Week 6 Reflection

Weekly Reflection and Self-Assessment Blog Week 6

Due Date: October 3, 2011 (due Monday at 7am)

This week’s blog is based on the following standards,

best practices and education program learning outcomes.

Illinois Professional Teaching Standard #7 – Communication

Teachers should be good communicators. They should be able to use effective written, verbal, nonverbal and visual communication to foster supportive interaction in the classroom.

Best Practice – Providing opportunity for peer feedback

Giving students planned time for feedback from other students concerning final projects, drafts of work, and every step in between.

Education Program Learning Outcome # 6 – Communication

Candidates will use effective written and oral communication and implement other appropriate media technologies to enhance instruction and to support positive interactions in the learning community. 

Goal Setting:  Last week you set two goals. Reflect on those goals and where you are in achieving them. Also describe your conversation with your cooperating teacher regarding your goals. Set 2 goals for yourself. Write one goal regarding communication for the rest of the semester. Consider: how is what you write, say, and do a model for your students? Share your goals with your cooperating teacher.

Last week, I worked on my communication with my cooperating teachers and worked on being able to discuss other situations with nurses, counselors, etc. I feel that I have achieved this goal in a variety of ways. Each time a student gets hurt and goes down to the nurse’s office, I go there after class to follow-up on the student. I also work alongside the nurses to ask questions regarding student’s health. This past week, I had a student come up to me stating that she had a genetic disorder of her heart in which she couldn’t get her heart within NCHS target heart rate zone. In this case, I have made arrangements to speak with the nurse’s office to see if this was noted in her health chart. This type of collaboration is continuous as I continue to make sure students are participating in good health and that they are following up with the NCHS support team.

Additionally, I had a student who refuses to dress for PE in another class and who struggles with being respectful in class. After writing a referral, in which he doesn’t care about, we went to his dean and spoke of this situation. He is now aware that if he refuses to dress he will be dropped from PE and become a 5^th year senior if he continues to not follow the rules within PE department. When collaborating within him and his dean it comes to find out that he does not have a locker and does not like to change around other students. By communicating with support staff, I feel that we have the underlying reason for his type of behavior. I have seen this trend a lot at this school and have learned a lot about behaviors that most students have when they just don’t feel comfortable changing in front of their peers.

This type of collaboration and communication is so effective especially going beyond your “call of duty” to make sure students are given equal opportunities and that they have their needs met. Most importantly, that we show students we care about them and provide them with a firm understanding of all expectations.  

My two goals for this week are:

1. When communicating with my students, I will assess their understanding on important concepts while asking rhetorical questions to make sure the students understand these concepts.
2. For my freshman fitness students, I will continually write on the board their target for the day in regards to the information I want them to understand. These students require a lot of repetition when it comes to fitness concepts; therefore, having me continually enforce this information will be beneficial for the students.  

Reflection/Analysis:  (Complete at the end of the week)

1. Write one word that best describes your teaching experience this week. Fantastic

2. Summarize your experiences this past week based on the following:

a.      Knowledge: What have you learned about effective communication in the classroom?  What do you know about the importance of audience and purpose when selecting ways to communicate ideas?

Since my classroom is different in comparison to other academic areas, I find that communicating in the classroom begins with a review of the information from the day before by asking a variety of questions (Socratic questioning). The students benefit from this type of activity because it gets them ready for the day by remembering information from the day before in which scaffolding is taking place. The audience is extremely essential when knowing what to say in the classroom. I handle my freshman students a lot different than my upper classman. In previous posts, I’ve stated that I need to constantly repeat fitness components to my students so that the information can be stored correctly. The students respond well to written information in which I can leave the information up on the board while they are participating in class. For example, when introducing the weight room the students learned about the difference from muscular strength versus endurance. The students were to write out their personal goal along with adapting their program to meet that goal (i.e. repetitions that match their goal). By having that written information available to my students, they were able to adapt their weight training program to meet their needs. They did well and I found out how essential it is to have written information available for students when trying to communicate ways in which I want them to understand the differences between muscular strength and endurance.  

b.      Performance: How did you create varied opportunities for all students to use effective written, verbal, non-verbal, and visual communication at this placement thus far?

