Reflection is a valuable skill to have as an educator. The most important part of learning is the reflection process; here, teachers can reflect on their own instruction and plan accordingly for assessment. For students, reflection is valued in a learner-centered environment. Students can review what they have learned and set goals for their learning, which allows them to participate in their own learning. CT skills can be applied in the classroom and can promote the creation of a community of learners; during this semester, we have had several opportunities to try new programs, STEAM topics, and technology, but the most important part of the experience is the opportunity to reflect. 

During my STaR Hero project, I changed lesson plans a number of times. Reflecting on the activity and relating it back to the standards helped me to stay on topic. In turn, this made my assessment process match the standard while keeping student interest up. The students would learn; even when changing to an informal assessment during the event, I knew the specific standards to look for. My main objectives🖥️ were cognitive and psychomotor; I wanted the students to learn about soil types and how they relate to plant growth. My assessment was that students identify the physical characteristics of soil types and relate them in some way to plant growth. I spent time considering the relationship between the standards and topics given to the activity. I can be flexible and adapt to the instruction and student needs. Although we only had 25 minutes, I was able to create a simple sensory activity that would help students brainstorm and think about why soil types cause plants to grow differently.  As they continue to participate in the garden at Metro, they will only add to what they have learned and hopefully continue to inquire about the topic.

One thing that I learned through creating my 🖥STaR Hero activity🖥️ is that lesson planning takes time, especially if you're starting from scratch. Basal programs are prevalent in most public schools because they follow the mandated state standards and provide lesson plans to match the requirements. Educators must emphasize what is needed and find ways to relate it to student interests and instruction levels. Reflection plays a significant role in making this happen. When you ask open-ended questions and make observations, like noticing a student choosing specific book genres often or that three students excel in math, you can connect these observations to individualizing lessons. Open-ended questions are a gateway to learning one's background knowledge and concepts. You can almost always find the level of instruction just by asking the right questions or pulling students into small groups. Engaging interest in instruction connects positive emotion to repetition, which is how the 🖥brain truly learns.🖥️ Those who excel in subjects should be given opportunities to teach to other students. Not only does this make the retention rate higher, but it solidifies students who are excelling while being mindful of those who are not and further pushes the idea of a classroom full of learning. The student is the teacher, and the teacher is the student, learning ways to relay lots of information to students while making it meaningful and authentic.

Goals: As I move through field basing and clinical, I will be collaborating with teachers to learn time management and lesson planning skills that I can implement in my own practice. My long-term goal is to build up a collection of personalized lesson plans for each standard within a specific grade and integrate them with science and technology themes and practices. This is something that will take years of going through standards. My goal is to have an outline by my 7th year of teaching, and hopefully, one day, I can publish my completed outline and help other educators incorporate the most forgotten-about subject, in my opinion, which is all forms of science.

🗨️Many activities required me and those I collaborated with to learn about coding, CS and CT skills, lesson planning, time management, and robotics. I see myself as a very technology-forward type of educator. During Covid, I worked with ECF and provided Virtual tutoring to students from 1st- to 4th grade. I would use programs like Classkick and Zoom, as well as top down and POV cameras to provide a virtual learning experience with students. During this semester, I have found a number of resources to help grow my own PLN, including keeping in contact with old professors. My blog was my first step in creating a social platform to reach other educators. Other platforms I have used in the past are Linked In, SSS prep, Teachers-pay-Teachers, YouTube, and Pinterest. These sites allowed me to discover, socialize, and take notes from educators who have been in the game much longer than I have. In the future my profession will continue to expand my available resources. I will be apart of a community of educators.