My Final Reflection on Student Teaching
Looking Back and Looking Forward
The opportunity to finally be able to look back to the beginning of this semester and reflect on my student teaching experience has me pondering about all the mixed emotions I was experiencing during that time. I can now finally smile and relax. My feelings ranged from being extremely excited that I was about to begin my student teaching placement to fear of not being able to apply what I had learned during the previous semesters. This fear stems from my lack of confidence I had in myself, at the time. I remember asking my college advisor, during second block, if I would gain the confidence I needed once I began student teaching. I was already concerned about student teaching long before I should have been. She assured me that I would certainly feel more confident and prepared once I began my student teaching assignment. She was right, only it took me several weeks into the student teaching program to finally realize this. My student teaching experience has allowed me to grow more confident in my abilities with each passing day. This experience has been, without a doubt, the most rewarding experience of my whole college career.
I had the privilege of student teaching at a wonderful elementary school in the Huntsville City Schools District. The administration, faculty, and staff at Monte Sano Elementary School made me feel welcomed and part of their family from the very first day. This obviously lessened my anxiety a great deal. My first placement was in a Collaborative- Resource classroom. This was an awesome experience for me and one that I will never forget. During this placement, I worked with students ranging in first through fifth grades with varying exceptionalities. Huntsville City Schools has adopted the Scott Foresman’s My Sidewalks program for the students who are in special education. This program is taught with fidelity so I immediately understood that I too would be using this program extensively. What I decided from the beginning is that there shouldn’t be any reasons why I couldn’t be creative and bring in materials to supplement the lessons I would be teaching. Various materials I created to supplement the lessons included flash cards, word games, graphic organizers, and a flip-chart. I also used the data I collected from the Multiple Intelligences Inventories I administered to guide which materials I supplemented with each lesson.
The unit I created for my first placement was a unit focusing on fluency with my first grade students. Before I created the fluency unit, I discussed the first grade students’ needs with their teachers and decided to create a unit on the skill which was being covered in a designated week. The skill which we chose was drawing conclusions. I created a pre-assessment which I administered to each of the first grade students. The results revealed that they did not need further instruction with this particular skill. This is where I experienced first-hand how valuable pre-assessment can be for teachers. I used the pre-assessment data to guide my instruction and as a result, I did not spend unnecessary time creating a unit that wouldn’t be beneficial for the students. After further collaboration, I decided to create a fluency unit since fluency is an area of concern with these particular students. The pre-assessment I used for my fluency unit were “cold” one-minute timed readings of short passages. I created time-logs to record data and then sent the same passages home with each student for them to practice reading at home. I also spent time during the week reading passages with each individual student. I gave “warm” one-minute timed readings on Wednesdays and a “hot” one-minute timed reading on Fridays. As I collected data on each of the student’s timed readings, and compared the results from one story to the next, it was clear to see that there was an upward trend in the data. I communicated these results with the parents each week as well as the students’ teachers.
During my second placement in a first grade general education classroom, I decided to create a math unit on counting mixed coins. This was an area of need for the students based discussions with my cooperating teacher. After obtaining the Alabama Course of Study Standard for this skill, I created a pre-assessment. The pre-assessment data revealed a class average of 58%. I had administered a Multiple Intelligences Test to these students as well, and used the data to guide how I planned which manipulatives and visuals I would utilize. The various manipulatives we used were mixed coins, large graphic images of mixed coins, Elmo projector, and the ActivBoard. I was extremely pleased with a strategy I found on the internet for teaching the skill of counting mixed coins. This strategy proved to be especially successful with the students who scored below average on the pre-assessment. The strategy is to simply draw “hairs” on the each of the coins. Each hair is worth five and pennies are bald so they don’t have any hairs on them. Quarters have five hairs, dimes have two hairs, and nickels have one hair. Once students placed the hairs on their coins, they count the hairs by five. When I began talking about drawing hairs on the coins, the students’ engagement during this lesson increased. I also provided students with the three steps they should use when counting mixed coins. This strategy was beneficial for the students who scored above average on the pre-assessment, but still needed some practice with this skill. The three steps are as follows: Step One: Sort each coin by their value, Step Two: Count the coins with the largest value first, and Step Three: Change the way you count when you change coins (“change gears”). By providing two different strategies for counting mixed coins, I differentiated the instruction based on the pre-assessment data. Essentially, I had two levels of students for this particular skill. After counting mixed coins for a week, I administered the post-assessment. The class average after the post-assessment was 82% which is evidence that my instruction had a positive impact on learning. Again, I realized how crucial pre-assessment is for guiding the planning and instruction of my lessons. The importance of pre-assessments is an area where my belief system has changed because previously, I had not observed many pre-assessments being administered in my field placements and therefore, believed it wasn’t an important tool. I have now experienced first-hand the impact these assessments have on guiding instruction and how valuable this tool can be to teachers.
