. Smart move. But then again, it proves that a teacher's work is never done!
     I am now comfortable being back in the school, jitters are gone. However, I am still anxious about my new mentor teacher She is very laid back and very sweet, but I'm always afraid her expectations are something that I'm not producing. Now, she has given me no indication of that, but hey, I've always been paranoid. I guess that will get better once we are more used to each other and I feel comfortable approaching her without it being awkward. It's very weird being thrown in someone else's room to "take over" when you have no idea anything about this person. I'm sure it will be fine though...just a fear.
    I do have the pleasure of getting some of the same students! This is both exciting and terrifying. This means that you know what sets them off, what works for them (in most cases), and their backgrounds. It's hard not to be drawn towards the ones you know because you have that connection already, but I've been trying to get to know all my students and have conversations so I know what they think and how they best learn. Because I do know some of the students already, I also know the stereotypes that other teachers place them in, and sometimes, the students actually put themselves in. This is hard to break out of because you don't know how to interact with these students without keeping the other information in mind. What does help is meeting their families. I had the opportunity to attend "Back-to-School" night before actual school even began. This gave parents an opportunity to tell the teacher their concerns, hopes, dreams, and concerns about their students. I feel like parent input and involvement are key roles in successful students and a positive classroom. We'll see what Week 3 has in store for me!

Inquiry of Celebration Reflection

     The Inquiry of Celebration is always something I look forward to. It's important to me because as discussed our textbook (Phillips and Carr), "going public" with work is the "process of articulating the actual learning that has happened". Also, giving WVU faculty, PDS school teachers and administration, and tutors, participants, and interns in the WVU Benedum Collaborative Teaching Program a chance to view the work of others, it instills a passion and energizes us to continue our action research in our classrooms. Lastly, the sharing itself is a celebration that comes from searching and interpreting meaningful discoveries in our teaching.

     One thing I noticed about The 13th Annual Inquiry of Celebration is that it defied all the myths that you normally think of when you think "academic research". The interns provided practical information that not only applied in their classrooms, but that could be transferred into our classrooms as well. The stories they shared made their presentations personal because we could based upon anecdotes how the students were responding to the interventions. Lastly, I noticed that even if interns were in similar categories, such as implementing stations or math talks, each had their unique spin and findings, which contrasts that idea that all academic research on a topic sounds the same. Each presentation had something valuable that resonated with me and sparked ideas for implementation in my own classroom.
    
     Inquiry of Celebration has taught me that not all research has to come out the way you "envisioned it". Instead, it's okay and welcomed if you talk about the struggles, conflict, dilemmas, and moments of chaos. That's part of it! No one is going to have a perfect experience collecting data and finding exactly what we expected, but that's okay because it still gives valuable information to attend to. The sessions I attended gave me ideas about incorporating math stations and math talks into my classroom. I'm currently working on my mini action research and they gave me so many ideas about things I could have done differently to better help my study. I was excited and ready to begin the entire process over because I wondered how making those changes could influence my students' learning.

     I really like being able to choose with sessions we attend so we can focus on something that may be more relevant to use in our classroom placements than others. The interns are always so well prepared and excited to share their findings, which makes it contagious for us in the audience. The presenters always use terms such as "The data suggests...." or "In my experience in the classroom..." which brings about a knowledge that although this is what they found, it is not definitely the "answer" to everyone's classroom. I think it was also important to hear how they came up with their research and the data sources they used. Our small group facilitators often tell us how important researcher notebooks are and how valuable they can be as a tool. However, to hear from an intern that video and notetaking really developed their data sources, we begin to see the importance of them.

     Overall, I see The Inquiry of Celebration as a key step for the interns to celebrate and share their findings, but also as an example to tutors and participants on how to successfully implement a project and spark ideas and creativity. By giving ideas about teaching practices and learning of our students, we are enriching the tools veteran teachers can develop as well as teaching getting ready to enter the profession.

Characteristic of a Novice Teacher #2

    We believe the novice teacher should have an in-depth knowledge of content. Content is information that is found within our discipline that we may be teaching. Especially for elementary students, this a vast and wide range of information ranging from all content areas. It’s not just knowing the information, but rather the common structure of knowledge and processes used to develop new knowledge within the content area. With so much information within a discipline, it is important that teachers figure out what is important for the students to learn at each grade level. The possibilities are endless, and no one will ever learn all there is to know about a topic, often because concepts alter after time. If the teacher does not know the content, then students will be the ones that will be hindered because they can possible develop misconceptions, have the misconceptions be reinforced, or not have the exposure at all.

     An artifact that represents having in-depth knowledge of content would be my science portfolio created for C&I444. I am a science specialist, and we created a portfolio to represent that we met the national science standards which included work we completed in the class as well as other science class taken at West Virginia University. This demonstrates in-depth knowledge because it is compiles a lot of the data, assessments, and artifacts that we have made throughout our vast amount of courses and tests from PRAXIS in the content area of science. With this information, someone can now see that I have a vast amount of experience in many science courses and can apply it when it comes to products as well as assessments, such as PRAXIS science. A WebQuest that we create for Education 450 would also be another example because it shows that we not only know how to create a lesson using interactive and engaging methods, but that we can find sources and information that is useful, accurate, and fits into the WV CSOs as well as the national standards for social studies. By deciding on a topic and information for the WebQuest, I am demonstrating that I have chosen what I want my students to learn and the sources/information that I believe is important for students to know.

