Adriana Vazquez ED321 SP2012 Culminating Reflection ED 321 The purpose of this culminating reflection is to provide you with

a process through which you can share your thinking about how you have grown as a teacher candidate as a result of your learning across your entire field experience this semester in the following areas: the lesson plan design, the Wisconsin Teaching Standards and the Alverno Education Abilities, and the impact of your teaching on student learning. First, consider the components of lesson plan design: planning/preparation, classroom environment, instruction, assessment, and professional responsibilities. Explain how, in this field, you have grown in one component in relation to previous teaching experiences. ED321 field has taught me more about effective classroom management than my previous field placements. Through the assigned literature we first learned about the gender differences between girls and boys and the ramifications these differences have on effective disciplinary practices. The Discipline with Love and Logic series with Jim Fay also taught me a lot about how to guide students to disciplining themselves and holding them accountable to their decisions. What has been essential to my growth in this component of lesson plan design is that I have learned the reasons behind our choices in disciplining students instead of just ways to discipline. I have learned that we should avoid isolating and embarrassing students because it can have a very negative impact on the student-teacher relationship. Before this field, I had learned the basics of classroom management as a means to get me through my classroom experiences. I was taught and we discussed strategies of disciplining students and preventing unwanted behaviors. This was all very practical and needed information. It was not until this semester, however, that we went beyond the strategies and examined why teachers should discipline in certain ways. What I walked away with is that even the most difficult aspects of teaching, like disciplining, is still and always will be about the best interest of the students. Proper classroom management is strategic, but the goal is to create a productive and safe learning environment as well as to nurture individual relationships with each student- not to intimidate, seclude and punish without purpose.

Now, consider the Wisconsin Teaching Standards and the Alverno Education Abilities. Explain how you demonstrated your growth in two or more Wisconsin Teaching Standards and two or more Alverno Education Abilities in this field. WISCONSIN TEACHER STANDARDS: I feel that I have demonstrated my growth in WTS 1 which states teachers know that subjects they are teaching and WTS 5 teachers know how to manage a classroom. My field placement was refreshingly demanding in terms of the content that I had to know and teach. I found myself doing more research and review of the subject content than in either of my previous fields. I think that this could be attributed to the classroom environment, since there were very limited technological resources and much of my instruction consisted of direct lecture and discussion. My lesson plans include detailed notes about the content and I really enjoyed creating questions and activities that I thought would allow students to understand and apply what they were learning. For these reasons I believe I have demonstrated WTS 1. As discussed in the first portion of this reflection, I feel that I have grown significantly in my understanding and exercise of classroom management. I continuously tried to apply new discipline strategies to not only get students back on track, but also to motivate them, all while maintaining friendly and laid-back relationships with the students. This is why I have demonstrated WTS 5.

ALVERNO EDUCATION ABILITIES: I believe that I have strongly reflected growth in AEA Conceptualization integrating content knowledge with education frameworks and a broadly-based understanding of the liberal arts in order to plan and implement instruction as well as in AEA Diagnosis relate observed behavior to relevant frameworks in order to determine and implement learning prescriptions.

I believe Conceptualization is one of, if not the most, Alverno teaching abilities we have because it teaches us to be well-rounded. As a history major, I value the practice of connecting the dots, which is how I would paraphrase this ability. According to feedback from my CT, I was successful at setting adequate context and background information for my lessons. I always tried to incorporate the students prior knowledge in my lessons by referring to previous class days and reviewing previously learned material. The goals of my lessons were to first present students with context and content information and ten ask them higher level questions based on that information to stretch their minds and get them to think at the next level. I wanted to incorporate critical thinking skills including predicting past events (that they had not been exposed to yet, so they really were predicting the past) and practicing cause-and-effect through understanding preceding events. I also relied on what I have learned about students social, cognitive and psychological stages of development and tried to attach meaning to my lessons through those avenues, whether by giving real life examples that they could relate to, letting them work in groups so they could blow off some steam in discussion, or trying to limit the lecture time based on what I have learned about their shorter attention span. On more than one occasion during my field I needed to improvise my lessons. Sometimes the copier didnt work and other times I was asked on the spot to lead the class in their lesson. I feel that this has also taught me how to be a flexible, well-rounded teacher and it has increased my confidence that I know enough of what I study to come in and take over a class room with no preparation. I have been very reflective of my performance throughout the semester, at times perhaps too critical. I value considering what I can do differently or the same in order to enhance my students learning. Its hard for me to see any student as guinea pigs. Although teachers may teach from the same lesson plan five times a day, each student receives a one-time lesson. I am grateful for every opportunity that I can learn from and improve for next time, but I intend to always give my best every time. For these reasons I believe I have demonstrated growth in AEA Conceptualization. Another ability that I demonstrated this semester is Diagnosis. One of the areas of which I learned a lot and with which I had the most difficulty this semester was classroom management. Students were always talking, appearing disinterested and bored and/or

sleeping in class. I started to reflect and ask myself why this was. I observed this behavior when my CT taught as well as when I led the class. I knew that both of us could be to blame for the students lack of motivation, but I also learned that students just do not like social studies; why became the question I was asking both myself and students throughout the semester. In fact, it became the central question of my ethnography. As part of my ethnography I interviewed several students about why they do not like social studies and asked them for their advice on how I could become a good teacher one day. Without accusing or blaming anyone, I shared that I had observed how many students lose focus, act out and sleep during social studies. I asked about how instructional methods, class activities (or lack thereof) and other factors in class might influence their interest and behavior. Each student gave me similar insight on what was missing in their typical social studies classes as well as similar advice on what to change. I believe that my amateur investigation about what turns middle schoolers off of social studies demonstrates my understanding of diagnosis because I observed a problem in class, I found ways to diagnose the problems and then I took measures to fix them. All of the students had told me in some fashion that media, group work and projects were missing in their social studies classes. I knew that I could not assign projects, but I did ask my CT to move the class to a room with a SmartBoard for my next two lessons so that I could include more images and video in my lessons that would engage the students. I also incorporated some activities that allowed students to work and discuss together. One student had even told me that she would appreciate if the objectives of the class were written on the board when they came into class! I was sure to write down the objectives on the board to my next lesson and review them at the beginning of class. It is so important to ask and listen to students. They have the right to give input and vote regarding what happens in their learning environment. By sharing a little power and making changes according to their suggestions, we show them that their feelings are legitimate and that their opinions matter to us. By seeing that their cooperation makes a difference students become more involved in their learning and take ownership of their learning environment. This is especially important at the middle school level where many students struggle with self-esteem and identity. They struggle with the concept of

autonomy, but if they feel valued in school, I believe that will empower them to speak up in other areas and they will feel more confident about developing and defending their own value systems, which is an essential part of becoming a young adult.