My Personal Goal:
By the end of my full-time student teaching (semester 3), I will improve on providing students with effective lessons that will help them engage and practice in higher-level critical thinking skills.
NMTEACH Domain 1
NMTEACH 1B: Designing Coherent Instruction.
Professional Learning Goal:
Specifically, I will… design lessons that will give the students the opportunity to practice higher-level critical thinking skills, which will result in promoting meaningful group discussions and learning.
Rationale: Why I am focusing on this element ?
I am focusing on this element because I want to help students develop higher-level critical thinking skills. I believe that critical thinking skills are the steppingstones to creative thinking, good decision making, and most importantly strategic thinking. As I create lessons that focus on higher-level critical thinking skills, I believe that the students will improve on problem solving, collaboration, creativity, and organization.
Action Plan:
Develop lessons that incorporate at least three higher-order questions in weekly lessons. This will help students develop higher-level critical thinking skills.
Have students read articles and answer higher- order thinking questions from Read Works two times a week.
Use Blooms Taxonomy to develop higher-order questions to incorporate into weekly lessons.
Introduce Socratic Seminar. Students will have an opportunity to practice asking questions that are based on the reading The Two Harriets, Heroines of Abolition. Socratic Seminar will encourage students to listen closely to the comments of others and think critically for themselves.
Anticipated Date:
Begin developing lessons that include at least three higher-order questions the week of Feb. 10, 2020.
Students will begin ReadWorks. Students will read and answer questions this begins the week of Feb. 17, 2020.
Introduce Socratic Seminar the week of Feb. 24, 2020.
Resources:
ReadWorks
Blooms Taxonomy
Socratic Seminar from Teaching Tolerance.
Outcomes:
Week of Feb 10, 2020. Monday
Introduced three higher-order questions into the lesson. Students had a difficult time answering. I notice that many of the students want reassurance of whether or not their answers are correct. After a few moments of students guessing, I rephrase questions, which leads to lower thinking and no higher critical thinking skills.
Week of Feb 17, 2020. Monday
Students have been introduced to higher-order questions and continue to face the same issues of not being able to answer questions or write answers in complete sentences. Students began reading the short article of The Two Harriets, Heroines of Abolition. After reading the article, I noticed that some of the students were plagiarizing therefore, I discuss the importance of not copying word for word.
Week of Feb 24, 2020 Monday
Introduction to Socratic Seminar. After reading the article The Two Harriets, Heroines of Abolition, students were divided into three teams. I developed questions that were based on the central idea and theme of the article. Each student was asked to take notes and discuss the article within their small group. Next students were asked to participate in whole group discussion. Students pick one representative from each group. Without my help, students discussed, and answered questions about the article. Students need more practice, however, for our first Socratic Seminar students did a good job.
Reflection:
What I have learned this far is that the students need a great amount of assistance with asking and answering questions, and writing. The students really enjoy working in their current groups. However, I am not seeing a whole lot of group discussions about our article. Therefore, I need to re- think future sitting arrangements to ensure that the students are developing meaningful discussions and asking questions that relate to our readings.
NMTEACH Domain 2
NMTEACH 2D: Managing Classroom Procedures.
Professional Learning Goal:
Specifically, I will… have all materials that are relevant to a lesson prepared before teaching. By having materials and resources ready the students will not lose out on any instructional time.
Rationale:
I am focusing on this element because I am aware that the instructional time we have as teachers is precious. Every moment that we stop teaching, students lose out on learning. Therefore, more instructional time, means more learning opportunities and greater student achievement.
Action Plan:
In order to enhance learning, students will continue morning routine, of working on bell work.
Bell Work: Students will work on ten math problems. Students will be required to explain their mathematical thinking on at least two of the ten problems.
Students will work on Prodigy.
Students will view a Khan Academy video that introduces Division of Decimals.
After viewing the video, I will introduce a Math Anchor chart that will provide additional information. This anchor chart will remain on the wall as a reference point for those students who need additional help.
Students will participate in the math strategy Turn and Talk. Instead of a few students talking, all students will be able to discuss and have an opportunity to process new information as they engage in relevant conversations with their classmates.
Anticipated Date:
Morning bell work will occur daily.
Week of Feb 24,2019
Students will begin working on the math website Prodigy.
Khan Academy division of decimal video.
