About Me

Welcome to my Capstone Portfolio. My name is Alanna Pihl and I am a senior at Wheelock College. During the spring of my senior year of high school, I decided to attend Wheelock College because of their outstanding educators program and also because the college had a field hockey team. Growing up in the small town of Franconia, New Hampshire, where everyone knew everyone else, I was a three season student athlete who adored her teachers. During high school when I was trying to figure out what I wanted to study in college, I remembered the positive experiences I had while in school. I attributed many of my successes to my teachers and coaches, and decided that I wanted to help children succeed in school just like my teachers had done for me. 

When I entered my freshman year of college, I decided to join the field hockey team because I enjoyed the team building experiences that sports gave me in high school. I hoped that this would also apply in college, and it certainly did. As a student athlete I learned how to manage my time, work as a team member on the field and also in the classroom, and what the word responsibility meant. What I learned from my four years of experience in college athletics is that goals are much more attainable when team members share a similar objective. This also applies to academics and the work force. 

During my pre-practicum and full practicum I experienced what it means to be a team player inside a classroom while working with another adult. My pre-practicum at the Manning School in Jamaica Plain solidified my knowledge of what a team looks and functions like. In addition to myself, there were two head teachers, a paraprofessional, and another student teacher in the third grade classroom. As a team, we worked together to give our students a support system and a classroom environment that would be conducive to learning.

My full time practicum took place at the Runkle School in Brookline, Massachusetts. There I was able to use what I knew from sports about leadership and bring it into the classroom. Some qualities that all leaders encompass are responsibility, commitment, selflessness, and compassion. I showed these qualities throughout my practicum at the Runkle School with the guidance of my supervising practitioner Jay. Throughout the semester I co-taught with Jay and led science, reading, writing, and math lessons. For my take over week I was responsible for the learning and safety of all nineteen students in my fourth grade classroom. Being a leader within in the classroom is something a teacher must be to ensure the safety and well-being of all her students.

 

Beliefs about Teaching

• I believe that parents and teachers are in a team in children’s learning.
• I believe in a holistic approach to teaching.
• I believe in student centered learning.
• I believe that every child should be able to learn in an anti-racist and anti-bias environment.

Standard 1

Educators who embrace a social justice perspective are attentive to inequalities associated with race, social class, gender, language, and other social categories.  They consciously look for alternatives to established educational practices that support the learning, development, and academic achievement of children whose backgrounds place them outside of the dominant culture.  They employ multicultural, anti-racist, anti-bias educational practices that foster deep engagement in learning and high academic achievement among all of the nation’s children.

            Inequalities associated with race, social class, gender, language, and other social categories are present in American society. It is important that educators do everything they can to promote equity among their students, because every student needs to benefit from their educational experience. In order for teachers to address the present issue of inequality, they must look for other options for children whose backgrounds place them outside of the dominant culture. Once educators identify these alternatives, it is imperative that they implement them within their classrooms. In the implementation of these multicultural, anti-racist, and anti-bias practices, students should be fully engaged in their learning. When students are interested in their learning, are engaged in their work, and feel as if they are equal to their peers, they will experience academic achievement. 

            This standard is especially important to me as an educator, because every child deserves the opportunity to excel in school despite what their cultural background is, what they identify as, or what their disability or social category is. Throughout history, there have been many inequalities present in American society. Some have been addressed, although most inequalities are still an issue. I believe that most inequalities such as race, gender, and disabilities are being talked about, but there is still an abundant amount of work to do in order to decrease negative beliefs about these subordinate cultures. The most important fact about people that experience these inequalities is that they should not feel as if they are of lesser value compared to mainstream culture. There are strategies that teachers can use to lessen the amount of inequalities that are present within schools and their classrooms. Throughout my time at Wheelock, I have enrolled myself in many courses that involve equality and where it originated from. In these courses, I was able to learn many ideas that were new to me and apply them to my work as a student and educator. 

            Some of the courses that I have taken at Wheelock College are called Media and Race, Racial and Cultural Identities, and the Psychology of Race. These courses introduced me to the idea of race as a socially constructed idea that inhibits many Americans’ lives in drastic ways. One of the ways that race can hold children back is if racism is present within the school system and through interactions with the community, classroom, peers, and educators. It is important that teachers are aware of racism among other inequalities that may be present within the school and community surrounding it. One way that I have been attentive to the inequalities associated with race, social class, gender, language, and other social categories was by writing an anti-racist praxis paper (Artifact 1A) for my Psychology of Race course. In this paper, I discussed ideas that were brought to my attention in class, and while completing readings for the course. As I stated in my opening paragraph, one thing I learned throughout this course was that it is acceptable to be confused about the idea of race. The authors of the books and articles we read helped me shape my opinions on race, and helped me become comfortable in reaching out in hopes of finding ways in which to support and advocate for the destruction of oppression.     

