Week Six

Secondary Methods Student Weekly Reflection Sheet

Sam Houston State University

Name: Katy Wood

Date: 10/8/2011

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

I have been able to use what I learned in class about discipline during my field experience. During the technical theatre class, I was able to delegate different tasks, and when students were not doing their assigned tasks, I had to discipline them. At first the students were taken aback from my telling them they needed to be working, but I think I could get used to it.

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

I feel that I need to be more prepared when it comes to teaching lessons. Either more prepared or just more efficient in creating them. If those things were to happen, I would not feel as overwhelmed as I currently do.

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

One thing I have learned is that teaching requires a lot of extra time outside of class to prepare lessons. I have always known this, but I have never known how much time it really takes to prepare lessons. Another thing I have learned about teaching is that in my content area, the students seem to be more willing to learn new things because the class is laid out so differently. Every day is a day full of physical activities or being silly and over-the-top for improvisation sake. I feel that I can get a lot more out of the students since my class will be one of the classes during the day they look forward to coming to.

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.

This week was full of thoughtfulness about professional growth because I was constantly thinking about the different ways I could teach the classes where I am doing my field experience. I was constantly thinking of the course material my mentor had been going over and how I could either build upon that or teach something new that she had not already taught. Later that day, I sat down with my mentor and we brainstormed different ideas together and figured out the general idea of what I would teach next week.

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.

I was very thoughtful in my communication during the technical theatre class. Some of the students were just standing around watching me and the other students working on different projects. I stopped and asked the students what they were doing and what they could or should be doing. They immediately got on task, and I felt that this way of disciplining them was much better and more effective than yelling at them.

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.

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

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 the theatre one classes, the students were watching a movie where they had to analyze the different parts of the movie, including theme and plot…etc. The movie was a murder mystery, so I would stop the movie at different points and ask the students who they thought the murderer was and what weapon was used. By stopping the movie during the good parts, the students were more excited about continuing the movie to find out what would happen next.