February 25, 2020:
Math Anchor Chart
Turn and Talk
Resources:
Prodigy
Khan Academy
Glad Resource: Math Anchor Chart
Intentional Talk: How to Structure and Lead Productive Mathematical Discussions. Elham Kazemi and Allison Hintz: Math Strategy Turn and Talk.
Outcomes:
Daily
Majority of the students have developed a routine of completing and entering bell work into their notebooks. Others have struggled with completing ten of the math problems as well as explaining their reasoning.
Feb.24-29
Students have enjoyed the math website Prodigy. Students have been logging into Prodigy at home and are excited to share their progress with their fellow classmates as they “level up”.
Feb 24, 2020
Students viewed the Khan Academy video on Division of Decimals.
Out of 19 students 11 students grasped the concept of division of decimals. The remainder of the students are confused about where the decimal goes, and struggle in multiplication. Therefore, I am reviewing traditional division without decimals and multiplication.
Feb. 25, 2020
Math Anchor Chart was successful in helping some of the students understand the concept of division of decimals.
The students need practice with the math strategy turn and talk. Many of the students wanted to socialize rather than discuss their mathematical thinking. Therefore, I will continue to have the students participate in this activity daily.
Reflection:
What I have learned this far is that Bell work has been a great resource that has helped the students review old and new math concepts that we have covered through out the week. It was a surprise to the students when they were asked to explain their reasoning on two of the math problems. Majority of the students did not know how to use academic language nor how to write their mathematical thinking on paper. However, since we have been doing bell work every morning the students have been excited to share how they solve and make sense of their math problems.
The Prodigy website is a huge success with the students. Many of the students told me that they enjoy this website because they can battle their friends. They also have the opportunity to earn badges as they complete math concepts. Also, the students have the opportunity to play at home, which most of the students have been doing.
I really like the Khan Academy math website. It is a great resource for teaching students’ new concepts. However, some of the students could not grasp the concept of division of decimals. I found myself having to review traditional division and multiplication. Therefore, I suggested that the students watch some of the math videos from Khan Academy and practice working on math concepts at home.
The anchor chart was a success in terms of providing information to the students. The one thing that I failed to do is have the anchor chart ripped out of the Post -It tablet. Which resulted in me struggling to tear it out. As I struggled, the students lost out on instructional time. Therefore, I need to be prepared and have all materials and resources ready before teaching a lesson.
Turn and Talk was not as successful. The students need more practice with this strategy. Many of the students socialized and fooled around. Therefore, I am thinking of regrouping students and practicing more with this strategy.
NMTEACH Domain 3
NMTEACH 3C: Engaging Students in Learning
Professional Learning Goal:
Specifically, I will… give students enough time to process and reflect on lessons before introducing new curriculum.
Rationale:
The reason I am focusing on this element is to ensure that ALL students have an opportunity to reflect, discuss, ask questions, and engage in classroom learning.
Action Plan:
Incorporate small group discussions daily. Have students practice asking and answering higher-order thinking questions.
Encourage students to write in their Dialogue Journals. This is where students can ask questions, exchange ideas, and share topics of interest with me.
Revise lessons based on my own personal reflections and class discussions from previous weeks.
Anticipated Date:
Group discussions will occur daily beginning in March and ending in May.
Dialogue Journals will be ongoing.
Reflect every Friday, and revise lesson if needed.
Resources:
Glad Strategy: Dialogue Journal
Blooms Taxonomy
Outcomes:
As a class, we have been practicing how to ask and answer higher-order thinking questions. Some students still want to restate the facts and copy exactly what the text says. Therefore, I will continue to incorporate higher-order thinking questions into weekly lessons. The Dialogue Journals have been a great resource. Students enjoy writing and getting feedback. I have been writing in my own personal journal, which has helped me gain a better understanding of my strengths and weaknesses, when it comes to teaching lessons. Therefore, I will continue to reflect on my teaching and revise lessons as needed.
Reflection:
I have learned that some students are going to understand concepts better than others however, with appropriate support, guidance and time, all students are capable of achieving academic success. Through my own personal reflections, I realized that I need to pace myself, when I am teaching, and when I am asking questions. I will continue to incorporate higher-order thinking questions into my weekly lessons and reflect on my own teaching.
Final Reflection of Professional Development
The PDP as a whole helped me identify my strengths and weaknesses as a teacher. The PDP allowed me to reflect on lessons, activities, and skills that I need to work on developing in order to move forward in my educational journey as a teacher. Not only did the PDP help me reflect on my strengths and weakness but, it allowed me to create lessons that were achievable and realistic for the students.