Fall 2021 Field Placement Top 10 List
-Learning is a process: Learning is the journey, not the destination. As educators, we act as guides, and our goal is to teach students how to learn rather than just lecture facts.
-Standards are just the end goal, not a curriculum: How teachers implement the standards to guide instruction is what really matters. I was able to connect my observations to Becoming a Teacher by Melinda D. Anderson. In the book, Ms. Hall finds ways to engage her students in the content in ways that are interesting to them by allowing them to read books of their choice.
-Engaging with students is critical to their learning: while conducting my Service Learning Project, I came across several students who had questions about the activity, but did not let me know. By engaging with them, I allowed them to voice their issue, walk through the problem together, and find a solution.
-Never underestimate students' abilities: High cognitive-demand tasks allow student to think critically and abstractly, make connections, analyze information, and draw conclusions. Breaking down a concept to its most basic form and teaching it little by little is not as beneficial to students' learning. The lead teacher liked to introduce new material as a pre-chapter assessment. Even if the students were not familiar with the content, it was very interesting to see them come up with creative possible solutions.
-As an educator, it is okay make mistakes: Encouraging mistakes in the classroom poses great value to students' learning. Albert Bandura's Social Learning Theory suggest that we learn by observing others. By modeling how we, as educators, deal with failure, we can teach students that mistakes are simply a part of learning.
-Differentiation does not mean multiple lesson plans: Educators must be able to "tailor" their instruction to meet individual students' needs. This can be obtained by planning several activities and allowing the students to go through them at their own pace. Those who understand the material quicker can move on and keep engaging in the content, while those that might need a bit more time and reinforcement get the extra time they need to get a good grasp on what is being taught. I observed the lead teacher have the class work on an activity, while also having Desmos and Dreambox lessons available for those who went through the activity quicker. This allowed for them to keep engaging with the material as form of extra practice while the rest of the students finished the activity.
-Technology can be very helpful in the classroom: Technology provides students with easy-to-access information. If used the right way, it can create a more engaging environment, help incorporate different learning styles, and therefore, can be a way for educators to individualize curriculum and meet individual student needs. Software like Dreambox and IXL adapt to each child, letting them drive their own learning. These software adjust in real time to provide individualized learning path for every student.
-Making your classroom a safe and comfortable space makes all the difference: It is important for students to feel physically, emotionally, and socially comfortable. This can have a ripple effect that continually enhances learning. By applying Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs to our classrooms, we ensure that students' basic needs are met, which in turn allows them reach their full potential. While we do not have much control of the home lives of our students, once they enter our classrooms we can assess their needs and adapt to meet them. It can be as easy as making them feel loved and welcomed by greeting them by name every morning, or having some water and snacks readily available.
-It is important to know who is in your classroom: Diversity can help develop tolerance, and it can teach students to appreciate different perspectives. As educators, knowing students different backgrounds allows us to consider the experiences they each bring into our classrooms and adapt our teaching accordingly. By reflecting on our students diversity, we can also make them feel accepted and welcomed by showing our interest in what makes them who they are. This can be easily incorporated into the classroom by celebrating the many different cultural holidays our students bring with their cultural backgrounds.
-Planning is everything! Planning sums up all these lessons into one. Careful thinking about what you want to students to learn, and how to best enable them to achieve this, is the key to meaningful teaching. By knowing who is in our classroom, we can lesson plan in a purposeful way to account for what they will learn, how they will learn it, and the resources they will need to do so.