Reflective Practice Entry 2

Reflective Practice Entry 2

What are my beliefs about teaching?

I believe that teaching is more than standing in front of students and giving them new information. I believe teaching requires constant learning, application, and reflection. Teachers should take the time to research current best practices in education in order to serve their students appropriately. Teachers should apply what they have learned from said research to their classroom as applicable. After that, they should reflect by evaluating what the results were of applying such strategies in their own classroom and determine the next cause of action.

I also believe that classroom environment plays a very important role on how well teachers will be able to apply strategies. Part of having a successful classroom environment is learning good classroom management techniques. According to Reutzel and Cooter (2013), “Excellent classroom management (Reutzel, Morrow, & Casey, 2009) requires teachers to know and use a complex set of strategies to accomplish tasks…” (p. 16). I have found that giving very clear expectations, including modeling appropriate behaviors, produces clear boundaries for students and teachers and in turn creates an environment conducive to learning. Ruddell (2009) also states that “Students require a certain amount of order and stability to function well” (p. 208). I’ve realized that it is true that students thrive on structure and predictability. Any interruption they are not prepared for often causes chaos. I try to counteract this by keeping a consistent and predictable schedule. I also try to alert students of changes to our daily schedule as soon as possible. I find that this helps to keep chaos at bay. I believe, both of these, management and order, are important foundations to produce a positive learning environment.

What are my beliefs about learning?

I believe learning occurs in a variety of ways. I believe that all people learn best in specific learning modalities, such as auditory, visual, and kinesthetic. Reutzel and Cooter (2013) say that “The goal for teachers is to help all students succeed in learning to read” (p. 17). Although they were talking specifically about reading instruction, I believe that this applies to all subject areas. When teachers take into account the preferred learning styles of their students and use those styles to teach, they are able to see greater success among their students. I believe it is important for teachers to meet the needs of all their students so that effective learning will occur.

I also believe that increased motivation provides a better environment for learning to take place. Gunning (2016) said, “Create an atmosphere of success. With student input, establish challenging goals but convince students the goals are both desirable and reachable” (p. 28). Setting goals was one way that I motivated my students in learning this past year. I wanted to show my students how to set goal for themselves, keep them accountable, and celebrate them when they meet or surpassed their goals. This “atmosphere of success” as Gunning calls it was motivating for my students and for me. I wanted to have one-on-one conferences with them to chart their progress and I wanted to celebrate them in front of their peers. Having goals to reach toward that are actually attainable encouraged more productivity among my students and supplied more purpose to learning.

What are my aspirations as a teacher?

I have many aspirations as a teacher. I feel that if I were more reflective, I myself, my students, and even my colleagues would benefit from it. I know that I owe it to my students (and their parents) to use research and current best practices in my teaching. I consistently strive to better meet the needs of all my students. I aspire to have a better knowledge about my students individually in hopes that we will build better relationships and I can help them learn in a way that is productive for them. I would also like to learn more about best practices for students with ADD/ADHD instead of relying on my own past experiences.

What are my concerns as a teacher?

As a teacher, I am concerned that my school, and probably most schools in my county, doesn’t place a great emphasis on structured observations, such as instructional rounds. Marzono (2012) says that “…instructional rounds are primarily designed to enhance the pedagogical skills of the observing teachers and encourage collaboration among colleagues. Many schools that use instructional rounds have found that they create a sense of energy and excitement about professional growth and empower teachers to examine and improve their instructional practice” (p. 79). Why wouldn’t we want this for all our schools? I can only imagine how much more learning would take place if teachers would come together and support each other. I believe they would be more excited to teach and apply what they’ve learned to their classrooms.

I am also concerned that there is a lack of parental involvement in academic success. Sure, we often invite parents to special events for leisure or to showcase work, but how often are they a part of the academic process? This is something I would like to do more research on, because I feel that parents are a crucial part of the learning process. I would like to learn ways to involve parents as students learn new strategies and help the parents reinforce these strategies at home. I can see that if parents were involved in this process, they would better understand their child’s knowledge of the material and the expectations placed on them.

What area/s of teaching do I struggle with or need more development in?

I struggle with many areas of teaching. I feel that I could do a better job of meeting the needs of all my students by building better relationships and formatting learning to fit their needs. I need to find more ways to challenge students beyond grade level expectations. I also believe that I could do a better job of modeling good critical thinking skills to my students. I would like to have an inquiry-based classroom where my students use critical thinking skills throughout learning and I would like to encourage more peer-to-peer discussions. I feel need more development in questioning, challenging, and appropriately engaging students in learning.

References

Reutzel, D.R. & Cooter, R.B. (2013). The essentials of teaching children to read. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education.

Reutzel, D.R., Morrow, M.L., & Casey, H. (2009). Managing language arts classrooms to meet the needs of diverse learners. New York: NY: Guilford Press.

Ruddell, R.B. (2009). How to teach reading to elementary and middle school students: practical ideas from highly effective teachers. Boston, MA: Pearson Allyn and Bacon.

Gunning, T.G. (2016). Creating literacy instruction for all students. New York, NY: Pearson Education, Inc.