In my class, I have provided students with the opportunity to communicate in a varied of ways. Although this is something they do not do often, I do feel it is effective in goal setting. During my placement, I have had students write goals for their cardio room and weight room training goals. Additionally, I have had students record their resting heart rate and take their average rate and then explain when it is best to take their resting heart rate and why it is vital to do it then. Most of my communication with activities is visual communication. The students are often given a verbal direction of the tasks, followed by me demonstrating the task with a group of students, and then have them participate in the activities themselves. I really believe in the direct teaching model in which students are exposed to the information, given guided practice, and then can participate in the activities. I feel for PE this is the most effective way to teach and is most comfortable for myself. I find that my students succeed a lot from this model and I find that the students are more engaged in the activities as a result from me being to ask questions to assess their learning and their understanding for the task at that specific time.

c.       Performance: Describe an example of when you practiced effective listening, conflict resolution or group-facilitation skills this week.

Over the past eight weeks at NCHS, I  have had plenty of opportunities to be an effective listener and deal with a lot of conflict resolution. The students there are very successful, but in between them are a few students that really struggle with following the rules. For example, this past week I had a student who did not want to participate in any of the activities we were doing. When asked to follow directions and work with another student, he refused and was questioning me back so that he would be in control of the situation. I don’t usually like to get the dean immediately involved in the activity, but I felt it was vital since the student’s temper was on the rise and I was afraid of where else it would have gone since the student was that upset. After leaving him along for a while, I went back to the student to explain the purpose of the activity and why it was being done. He did understand after I had talked to him, but it he still was disrespectful and insubordinate to the task for that day. I asked him what he thought would be better for this class to do and what activities he wanted to see done within this class. He stated that the activities were fine, but that he just didn’t like being in this track and was looking forward to an easier unit in which he didn’t have to do much. Having this been done, we contacted his mother in which we explained the situation to make sure she knew what was going on and how we want him to succeed. His mom was on board with us and completely understood what we were trying to achieve for his success within PE. This type of effective listening took place when I had asked him what he’d rather be doing or activities in which he thought could be more vital. We dealt well with conflict resolution in which the student received a referral for his non-dress and since this incident has been respectful in class. There are many more situations in which I have dealt with over the past few weeks that the counselors know who I am along with the deans and nurses. I find this a positive situation in that I try to advocate for my students and truly try to help them succeed even if it provides some conflict in which they can then understand the importance of why we set the standards we do. 

Communication with your College Supervisor:

1. Describe anything in particular you want your supervisor to know or to help you with.
1. Please let me know if there are any useful elementary links that you have worked with in the past that you find are helpful for teaching el. PE.

2. How did you communicate with and challenge students in a supportive manner and provide students with constructive feedback this week?
1. I consistently challenge my students to work harder in the weight room while either increasing their repetitions or increasing their weight limit. Additionally, I give my students constructive feedback to which I find they should be working out with. The students have the ability to earn 20 points when they workout in their target heart rate zone for 20 minutes. This is their daily points in which they are challenged to achieve. The students also challenged in my leadership class when they need to achieve a task within a day. The students are given only certain amount of information and have the opportunity to earn their points based on their ability to communicate effectively with their peers. My students within this class are always challenged beyond what they normally are because of their ability to be natural leaders who sign up for the class themselves.   

Week 5 Reflection

Weekly Reflection and Self-Assessment Blog Week 5

Due Date: September 26, 2011 (due Monday at 7am)

This week’s blog is based on the following standards,

best practices and education program learning outcomes.

Best Practice – Using Authentic and Real-World Problems and Tools

When students are engaged in solving real world problems they are more invested and engaged in the learning. Students need to learn how to make decisions and solve problems for today’s world. Using authentic and real-world problems clearly establishes the classroom as on that can affect students direct; they are motivated to learn and discover new ways of solving problems.

Best Practice – Collaborating with Colleagues and Experts

Giving students’ opportunities to collaborate together and with experts in the field provides ‘real world’ learning experiences. Allowing students to collaborate with colleagues and experts is innovative and allows for authentic feedback. 

Goal Setting:  Last week you set two goals. Reflect on those goals and where you are in achieving them. Also describe your conversation with your cooperating teacher regarding your goals. Set 2 goals for yourself. Write one goal regarding collaboration for the rest of the semester. Consider: what is your relationship with your cooperating teacher, other teachers, and para-professionals which whom you interact frequently? Share your goals with your cooperating teacher.