     We believe the novice teacher should have a commitment to and skills for lifelong learning. To be a lifelong learner, a teacher needs to strive to continually be developing and searching for knowledge and deeper understanding. The process of teaching is a nonstop and ongoing every moment we are awake. Our world is constantly changing and evolving as we live in it. Technologies advance, new tools are invented, and strategies are being researched and developed into best practices. It’s up to us, the teachers to keep up to date with that process, and even partake in that process, in order to be the most effective teachers we can be for our students. Our professional selves must evolve into those that know the best possible way to reach all students and have all students learn in a way that best suits their abilities and strengths. We are models for our students, and if we demonstrate to them that we live a life that is full of learning and wondering, then they will also want to continue probing for knowledge the rest of their lives.

     An artifact that represents commitment and skills for lifelong learning could be attending workshops or professional development. For my C&I 444 course, we attended a NASA workshop in order to become trained in the NASA Star Lab. It was a 3 hour course where we learned what features the Star Lab offered, how to use it, and the lessons that we could do when we were using it. This is commitment to lifelong learning because I wanted to develop skills that I could use for the rest of my teaching career. Without the training, the resources are not available to me, or my students. I know that the process of active learning and being hands-on activates learning for students, so this is a viable method to achieve that learning style for those students. Also, during my time in the same course, we applied and were accepted to attend and present at the WVSTA conference. We were able to see what other teachers from across the state were doing with their students and the gains they have made in their learning. We were also given materials to use in our classroom and had speakers that were authors and photographers for National Geographic. By learning about other peoples’ experiences and perspectives, we are giving students a new lens to explore through, as well as a new one for us, the teachers, to investigate.

Characteristic of a Novice Teacher #1

     We believe that the novice teacher should have in-depth knowledge of pedagogy. This characteristic’s “big idea” to me is that we, as preservice teachers should know, study, practice, and continually strive for new information on the ways we teach. The “way we teach” is very broad, and can be a whole and general understanding for human development and the learning process and theories behind them, the development of skills for effective management and instruction, and creating and improving on your personal educational philosophies as well as being aware of others professional educational philosophies. If we did not have in-depth knowledge of how to teach what we need to teach, the content, then all the knowledge in the world will not be able to be transferred or facilitated to our students.
     We believe that the novice teacher should be a reflective practitioner. This characteristic’s “big idea” to me is that we, as preservice teachers, are questioning what we witness in the classroom as well as what we critique and contribute to what we read. It also means that we should collaborate with our colleagues in professional learning communities to discuss our observations and get a “fresh” pair of eyes to help us delve into and inspire action research. This characteristic means for us to develop our skills in order to critically examine to aid our practice with the dilemmas and situations that we are faced with in the educational environment.
     An artifact that represents “in-depth knowledge of pedagogy” would be videotaped lessons showing how we teach students in our classroom. By allowing people to see how we use the information we have read about and discussed in class, we are giving them a firsthand experience as to how we incorporate that information and understanding into how we reach our students. This can be very insightful for us to see ourselves so we can see what works and what doesn’t in order to begin our search for new strategies and implementations in the classroom.
     An artifact that represents “a reflective practitioner” would be some of our admission tickets that get us to answer questions that dig into and encourage the development of action research. Also, I feel that our researcher notebook’s would be great examples of a “reflective practitioner” because we are constantly not only noting observations, but also wonderings that we have. By seeing the issues that we face and develop our reflection process, we are promoting the process of teaching and improving our students’, as well as our own, learning.

What is a PDS?

An ideal Professional Development School is not just one big idea, but multiple components that make it successful. It is a commitment to not only the staff, the parents, the preservice teachers, but most importantly, our students. In order to be a flourishing Professional Development School, all participants in the school community must be willing to learn and become life-long learners. This is not just the tutors, participants, and interns in the program, but also Benedum faculty, mentor teachers, coordinators, liaisons, parents, administrators, and all members of the Professional Development School. We all need to be able to learn from each other in order to make the school the most beneficial and prosperous place for our students. The interaction should not just cease at the school environment level, but should instead reach out into the community to build a partnership for the benefit of our students and their families. I believe a Professional Development School should provide a stimulating and active environment for students to learn. Action research and inquiry should be implemented by the teachers, administration, and the preservice teachers so the needs of each individual student can be met and teacher strategies improved. This takes place through collaboration between preservice and mentor teachers and coordinators. Everyone should have an access point to delve into learning, and it is the Professional Development School’s purpose to make knowledge available to all students. Curriculum and instruction should be monitored and considered flexible to fit what works best for the students. There should be programs implemented before, during, and after school to ensure the safety, security, and success for all students and provide opportunities for the community to take part in the inner workings of the school. A successful Professional Development School gives all members of the community a chance to assume responsibility and become empowered by the encouraging school climate. Ideas from the community will be valued and sensible risks taken to promote the greater good of the Professional Development School. Future educators have power to actively engage in the school wide community and culture. All research and practices should be reflected upon in order to gain the most in the school community. All perspectives will be considered and valued based upon our shared-decision approach. For this to occur there needs to be a great sense of open communication between all branches of the local community. In order for there to be open communication, there needs to be respect between each counterpart of the community and appreciation of diversity. Not only should each member of the community respect themselves, but also their peers, colleagues, and community partners. Self-esteem and motivation is valued and promoted in the environment and differences are appreciated. Diversity should be honored and multicultural reflective curriculum should be taught. Different learning styles should be treasured and arts should be a vital part in the curriculum, along with a value placed on health and physical education in order to produce a healthy and productive member of the community.

Classroom map

 

Classroom Map