There are six competencies which student teacher candidates are required to meet during the student teaching assignment. These competencies are Content Expert, Pedagogical Expert, Critical Thinking, Diversity, Communication, and Professionalism. The two competencies that I believe are the strongest areas of my teaching are Pedagogical Expert, and Professionalism. By having pedagogical knowledge, I understand how and when to utilize all resources available when planning and implementing lessons and activities. I collaborated with other teachers for ideas and suggestions which gave me a feeling of belonging to a team. I wasn’t just a student teacher, but part of a team of teachers who collaborated together for the sake of the students. When I began my second placement, the ActivBoard in the classroom was not operational and hadn’t been used since the beginning of the school year. I enlisted the help from the school’s technology personnel and as a result, the ActivBoard was repaired. I implemented the ActivBoard as well as the Elmo projector in the majority of my lessons, which not only increased students’ engagement, but allowed for better classroom management of the learning environment. I have also learned how valuable pre-assessments are for guiding planning and instruction. As I mentioned previously, the experience I gained by administering pre-assessments prior to creating my units was truly a valuable lesson. Unfortunately, I have occasionally heard teachers comment on not having the time to administer pre-assessments; these assessments can actually save time. Collecting pre-assessment data prevented me from creating lessons that would not be useful and ultimately allowed me to create a unit on a skill that would meet the students’ needs. I also used classroom discussions in pre-assessing students’ knowledge. Listening to what students had to say about the content I was planning to teach was an informal assessment tool I used and found to be very effective for the planning of my lessons. I also believe that one of my strengths is in the competency of Professionalism. I always maintained a positive attitude and a desire to do a good job. During each of my student teaching placements, I demonstrated regular and punctual attendance as well as dressed professionally. I am a very organized person and all of my required documentation, college requirements, lesson plans, weekly reports, etc. were always submitted in a timely and organized manner. My strengths in the competency area of Professionalism are documented in each of my college advisor’s evaluations and both of my cooperating teacher’s evaluations. These evaluations show that professionalism is an area of strength for me by the documented and consistent high scores. During the time I have spent in college, I have attended numerous professional development workshops and continue to do so today as I believe that teachers are life-long learners and should always seek out new and innovative strategies for teaching.
My two weaknesses within the competences area are classroom management and critical thinking. Although I have listed these areas as weaknesses, I have shown continual growth and improvement. It has been a challenge for me to follow a scripted program such as the Scott Foresman’s Reading Street with fidelity and try to remember to increase the opportunities for students to engage in critical thinking activities. The program provides suggestions for critical thinking activities, but I should have used more scaffolding questions in this area. I have made some changes in how I plan activities so I now take into consideration the scaffolding of questions that lead to more critical thinking for the students. Another weakness that has improved a great deal is classroom management. It was somewhat difficult to walk into a classroom towards the end of the school year and take over as if I had always been there. Since this was a first grade classroom, I did not want to significantly change routines the students were accustomed to. I quickly realized after several days that I could still maintain the current classroom management system, but I needed to add an element to it for my sake. Once I began taking over, students seemed to forget that their teacher was still in the classroom and were frequently off task or yelling out answers to questions before being called upon. After researching and planning, I created a “Behavior Savings Bank” which was a picture of a piggy bank I laminated. I copied and laminated pictures of pennies. The pennies had Velcro on the back so I could stick them to the inside of the piggy bank. Each day, the students began with five pennies in the piggy bank. When they remained on task and followed classroom rules, rules that had already been in place prior to my arrival, then I would put more pennies into the piggy bank. By the end of the week, students needed to earn twenty pennies to earn extra recess time. This proved to be a successful classroom management tool for me because all I needed to do is hold the piggy bank up in the air and students resumed what they were supposed to be doing. Each morning we counted the pennies in the bank and the students told me how many more pennies we needed to get by Friday. This became a game for them because they really wanted to earn the twenty pennies by the end of the week and they ended up earning the required pennies for the two weeks I was teaching full-time. By understanding that I am a life-long learner, re-evaluating these weaknesses, attending professional development workshops, collaborating with other educational professionals, and making the necessary changes will allow me continue to grown in these areas of my teaching.
