Taylor Morgan's Professional Portfolio

Educational Beliefs and Practices Reflection (B)

Going into the field of education will allow me to help the community and build a stronger future for each student. I aspire to be a role model for students and give them a place and a person to look forward to. Many students come from different walks of life, have different types of families, many challenges, and different strengths. All students should have a calm and well-structured school environment to alleviate any stress or uncertainty in their home lives. The main goal is to set students up for success after they have finished their school careers; with proper structure and guidance during school students will have the skills and knowledge to succeed. As teachers we have the opportunity to extract their strengths and cater to their passions to help them find their niche. Making each student feel seen, heard, and nurtured is the key component to meaningful teaching. Every student spends a great deal of time with their teachers throughout the years and will remember small moments from their experiences. A new learning theory I have found to be incredibly interesting is the Connectivism learning theory which focuses on the theory that people learn from the connections made. This theory is the premise I base teaching off of. We are support systems and resources for students to rely on and learn from. I want to impact students lives and give them equitable knowledge for a better future.

As an educator I believe in making connections and collaborating with students to accomplish learning which is based off of Cooperative and Connectivism learning theory. These beliefs go hand in hand and often work best together. Students and teachers have a shared goal of giving and retaining knowledge, what better way than to collaborate on a shared goal. Collaborating with mixed ability groups is an engaging way of learning and working with other skill sets to obtain an end goal. These group activities and lessons will give students the skills needed for their career as they will be collaborating and making connections to meet goals. With this method of learning students are engaging with a problem, communicating with peers, and configuring solutions. Applying the connectivism learning theory will allow students to take charge of their learning and their resources which pairs well with the cooperative learning theory. Students are encouraged to use all resources whether that be connections between peers or teachers, the internet, books, or experiences. Students are considered “nodes” or the connection between knowledge and others. Combining these learning theories helps students build relationships, responsibility, motivation, and problem-solving skills.

A learning outcome I want to foster in each student I teach is problem-solving skills. Problem-solving skills will be extremely beneficial in every student’s life at one point or another. Building these skills will help students easily overcome issues, take initiative, build determination, and create life life-long learners.  Two crucial instructional strategies to accomplish problem solving skills will be using open ended question and intentional modeling. I will model activities and skills before asking students to participate to effectively translate the expectations which will help students master problem solving skills as they watch me go through the process first. Open ended questions will also help students master problem solving skills. Asking open ended questions helps activate student’s prior knowledge and develops higher order thinking. These types of questions will encourage problem solving skills as students move through the question developing their answer. Two specific assessment strategies I will use to measure student mastery of the learning outcome will be think-pair-share and strategic questioning. I will use think-pair-shares when I ask open ended questions then walk around and listen to students process and answering techniques. This should give me a good amount of information regarding student’s problem-solving ability. Strategically asking questions then listening to student’s answers will also inform me of students ability to problem-solve a question that is build to be hard, using resources, one another, prior knowledge, and hypothesizing.

I would describe my leadership style as “transformational”, meaning I adopt a coaching style, focusing on clear communication, setting goals, and providing constant motivation which is useful for building positive relationships with school stakeholders. I have mutual respect for team members and aspire to reach common goals through communication and group effort. My leadership style is not direct or overbearing. I believe going out of my way to meet with school stakeholders will help build positive relationships as we are all working towards the common goal of helping children. I will also join groups to better our school environment, culture, and build relationships.

Evidence and Commentary of Classroom Practices (E)

This artifact represents my ability to incorporate technology into lessons to engage students. I used this platform called “Kahoot” to engage students in sight word recognition and practice. I find that game style learning is exciting, engaging, and a fun way for students to interact with instructional material. Through using “Kahoot’ regularly for sight word practice, number recognition, etc. I have noticed students' improvement in these categories. Overall, using platforms such as “Kahoot” has allowed me to engage students, track student progress, and help students academically progress.

This artifact benefited students learning and progression but could have been set up better to provide easier access. Every time we use this platform students have to follow quite a few steps in order to get to the site and get on the correct game. I should have gone through each tablet and added “Kahoot” and other frequently used sites to their home screens. By doing this, we could transition from one activity to an activity using technology much more efficiently which would provide less frustration and more time allotted for the engaging activities.

Another platform that worked very well in my classroom was "Boddle Learning". This platform allowed students to engage with mathematics in a fun, confidence building manner which developed students' math skills tremendously. Seeing my students happy about a subject known for being challenging was wonderful. There is also a parent engagement opportunity via this platform. The site allows the teacher to include the parents in students' progress by sending an active link which opens a door a more parent/student/teacher interaction and engagement.

This artifact represents my ability to provide students and their parents with feedback and initiates conversation with families of my students. This is a written piece of feedback that is too advanced for the kindergarteners to read but is sent home to parents. Parents are aware that I send home feedback and encourage them to reach out with questions, concerns, or comments. I highlight their strengths, needs, and steps to process to provide a structured response to students work.

I would modify my communication strategy by sending this feedback and communication initiator home via email. I found students often lost their feedback in the process of packing up and going home. By providing daily or every other day updates, parents can expect an email and will be able to respond directly in the email to communicate about their student. Overall, this communication method was effect and opened many doors for communication but could be improved through digitalization.