1.      Last week I set two goals relating to my teaching method to achieve success in teaching to different learning styles. I feel that this specific goal is always on going, but in this past week I was able to utilize many different methods of teaching. Since my students are starting a fitness unit, they are in many rooms. In each of the rooms are dry erase boards where I write the specific information I want them to learn. Additionally, I demonstrate the different skills along with being able to have them practice themselves. In this case, the students not only learn the information visually, but kinesthetically, and through their sense of hearing. The students who are more of a visual learner really excel from this type of teaching because they not only can read the information provided, but also see the skill demonstrated by myself or through a peer. I feel like I am more conscious about how I can incorporate more of these learning methods, but as usual it is always a continual growth.

2.      Two goals this week are:

a.      To continue to speak with my cooperating teacher daily about the activities I will be performing the following day.

b.      To continue to speak with nurse’s, counselors, and other collaborative staff to make sure my students are receiving supplemental aid beyond their academics.

Reflection/Analysis:  (Complete at the end of the week)

1. Write one word that best describes your teaching experience this week. comfortable
2. Summarize your experiences this past week based on the following:
3. Knowledge: What have you learned that about incorporating the community and experts in the field in the classroom? What have you learned about using authentic and real world problems in your lessons?

a.      Even though I have not utilized community experts into the class, I feel that if I did this real-life situation with my students they would benefit from it immensely. Especially in my PE course, telling the students why we are practicing these skills and telling them how they can utilize these skills in life are so important because it can give meaning to the information provided. In the past, I feel that I have more respect for teachers who give me reason for why I am learning this information. Essentially, all individuals should understand why they are learning the information teachers are giving them because when the time comes to be functional and responsible members of society, they can function at their full potential. In sports, I like to give game-like situations and have students provide answers that solve the situations I give. By doing so, I am utilizing higher-order thinking questions and providing them with game-like situations in which they can utilize in the future. Even so, in my leadership class, we do team-building activities. After struggling or succeeding through the activity, we always debrief. In our debriefing sessions, we always ask the question, how does this activity relate to life? In doing so, we give the students the ability to apply the skills they learned about from that day in hopes they utilize it in the future.

b.      Overall, I find that using authentic and real world experiences in class not only keeps the student’s attention longer, but also provides them with functional education that can be applied in many settings beyond just the classroom.

4. Performance: Describe your strength(s) and/or challenges that you or your teacher experienced in your ability to integrate the community or experts with your students.  What ideas do you have for ways real world problems or experts to be used in your classroom?

a.      I feel that the strengths of NCHS within the PE department are definitely their ability with their resources in their ability to have equipment available just as it would be in the community. The department really strives to provide the students with games in which need minimal equipment and can be played from a variety of angles. Additionally, the school provides so many choices, that students are able to achieve success based on their own personal choices and strengths. The teachers at NCHS specifically teach in their area of expertise and often teach the same things. I feel this is extremely beneficial for the students because they can get expert advice to truly achieve full understanding of the sport. Additionally, the fitness project that the freshman takes part of is extremely large; however, it lays the foundation at which the students can achieve fitness for a lifetime. I feel this strength is so important and more profound than any other PE department within the area. A challenge for NCHS is their ability to get in other community members to help the students, but I feel like the teacher are such experts in their area of teaching that involving a community leader will be similar to what they are teaching to begin with. However, it probably would be beneficial to have another person come in because something new could always be learned. I like that students also have the opportunity to write their own personal fitness program. In doing so, the students have the ability to learn how to work on their personal fitness and learn how to specifically develop it for the sake of learning and for teaching others as well. The students are able to incorporate the area in which they want to workout and to achieve their own goals. Their fitness programs they are working on now are just an example of using real-life scenarios to understand fitness concepts.

5. Performance: Describe the ways in which you collaborate with your cooperating teacher, other teachers in your department/grade, and other professionals in your building (special education teachers, OTs, PTs, curriculum coordinators, social workers, or assistant principals).

a.      My cooperating teacher and I have a great communicating relationship. We are always conversing on ways to improve what we are teaching, how we are going to approach the students, and how to incorporate activities that are most meaningful to the students. After every class I teach, I always talk to her about how it went and also suggest ways in which I can improve and she will do the same. The students are our first priority and with that being said we are continually collaborating with other staff members to learn new games or learn new approaches for teaching the material. Cooperating with the nurses is probably our best option. If a student gets hurt, we immediately go down to the nurse’s office not only communicate with the medical staff, but also to be sure the student is okay. I find that my cooperating teacher always goes beyond what the “typical” teacher will do. She is such a great teacher that I am so blessed to have her as my cooperating teacher.

