Embedded Files
Artifact 8: Gathering Instructional Feedback
Artifact 8: Gathering Instructional Feedback
As a first-year teacher, I appreciate any and all feedback I can get. Do's and don't's from my mentors, professors, and other teachers have been extremely helpful throughout this process. But what I've found to be most useful for reflection is actually direct feedback from my students.
At the mid-point of my lead teach period, I asked students to fill out this anonymous survey as a way for me to take a breath and re-evaluate before I continued on with the semester. You can see the full survey by clicking the black button above. I requested that students be honest with their feedback. Whether it was enthusiastic praise or biting criticism-- I wanted it all. Because when all is said and done, if I'm not willing to maintain a growth mindset, how can I expect my students to do the same?
As it turned out, that survey proved to be paramount to not only increasing my effectiveness in lesson planning, but also in my relationships with students from that point on. Bringing students into the conversation and letting them know that their opinions and ideas are valued gives them a sense of importance and independence they might not get from other classes. Students used the survey as a time to reflect on the past unit along with me, deciphering for themselves what worked best for them. Gathering this feedback and actually incorporating it into my classroom reminded me that teaching is a never-ending loop of feedback and adjustment for both students and teachers.
Artifact 9: Building a Safe and Productive Environment
Artifact 9: Building a Safe and Productive Environment
When establishing norms and routines in my classroom, it's important to me that students feel as though their environment is setting them up for success. The last thing that I want is for any student to feel uncomfortable or unsafe in their learning space. This was my rationale for letting them choose their seats at the start of the semester. It was my belief that if they were able to sit near friends or peers who they felt they could be themselves around, their entire learning experience would be more fun and engaging. However, I found that certain small groups of students took advantage of this freedom, chatting with their friends during instructional time and being generally off-task during work time. While I can't say that I didn't expect this behavior on some level, I found myself getting more frustrated than I'd planned; not because of the distracted students themselves, but because of the negative effects it were having on their classmates.
As the week progressed, I could feel the tension of other students getting annoyed when I kept pausing the class to remind "everyone" to stay on task. When I headed home for the weekend, I was upset with myself for setting the norm as a free-seating arrangement instead of assigned. I made the decision to create a seating chart for the following Monday. Naturally, I was a bit worried that the students would lash back, creating the "me vs. them" mentality that I had been trying so hard to avoid through our group discussion on norms in the first place. However, it was only with slight grumbling that each class settled into their new seats for Monday's lesson. I found my worry that not allowing them to sit near friends would stifle their individuality and cause some to retreat into their shells was only partially correct, as most students seemed to maintain their vibrant personalities despite the change of view. Overall, I was satisfied with my decision to adjust classroom norms upon reflection, and I feel that I learned a valuable lesson in classroom management as well.
Artifact 10: Collaboration Through Professional Learning Communities
Artifact 10: Collaboration Through Professional Learning Communities
The current movement in education towards more collaborative teaching is one that I strongly stand behind. At the start of my internship year, my placement high school implemented Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) for the first time. We received professional training on how to structure and execute these groups, and how much students could benefit under this new system of teacher collaboration.
With the U.S. History PLC meeting regularly throughout the year, we were able to share information and data on summative assessments. While comparing your classes' test scores to other teachers in your subject area can seem intimidating, especially as a new teacher, I found it extremely helpful. This collaborative reflection on our teaching allowed us as educators to swap instructional strategies for teaching difficult concepts, drawing on each others' strengths in the classroom to become better teachers overall.
Incorporating data into these PLCs was a way for us to objectively figure out what was working in the classroom and what wasn't. To the left is the data from our first semester final exam, showing which questions stumped students the most. Using numbers to determine areas where I needed improvement served as a major catalyst for change, as often these areas could be strengthened through the help of my mentors and other teachers in the PLC. Participating in this collaborative environment opened my mind to a whole new way to teaching- one of teamwork and collaboration as opposed to the "every man for himself" mentality many teachers rely on. Being able to collaborate with teachers in the same subject area created a healthy environment for reflection and growth that set me on the path to being a firm supporter of the PLC structure.
Artifact 11: Inspiring Higher-Order Thinking
Artifact 11: Inspiring Higher-Order Thinking
In completion of my graduate-level courses at MSU, we were assigned a project that required in-depth reflection on our classrooms. For the project, interns were instructed to reflect on what we've observed in our classrooms thus far to select a problem of practice that we find particularly prevalent. For me, the answer was clear: not enough higher order thinking.
One of the things that I have found to be the biggest difficulties of teaching social studies is getting students to engage with the content beyond rote memorization. I found that when I posed any question where the answer could not be found on a page in front of them, I was greeted with blank stares and silence. Realizing how detrimental this lack of critical thinking skills could be to their education, I decided to use this issue as my project's focus.
To remedy this, I began a system involving exit ticket question prompts that I believe prompted higher-order thinking. Students would respond to the questions, and then later in the week we would review examples that I had chosen from their submissions as a class. This opportunity to receive feedback on how to craft a well-developed, original response allowed students to reflect on their own work and identify areas for improvement. For a full description of the changes I implemented, you can click on the research results button above. Below is an example of the type of questions I posed on the exit tickets along with some student responses.
Overall, the project served as a source of reflection for both me and my students. For me, I was given the opportunity to reflect on my experience to identify and work to remedy a problem of practice. In the student's case, they were able to use the feedback given to them both individually and through whole-class discussion to reflect on their higher-order thinking.
Page updated
Google Sites
Report abuse