In conclusion, I have grown immensely in each of the competency areas throughout my student teaching experience. I have gained valuable experience and knowledge during my training at Monte Sano Elementary School. This experience has been the most rewarding requirement of my college career. I have more confidence in my abilities and can truly say that I am ready to start a career as a teacher. The education program at the University of Alabama in Huntsville, the amazing teachers I have observed, and the many wonderful professional development opportunities that were provided to me during my education has prepared me to become the teacher I have always strived to be and more.
I had the privilege of student teaching at a wonderful elementary school in the Huntsville City Schools District. The administration, faculty, and staff at Monte Sano Elementary School made me feel welcomed and part of their family from the very first day. This obviously lessened my anxiety a great deal. My first placement was in a Collaborative- Resource classroom. This was an awesome experience for me and one that I will never forget. During this placement, I worked with students ranging in first through fifth grades with varying exceptionalities. Huntsville City Schools has adopted the Scott Foresman’s My Sidewalks program for the students who are in special education. This program is taught with fidelity so I immediately understood that I too would be using this program extensively. What I decided from the beginning is that there shouldn’t be any reasons why I couldn’t be creative and bring in materials to supplement the lessons I would be teaching. Various materials I created to supplement the lessons included flash cards, word games, graphic organizers, and a flip-chart. I also used the data I collected from the Multiple Intelligences Inventories I administered to guide which materials I supplemented with each lesson.
The unit I created for my first placement was a unit focusing on fluency with my first grade students. Before I created the fluency unit, I discussed the first grade students’ needs with their teachers and decided to create a unit on the skill which was being covered in a designated week. The skill which we chose was drawing conclusions. I created a pre-assessment which I administered to each of the first grade students. The results revealed that they did not need further instruction with this particular skill. This is where I experienced first-hand how valuable pre-assessment can be for teachers. I used the pre-assessment data to guide my instruction and as a result, I did not spend unnecessary time creating a unit that wouldn’t be beneficial for the students. After further collaboration, I decided to create a fluency unit since fluency is an area of concern with these particular students. The pre-assessment I used for my fluency unit were “cold” one-minute timed readings of short passages. I created time-logs to record data and then sent the same passages home with each student for them to practice reading at home. I also spent time during the week reading passages with each individual student. I gave “warm” one-minute timed readings on Wednesdays and a “hot” one-minute timed reading on Fridays. As I collected data on each of the student’s timed readings, and compared the results from one story to the next, it was clear to see that there was an upward trend in the data. I communicated these results with the parents each week as well as the students’ teachers.
During my second placement in a first grade general education classroom, I decided to create a math unit on counting mixed coins. This was an area of need for the students based discussions with my cooperating teacher. After obtaining the Alabama Course of Study Standard for this skill, I created a pre-assessment. The pre-assessment data revealed a class average of 58%. I had administered a Multiple Intelligences Test to these students as well, and used the data to guide how I planned which manipulatives and visuals I would utilize. The various manipulatives we used were mixed coins, large graphic images of mixed coins, Elmo projector, and the ActivBoard. I was extremely pleased with a strategy I found on the internet for teaching the skill of counting mixed coins. This strategy proved to be especially successful with the students who scored below average on the pre-assessment. The strategy is to simply draw “hairs” on the each of the coins. Each hair is worth five and pennies are bald so they don’t have any hairs on them. Quarters have five hairs, dimes have two hairs, and nickels have one hair. Once students placed the hairs on their coins, they count the hairs by five. When I began talking about drawing hairs on the coins, the students’ engagement during this lesson increased. I also provided students with the three steps they should use when counting mixed coins. This strategy was beneficial for the students who scored above average on the pre-assessment, but still needed some practice with this skill. The three steps are as follows: Step One: Sort each coin by their value, Step Two: Count the coins with the largest value first, and Step Three: Change the way you count when you change coins (“change gears”). By providing two different strategies for counting mixed coins, I differentiated the instruction based on the pre-assessment data. Essentially, I had two levels of students for this particular skill. After counting mixed coins for a week, I administered the post-assessment. The class average after the post-assessment was 82% which is evidence that my instruction had a positive impact on learning. Again, I realized how crucial pre-assessment is for guiding the planning and instruction of my lessons. The importance of pre-assessments is an area where my belief system has changed because previously, I had not observed many pre-assessments being administered in my field placements and therefore, believed it wasn’t an important tool. I have now experienced first-hand the impact these assessments have on guiding instruction and how valuable this tool can be to teachers.