b.      Additionally, we make sure students are not on Free lunch care and always ask for students because we want them to have the proper attire for PE. We have found that some students that have not dressed for PE are on this free lunch program and we have dealt with the students individually so that they receive the proper attire. I continually communicate with parents giving them a head-ups on the unit we are on and what they will need to have.

c.       Also, a lot of my students have additional personal situations in which we talk with our social workers to make sure they are getting the proper care they need in order to function in class. I have to say my cooperating teacher has taught me a lot to make sure the students are receiving the support they need in order to succeed also within the classroom.

d.      We additionally talk to the head of the department for medical notes, to have him follow up with the doctors to make sure students to see what they can do.

e.      Overall, I feel I have learned how to communicate with just about anyone and following up on how students are doing is so essential. I have see a student who was extremely disrespectful to me turn around in a day because we showed them how much we cared by giving him a PE shirt for free. He was only acting out because of his family finances and his inability to dress for PE. This turnaround is just the beginning at which I could improve my communication with staff and students.

Communication with your College Supervisor:

1.      Describe anything in particular you want your supervisor to know or to help you with.

a.      I feel comfortable with my teaching. I feel I have improved a lot and as usual look forward to any criticism that will help me when you come and supervise.

2.      How well are you doing in managing your class so that you have more time on task?

a.      Right now I am teaching four different classes. At times I am overwhelmed especially because I am teaching gymnastics, but normally I feel good about it because I talk with my cooperating teacher to make sure my safety cues are on target with the gymnastic unit. Also, I make sure with all my class that what I’m teaching is well known and I make sure each day the class runs smoothly so that my students are engaged in their activities for the entire period!

Week 4 Reflection

Weekly Reflection and Self-Assessment Blog Week 4

Due Date: September 19, 2011 (due Monday at 7am)

This week’s blog is based on the following standards,

best practices and education program learning outcomes.

Illinois Professional Teaching Standard #3 – Diversity

Teachers must be able to understand how children learn and have an appreciation for diversity in learning styles. They must be able to present lessons to their students in a way that promotes positive learning experiences for them.

Education Program Learning Outcome # 8 – Diversity

Candidates will understand and respect the diversity of their students, families, and the community; will treat all with dignity; and will select and implement appropriate teaching materials and methods to meet the diverse needs of their students, enabling all students to learn.

Education Program Professional Disposition # 2 – Sensitivity to Diversity

Displays a commitment to equity, caring, and the belief that all students can learn

Based on Education Program Professional Disposition # 2 – Moral and Personal Integrity

Displays ethical behavior, an attitude of service, and respects the rights and feelings of others.

Goal Setting:  Last week you set two goals. Reflect on those goals and where you are in achieving them.

Also describe your conversation with your cooperating teacher regarding your goals. Set 2 goals for yourself. Write one goal regarding different learning styles and finding a way to reach your students for the rest of the semester. Consider: what do you need to do to enable all students to learn? Share your goals with your cooperating teacher.

Last week I set two goals regarding my instructional planning. In doing so, I hoped to improve my anticipatory sets and continue to look for activities that were supplemental to scaffolding information. This past week, I feel that I accomplished them in some ways. I felt that my anticipatory sets for my freshman were better in which I found to be more beneficial that my upper class students. I asked a few students if they liked my information I was presenting like fun facts and they said honestly they didn't because it took away from their time playing. In some sense, I do agree with them that my anticipatory sets are more to just say than really give them the information they need to know. That however, was during tournament play in which my students were eager to go out and play. On the other side, I felt that my freshman were more excited to hear my anticipatory sets, but I felt at times the fun facts or my "hook and hold" provided to much chatter that I wasted time to get them back on track to listen to the directions in which I was going to present. I feel anticipatory sets are necessary in some cases, but to get their attention through a review of the day prior engages them more sometimes to get them thinking about yesterday and how it meets today's goals. Perhaps, I should re-think completely these tasks, or continue with the scaffolding in which I review from the day prior to get their mind going? Any thoughts? 

