Write a personal reflection that answers all of the following questions:
1. What kind of student do you think you are (poor, fair, average, great)? Why do you believe this? What kind of student do you want to be? Does your confidence differ depending on the subject or teacher? What specific things about that class make a difference for you personally?
I think I'm a pretty good student. I typically got A's and B's in school, up until college. In elementary school, I had all A's. In middle school, I remember being devastated by a C in math my first semester. I thought it was the end of the world. And I remember the kid next to me thinking I was crazy for getting so upset over a C. In high school I got a few more C's in biology and chemistry, partially due to the math involved - converting measurements and that sort of thing. I think I've always been pushed by my family to be a really great student. Both my parents did well in school; my dad was valedictorian in high school. And my brother has always done well in school. I think their influence really stressed my out too, though. I want to be an easy going student - as long as I learn what I need to and pass, that's good enough for me. Especially in classes that aren't that relevant to my job or passions.
I think it can take time for me to be confident in social situations where there's a lot of group work. I definitely need extra time to review concepts that involve math or science.
2. Identify at least three attainable goals you have for this semester in school. What do you need to do to meet them? How will you know when you've met them?
If I was in school today, I'd have the following three goals: (my goals are for education classes, as that would be the kind of classes I'd be taking for my Masters degree)
Complete a project that involved research in the classroom and determining the best way to teach a particular skill in language arts. I'll need to do some extra work outside of class at a school. If I'm teaching while taking the class this would be easy because I'd be in a classroom everyday. If I'm a full time student then I'll need to find a teacher who is willing to let me come into the classroom and co-teach with them. I'll know I've met the goal when I can effectively write a rough draft of an article appropriate to submit to an education journal like English Journal.
Learn more about providing opportunities for gifted and talented students. I'll need to take a class that teaches this skill, or ask the instructor questions that will answer some of my questions, or find a paper or project that needs to be completed for the class that would allow me to complete research on this topic. I'll know I've met the goal when I can design a unit that has a wider range of differentiation and activities for students than my current units.
Create a solid classroom management strategy that I no longer feel is experimental or involves me "trying something out." My college classes never touched on the subject. I would need to either find a class where strategies are part of the curriculum, or ask students who have taken the class before or professors who are teaching which classes touch on the subject. I'll have met the goal when I have a clear plan for classroom management walking into my classroom on day one that I don't need to change during the year.
3. Look over the Multiple Intelligences test (Soup) and the Modality Strengths test (Salad) you completed. Do your strong learning styles remind you of a time you were successful in school? When? Do your weaker learning styles remind you of a time you struggled?
I think my weaker logical mathematical intelligence displayed itself pretty strongly in middle school and high school with how I performed in math, chemistry, and biology. And I think my stronger musical and linguistic intelligence can be seen in some of the projects I did my last year in high school. I had a literature class that I wrote a song for the final project - I think I was the only one who performed a song as the final. I did really well and got a low A in the class. The other literature class had a lot of opportunities for creative writing, and the teacher really encouraged me to write. I did well in that class too, and felt really supported.
My modality strengths test makes sense to me in that I'm not a kinesthetic learner - I am a little clumsy and it took me a lot of practice to become even average in any sports. The auditory learning I knew I was pretty good at, because in many classes in college I could learn a lot from just listening to the lectures - I didn't always have to take notes to digest the information. The visual strength surprised me a little bit, since reading in high school usually wasn't a successful learning method for me (particularly in World History).
4. This question is in three parts, but the three pieces might closely relate to each other. Don't feel like you have to repeat something you've already said. Reflect on and write about a time in school (a year, a unit, a particular assignment, a class):
a) When you didn't do well. How did you know you didn't do well? What made it difficult? Go into as much depth as possible.