There are six competencies which student teacher candidates are required to meet during the student teaching assignment. These competencies are Content Expert, Pedagogical Expert, Critical Thinking, Diversity, Communication, and Professionalism. The two competencies that I believe are the strongest areas of my teaching are Pedagogical Expert, and Professionalism. By having pedagogical knowledge, I understand how and when to utilize all resources available when planning and implementing lessons and activities. I collaborated with other teachers for ideas and suggestions which gave me a feeling of belonging to a team. I wasn’t just a student teacher, but part of a team of teachers who collaborated together for the sake of the students. When I began my second placement, the ActivBoard in the classroom was not operational and hadn’t been used since the beginning of the school year. I enlisted the help from the school’s technology personnel and as a result, the ActivBoard was repaired. I implemented the ActivBoard as well as the Elmo projector in the majority of my lessons, which not only increased students’ engagement, but allowed for better classroom management of the learning environment. I have also learned how valuable pre-assessments are for guiding planning and instruction. As I mentioned previously, the experience I gained by administering pre-assessments prior to creating my units was truly a valuable lesson. Unfortunately, I have occasionally heard teachers comment on not having the time to administer pre-assessments; these assessments can actually save time. Collecting pre-assessment data prevented me from creating lessons that would not be useful and ultimately allowed me to create a unit on a skill that would meet the students’ needs. I also used classroom discussions in pre-assessing students’ knowledge. Listening to what students had to say about the content I was planning to teach was an informal assessment tool I used and found to be very effective for the planning of my lessons. I also believe that one of my strengths is in the competency of Professionalism. I always maintained a positive attitude and a desire to do a good job. During each of my student teaching placements, I demonstrated regular and punctual attendance as well as dressed professionally. I am a very organized person and all of my required documentation, college requirements, lesson plans, weekly reports, etc. were always submitted in a timely and organized manner. My strengths in the competency area of Professionalism are documented in each of my college advisor’s evaluations and both of my cooperating teacher’s evaluations. These evaluations show that professionalism is an area of strength for me by the documented and consistent high scores. During the time I have spent in college, I have attended numerous professional development workshops and continue to do so today as I believe that teachers are life-long learners and should always seek out new and innovative strategies for teaching.
My two weaknesses within the competences area are classroom management and critical thinking. Although I have listed these areas as weaknesses, I have shown continual growth and improvement. It has been a challenge for me to follow a scripted program such as the Scott Foresman’s Reading Street with fidelity and try to remember to increase the opportunities for students to engage in critical thinking activities. The program provides suggestions for critical thinking activities, but I should have used more scaffolding questions in this area. I have made some changes in how I plan activities so I now take into consideration the scaffolding of questions that lead to more critical thinking for the students. Another weakness that has improved a great deal is classroom management. It was somewhat difficult to walk into a classroom towards the end of the school year and take over as if I had always been there. Since this was a first grade classroom, I did not want to significantly change routines the students were accustomed to. I quickly realized after several days that I could still maintain the current classroom management system, but I needed to add an element to it for my sake. Once I began taking over, students seemed to forget that their teacher was still in the classroom and were frequently off task or yelling out answers to questions before being called upon. After researching and planning, I created a “Behavior Savings Bank” which was a picture of a piggy bank I laminated. I copied and laminated pictures of pennies. The pennies had Velcro on the back so I could stick them to the inside of the piggy bank. Each day, the students began with five pennies in the piggy bank. When they remained on task and followed classroom rules, rules that had already been in place prior to my arrival, then I would put more pennies into the piggy bank. By the end of the week, students needed to earn twenty pennies to earn extra recess time. This proved to be a successful classroom management tool for me because all I needed to do is hold the piggy bank up in the air and students resumed what they were supposed to be doing. Each morning we counted the pennies in the bank and the students told me how many more pennies we needed to get by Friday. This became a game for them because they really wanted to earn the twenty pennies by the end of the week and they ended up earning the required pennies for the two weeks I was teaching full-time. By understanding that I am a life-long learner, re-evaluating these weaknesses, attending professional development workshops, collaborating with other educational professionals, and making the necessary changes will allow me continue to grown in these areas of my teaching.
In conclusion, I have grown immensely in each of the competency areas throughout my student teaching experience. I have gained valuable experience and knowledge during my training at Monte Sano Elementary School. This experience has been the most rewarding requirement of my college career. I have more confidence in my abilities and can truly say that I am ready to start a career as a teacher. The education program at the University of Alabama in Huntsville, the amazing teachers I have observed, and the many wonderful professional development opportunities that were provided to me during my education has prepared me to become the teacher I have always strived to be and more.