One goal: By the end of the semester, I will continue to give my students a visual representation, the ability to kin-esthetically attempt the skill, and provide my students with reasons for why this skill is necessary not only in the sport, but how it would be beneficial for their lifetime activities. Also, my students will be working on a fitness project in which they will have the ability to write and express what fitness means to them.  

Reflection/Analysis:  (Complete at the end of the week)

1. Write one word that best describes your teaching experience this week.wonderful
2. Summarize your experiences this past week based on the following:
1. Knowledge: Describe any understanding you gained this week about how students’ learning is influenced by individual experiences, talents, and prior learning, as well as language, culture, family, and community values. Do you understand your own personal cultural perspectives and biases and how they might affect your teaching?
2. In my class this week, specifically in my leadership class, we participated in a riddle that they needed to solve. The riddle was 1-2-3=20. It was a jump roping activity but the students only knew that they had to get all students through the rope. The students after almost a 1/2 hour of trying they became extremely frustrated and angry at one another, a goal in which we wanted them to feel. It took two days to achieve the riddle, but after they figured it out through clues from the rope, the students were excited they worked together to achieve this goal. The students learned a lot about each other and we saw how some students were very vocal, while also some students were very quite. There are a lot of diverse individuals in this class and it was interesting to see which races spoke up first and those that never spoke. I feel I do understand my own cultural perspectives and biases, but I also feel at times I don't. I feel this is something that will be more established as I continue to mature and age. I find it essential that we  keep being open-minded that all students can learn while keeping their cultural differences aside. 
3. Performance: Give a specific incidence where you used cultural diversity and individual student experiences to enrich instruction this week. How did you design instruction appropriate to students’ stages of development, learning styles, strengths and needs?
4. This past week, I developed a tennis tournament. At the end of last week, I asked students to line up with their partner and asked them to stand in either the line that "thinks they are awesome at tennis" or the other line that "I think I"m good but need to practice some more." By doing so, I developed a tournament that was to the students learning styles, their personal strengths, and had an appropriate  tournament in which students played one another whose skills were closely matched with theirs. In this, I found that students were more eager to play their opponents that were at their level. The students were excited to be rotating, while playing at other courts, and being able to improve their skills. From the time I started with these students until now, I feel they have tremendously improved on their tennis skills. Breaking the students up to their skills really made a difference not only in the student's energy, but also in their motivation to play for a reward to be playing at the level in which they felt they were at. To be completely honest, I felt the students did a fantastic job at choosing what level their skills were at :)!
5. Performance: In what ways does your cooperating teacher or did you respect the diversity of their students, families, and the community, and select and implement appropriate teaching materials and methods to meet the diverse needs of students, enabling all students to learn.
6. I have a few students that are going through some extremely difficult times in their life right now. In respect to keeping their confidentiality, I find that we make sure the students are provided with the necessary means to succeed within the class. This often comes from us personally talking with the students themselves, providing the support in which they made need, and following up with their services. In any situation, my cooperating teacher has made sure that when a student has behavioral problems that she address them personally and speaks with their counselor to make sure the students are given the correct services that they need in order to succeed in the classroom. With two students in particular, the students were provided with the knowledge that we care about them more than just in the classroom. That we appreciate them doing what they need to do in order to succeed in the classroom. In some cases, we had to purchase clothes for a student because of her socioeconomic status along with having counselor interact with parents so that a student could get his school stuff before he was kicked out of his home. By being considerate to these diverse needs, the students have made a complete turn around in my class and I have enjoyed them in class over the past week. Meeting these students diverse needs sometimes means going beyond your "call of duty." 

Communication with your College Supervisor:

1. Describe anything in particular you want your supervisor to know or to help you with. I found out that there is not such thing as an adaptive physical education endorsement, you must go through a graduate program in order to achieve this. I discussed this information with professor Meyer and feel this information would be good for you to know as well. I am beginning to teach gymnastics on Monday and was wondering if you had a extremely detailed resources that could help me, since I am a bit nervous teaching this because of the safety that is involved within these activities.
2. How are you getting along with your cooperating teacher? How well are you communicating? Do you meet regularly to discuss your teaching and ways to improve. My cooperating teacher is amazing. We talk all the time, have activities always plan and provides me with some suggestions along with feedback to help me improve. After every class I teach she asks me how I felt it went and if there way any changes I thought was necessary for the next time I teach the activity. We have no issues communicating at all, she is a great teacher and I feel blessed to have her as my cooperating teacher!