Week Seven

Secondary Methods Student Weekly Reflection Sheet

Sam Houston State University

Name: Katy Wood

Date: 10/16/11

1. The most positive aspect of my field experience (or an area I showed strength) since my last reflection has been:

One aspect of my field experience that I have shown strength is the ability to be flexible. I taught my first lesson this past Wednesday, and it was a PSAT testing day, so all of the class periods were not their normal length. I taught during fourth period, which ended up being much longer than the rest of the periods, so I had to improvise another activity to use up the rest of the class time.

2. The aspects of my field experience which most need improvement or adjustment include:

One aspect would be to not let outside stressors or my personal life affect my teaching. Even though my lesson went fine, tiny things that went wrong during my lesson (a slide was missing in my powerpoint) pushed me over the edge, and I had to leave the classroom because I became too emotional and could not hold back tears. For the next time, I’ll just need to vent my stress to someone before I get to school so that I’m not dwelling on everything that is happening outside of school.

3. Two important things I have learned about teaching and learning through my field experience since my last reflection include:

Late bus duty can be a bit hectic. I stayed after school on Monday for play rehearsal and then went with my mentor to late bus duty. The campus just started enforcing a new rule that you had to have a late bus pass to ride the bus home, and many of the students did not have one. I have also learned that teachers need to be able to keep talking during their lesson even if there are students talking. And I’m referring to when students make comments to one another about the lesson while you are talking about the lesson. This distracts me sometimes, and yet I see many teachers not affected by it.

Secondary Methods: Reflecting on Emerging Dispositions and Diversity Proficiencies

1. Demonstrates ability to be understanding, respectful and inclusive of diverse populations.

2. Demonstrates an attitude of reflection and thoughtfulness about professional growth and instruction.

3. Demonstrates a commitment to literacy, inquiry, and reflection.

4. Practices ethical behavior and intellectual honesty.

5. Demonstrates thoughtfulness in communication and an awareness and appreciation of varying voices.

6. Demonstrates a commitment to adapting instruction or programs to meet the needs of diverse learners.

7. Demonstrates knowledge of second language acquisition and a commitment to adapting instruction or programs to meet the needs of culturally and linguistically diverse learners.

During my lesson, I kept the language simple for the students who spoke English as a second language. I also presented many pictures and videos for visual learning, as opposed to auditory learning. The activity was a very physical activity that didn’t require any speaking or really any need to understand a language to participate. By doing those things, it was much easier for these students to participate in class.

8. Leads diverse learners to higher level thinking in cognitive, affective and/or psychomotor domains.

I conducted an activity called ruining the entrance, where the students had to enter through the door in a ridiculous manner, thus “ruining the entrance”. They each had to come up with their own creative way to enter through the door. By doing this, they were required to think on a higher level to participate in the activity.

9. Uses assessment as a tool to evaluate learning and improve instruction for all learners.

10. Demonstrates a commitment to using technology to create an authentic learning environment that promotes problem solving and decision making for diverse learners.

During my lesson that I taught, I used a powerpoint with pictures and videos to show the students what I expected of them in their performance or activities. With the pictures, I would ask the students what they saw in the picture and why they thought it was there. Without telling them prior information, they had to figure out the various elements of the photo, thus promoting problem solving.