My first math class in middle school had an assignment called "The Problem of the Week." You would get the assignment on Monday and have to finish it by Friday. The math was kind of hard, but I could eventually figure it out. I didn't do well because often I received a zero for the assignment. What made it difficult is that the teacher required us to pick up the assignment on Monday and turn it into a bin on Friday. For some people this was easy to remember, but for my I really needed someone to remind me to pick up the assignment and to turn it in. Our teacher didn't do that because he said that in college that's how everything is done, you never turn in an assignment in class. (He was wrong about the college thing. At least, I never had to do that in college.) So I often forgot to get the assignment early in the week, or forgot to turn it in at the end. And since he didn't accept late work, it really hurt my grade.
In college, I took a higher level grammar course before taking the lower level course because it was the only way I could graduate in four years. So when I took the lower level course, it was pretty boring. I was very liberal with whether or not I went to class (in college, attendance doesn't count for most classes, unless the professor decides to have an "attendance grade"). Unfortunately, the professor had unannounced quizzes, and that together with my procrastination on the two final papers, I ended up failing the class. I understood the material fine, I was just bored out of my mind, so I didn't go to class.
b) When you really succeeded. How did you know you did well? What made it possible? Go into as much depth as possible.
Also in middle school, in eighth grade we had a mock trial. Our teacher set it up so that we actually went to the courthouse and an actual judge presided over the trial. I got to be an attorney on the defense team. It was a really big deal for me to get to argue the case. While most of the class was studying the justice system, two classmates and I got to prepare our defense of another student who played the role of our client. I learned a lot and got a good grade.
That reminds me of two other mock trials I did in school. One was in elementary school. We had six cases of bike laws being broken and I was supposed to prosecute the offenders. Looking back, it was set up so that 3 cases involved someone actually breaking the law and 3 weren't. I think what really helped me learn in that situation though was that I had to argue that the defendant was guilty every time - as prosecutor it was my job. So it really made me think about each case and try to "win" every one even when a law wasn't broken.
The second instance was in high school. In a US Government class we did a simulation for each branch of government. For the judicial branch, there was a mock trial with the supreme court. Nine justices were chosen from the class, and I was defending a student who had brought a weapon to school. My classmate was arguing for the state which charged the student with some crime. He was a very conservative individual, and we had both been in the role of president in the executive branch simulation - we were a two headed president. Unfortunately, he decided to nuke the middle east and I was against that, but he did it anyway and started World War III. So in the judicial simulation I really wanted to get him back. He thought I would target the second amendment (right to bear arms) but I ended up going for the 14th amendment (equal rights under the law independent of race or gender). I won, and got a lot out of it since I picked through every constitutional amendment to try to find the best argument for the case instead of going immediately to an amendment I might have disagreed with.
c) When you had trouble at first, but eventually succeeded. How did you know you did well? What changes did you, your parents, your teachers, or your friends make that made it possible? Go into as much depth as possible.
5. Read over your reflections from number 4. Make a list of the things that make learning difficult for you personally, and a list of the things that make learning easy for you personally. Using those lists, create at least three accommodations you believe your teachers, parents, and classmates should provide to make it easier for you to learn and perform well in school.
Things that make learning difficult:
Things that make learning easy:
Organization issues, like deadlines and lack of reminders to turn things in.
Being taught something I've already learned without any additional information included.
"Real world" projects that help me to further explore a topic.
Being encouraged to express my learning through music or creative writing.
7. Fill out the IEP Cover Sheet. (see Mr. B's cover sheet)
I think my first goal makes a lot of sense with my second accommodation that asks for authentic, real world projects. In fact, all my goals seem to have some real world link, so I think that's good. There's nothing in my goals that helps me keep track of the assignments I need to turn in and when, so maybe I'll add a fourth goal:
4. Practice using different kinds of planners, agendas, and task recording tools to reduce the amount of support I need to turn in assignments on time.
Accommodations:
The teacher can provide me with a schedule or some sort of reminders so that I turn in assignments on time, or they specifically ask for and collect my assignments in class.
When I've shown that I understand the material, I'm offered additional projects or options to explore the topic further at my level of understanding.
Projects the allow me to choose the medium of expression (like creative writing and music).
6. Review the goals you set in number 2. Make sure they match your accommodations and still seem attainable, but you think they will challenge you to do well. Make any changes needed.