1) Reflect on the work you’ve completed in the course (book talks, mini-lessons, unit plans)
2) Reflect on the theories and concepts we explored in readings and discussions
3) Reflect on how you think your participation in this course has influenced your thinking about yourself as a teacher
The process of continual reflection is essential to your growth as a teacher.
This class really challenged me. Although there weren't many assignments, the work that I did required time, effort and thought. I had never written in a blog before this class and it took a few times for me to understand it, but I found that it is a good way to get my thoughts out of my head. This can be a good tool for teachers and students to communicate. For students, a blog can be a safe way to get their thoughts and opinions written down with no fear of judgement from others. Teachers can use the blog posts of students to get an insight as to how their students are thinking. When I am a teacher, I hope to integrate a blog of some kind into my class.
I really enjoyed the book talks. It was our first presentation in front of the class, and I wish I had done a better job. The day I was presenting, I left all my notes at home, and had to go off of what I remembered writing down. As teachers we will have opportunities to select literature for our students to study and this exercise showed what some possible challenges would be to choosing what literature to teach to our students.
I think my mini-lesson went well. Obviously, my lack of teaching experience left me unsure of the real world success of my lesson, but it helped me to practice teaching in a safe environment. I have never been one comfortable with criticism, but the feedback portion of the presentation was helpful, and I should have taken a photo of the feedback comments, because it would have made the reflection go a lot easier.
The unit plans were the most challenging part of the quarter for me. I didn't realize just how much work teachers put into lesson plans. This assignment made me happy that most schools use collaboration among the department, so there will always be ideas for lessons, and as a new teacher, I am looking forward to the advice and support I will receive from my fellow teachers. I learned a lot from doing the unit plan, and I think the most important aspect of the project was time management. I was thinking about the assignment all throughout the quarter, and I am grateful for the rough draft assignments, but I should have written my ideas down, and worked on some aspect of the project each day. I caused more stress for myself by waiting until the end of the quarter to compile my final drafts of the sections.
I found the theories and discussions of the various reading and blog posts beneficial to my student development. It was helpful for me to see what other people had found useful and I will find ways to integrate the articles and readings into my classroom. I enjoyed our class discussions about the readings useful, because we could ask questions and usually, someone else had a different insight into what I had read that I haven't previously thought of.
This class has helped me to see that I can be a teacher, and that I can reach my students. I am still a little nervous for when I am on my own, but my experiences with this class and the confidence from my mentor teacher is helping me get over that fear. I am glad that I took this class, and the help I received from my professor and fellow students is something I will take with me to my career as a teacher.
