Reflecting on the Inquiry Celebration

The presentations I attended at the Inquiry Celebration were very informative, as usual with our interns. From the ones I attended, it received information about topics like; problem-based learning, self-evaluation, connecting with schools half way around the world, and Socratic discussion. I would find all of the information I learned useful. PBL is a great way to get students to think with their mind and not just the text out of a book. I really liked the presentation on self-evaluation because I believe it would teach students about accountability; not covered as a CSO. And talk about thinking outside of the box, the intern who connected with an English class, in CHINA, astonishing. Then the presentation on Socratic discussion, personally, I really like this form of conversation inside any classroom. All in all, Lake View is always an event to look forward to, and the information shared there just improves upon the skills of every educator who attends.

Characteristics of the Novice Teacher, Pt. 2

     Just as any other job, teaching is a profession, thus the novice teacher should recognize that teaching is a professional, moral, and ethical enterprise. The novice teacher should understand moral issues and ethical practices in educational environments, and should have developed ethical frameworks which facilitate effective teaching. This is important because we are to be the role models of our students, to guide them through our actions, and keep them on a path of success exhibited by our professional demeanor. I plan to demonstrate this through the opinions of my host teacher, colleagues and students through an evaluation of myself and teachings.
     The world is constantly changing, and so are the ways students are learning and teachers are  teaching. Te novice teacher should be liberally educated to keep relevant in the new ways, methods, and techniques to teaching. I believe the way of traditional teaching is behind us with the graduation and certification of teachers of this generation. We saw it ourselves  in school, and with the way state content standards are transitioning to nationwide common core standards, I believe the school system knows it, too. To demonstrate that I am liberally educated, I would put a DVD of my teaching(s) in my 4 year portfolio. A DVD showing me integrated new methods of teaching, new instructional techniques, and new classroom management skills in my lessons.

Characteristics of the Novice Teacher

     A 'relective practitioner' is one who reflects on what they did and how they did it. I believe a great reflective practitioner is one who can objectively and unbiasly reflect on what they did and say 'how can I do better?'. An 'effective communicator' can get their message across to any audiance. They can question with meaningful open-endedness and answer with conviction, in route of creating an intellectual conversation with a person; whether it be student or coullege. Now, to possess both of these characteristics, the skill to effectively communicate with other and the brute honesty to effectively communicate with ones self, would make for something well beyond the realm of just being a novice teacher.
     As an assignment, we have all been keeping researcher journals, but I'm starting to like the habit of writing in it everyday. I find myself being my biggest critic in what I write in my journal, and, as evidence, would make for a good artifact in showing my progress as a reflective practitioner. As for being an effective communicator, I guess they only way in proving this would be through the thoughts of the people I talk to. As artifacts, I think observaional notes and evaluations from host teachers, coordinators, and liasons, and students would make for good evidence of an effective communicator.

Practicum Plan

     As it pertains to my Practicum Plan, there was one learning skill in particular I wanted to focus my semester on and that was interacting with my students, and I believe I have accomplished that goal outstandingly. From day one when I taught I had students write their names on paper so I could identify them, first time I ever did that. I called upon students by name, and eventually I not only learned my students' names but learned their likes, dislikes, tendencies, behaviors, things they're interested in, and so much more to make the classroom a better atmosphere for everyone.
     As for the other learning skills I had written down in my Plan, I've learned to effectively use classroom proximity and the Smart Board. I feel that I have learned the most out of this semester being inside the classroom teaching my subject than I have ever learned before. Not ready to see these last two weeks end.

Semester Review

What I have learned thus far throughout the semester is how to find the part of a whole if their is a ratio to proportion it to.

If 12 students in a class of 20 students are girls, how many girls would their be in a class of 30?

My Definition of a PDS

A PDS is a school that helps pre-service teachers not only get a running start at the teaching profession but gets pre-service teacher to become as integrated outside the classroom and the community as inside.

Critique of BLOGGER.com

As the blog pertains to my reflections of practice and  communication with my partner, seminar facilitator, and PDS faculty, the blog hasn't been a valuable tool towards my success. I reflect on practice through assignments I do for my education classes, and I communicate with my facilitator, host teacher, teacher ed coordinator, and my fellow future teachers through e-mail, MIX, Facebook, and face-to-face interactions, never through blogger. Blogger, unfortunately, is just a tool to complete educ312 assignments, but I do find good in it. Although I think this tool fails to connect us to our fellow colleagues, I believe blogger can help me in my classroom. Because it seems inappropriate to add your students to your Facebook friends list, I feel I can set my students up with blogger accounts in an effort to find out what they are thinking. This would help ENORMOUSLY with my inquiry research. If I could get all my students on blogger, I could post a topic or discussion and have my students respond and discuss the topic. So my question to anyone reading this blog entry is 'do you think that this would be an appropriate and effective way to get my students to open up and tell me what they are truly thinking'?