  Being able to advocate for others, especially for my future students is important for my success as an educator. It is my responsibility to make sure that all students are given additional support in the ways they need it. In Artifact 1A, I discuss a quote from one of Gloria Yamato’s articles. In her article she states, “With the best of intentions, the best of educations, and the greatest generosity of heart, whites, operating on misinformation fed to them from day one, will behave in ways that are racist, will perpetuate racism by being “nice” the way we’re taught to be nice” (Yamato, 1988, p. 4). I remember as I had read this for the first time, I felt bewildered at the thought of me being racist just because I wanted to be kind to others that are seen as disadvantaged. As discussed in Artifact 1A, the rest of the article taught me that in order to be proactive in “helping” others, I must do it for myself and my beliefs, and not for the other person. This is important for me to keep in mind so that I can be attentive to the inequalities that my students will face. To truly fight oppression, I need to get to know my students, learn what they need from me and how I can support them, and then we can work as a team to diminish the reality of inequality.

            Another way to support children that face inequality is to find alternatives to educational practices that are already established. For example, when planning lessons teachers must include differentiated instruction. This allows students with disabilities, language differences, and varying strengths to succeed during whole class instruction. During my pre-practicum at the Manning school in Jamaica Plain, I planned a lesson where the students would compare their lives and responsibilities to the lives of Pilgrim children. This lesson (Artifact 1B) was a full class activity. To prepare for this activity, I needed to plan a lesson for thirty children in a full-inclusive classroom. Special needs within this classroom included social/emotional disabilities, and academic disabilities. I also had to consider the needs of English Language Learners.  Some of the alternatives or differentiated instruction that I included in the lesson to support students that were not members of the dominant culture were: predetermined group parings of children, varying adult support, and visual and auditory aids. By finding alternatives to established educational practices, educators are able to support the academic development of students.

            In addition to finding alternatives to educational practices, educators must utilize multicultural, anti-bias, and anti-racist practices to their work. During my practicum at the Runkle School in Brookline, Massachusetts, I overheard a conversation between a small group of my male fourth graders. During this encounter, the four friends were making jokes about one another and instead of intervening, I decided to sit back and observe. Next thing I knew, the boys had begun to make racial remarks about the shape of one of the boy’s eyes. This young Chinese boy did not say anything back to his peers and it was evident that this was no longer a harmless interaction between friends. At this moment, I jumped right into the conversation and decided to intervene. To the boys I exclaimed, “Why would you make fun of the shape of someone’s eyes?” At that moment I was so infuriated with the boys for what they had said to their friend, that I did not even completely hear what they had said in response. As they were explaining themselves, I was unsure of what to do next to teach the students that what they said was wrong on many different levels. 

Looking back at this situation, I would have handled it a different way. While studying children’s play in one of my courses, I learned that children often play and say things in order to learn about ideas they are curious about or were introduced to. According to Beverly Daniel Tatum, “The impact of racism begins early. Even in our preschool years, we are exposed to misinformation about people different from ourselves. Many of us grew up in neighborhoods where we had limited opportunities to interact with people different from our own families” (Tatum, 1999, p.3). In the case of my fourth graders, I believe that they are able to see physical differences that people hold and look to understand them more. One way that I could have used this instance to employ a multi-cultural, anti-racist, and anti-bias classroom would be to have a class meeting. To start this meeting, I would have told the students about a time in which I had felt like someone had treated me poorly based on my social class, gender, or race. I would hope that this story would help students understand the feelings that go behind making fun of others based on inequalities that are present in American society. The class meeting is more of a short-term strategy although these conversations could continue throughout the year. A more long-term educational strategy that would promote equality in my classroom and society overall would be to carry out a study of different cultures as a whole year assignment. I think this would benefit me as an educator, and also my students to help them start their thoughts of eliminating bullying and living in a multicultural, anti-racist, and anti-bias world. 

As I continue learning about inequalities that are present in society, it will be my responsibility to myself to find out what my beliefs are about each inequality, and what I can do to be attentive to my students’ needs. I look forward to researching and attending workshops that will teach me about new educational practices that I can include in my curriculum to support all my students, but students that face discrimination in particular. I am interested in developing curriculum that promotes anti-bias thinking and helping my students develop their thoughts about inequalities and how to advocate for what they believe in.

References

Tatum, B. D. (1999). Why are all the black kids sitting together in the cafeteria? New York, NY: Basic Books.

Yamato, G. (1988). Something about the subject makes it hard to name. In J. W. Cochran, D. Langston, & C. Woodward (Eds.), Changing out power: An introduction to women’s studies, (pp. 3-6). Dubuque, IA: Kendall-Hunt.

---

Standard 2

Educators should know their students as individuals and as learners, and be able to relate to them in a variety of ways.  They should be familiar with the cultures, histories, and values of the communities and families they serve, and know the attributes of the individual children and families with whom they work.  Educators should be aware of the range of special needs their children may have, and seek out information concerning the strengths of specific children as well as resources to address their developmental and learning needs.  They should use their knowledge of variations in development, second language acquisition, and disabilities to support children’s physical, emotional, social, cognitive, linguistic, intellectual, and creative development.  Educators should observe and listen to children as they work, learn, and play in a variety of settings to gain insights into what their students know, how they think, what they value, who they are, where they come from, and what motivates them.  Their knowledge of children and families, language and culture, and community development should motivate educators to view children’s actions and responses through multiple lenses.  The more they learn about their students, the better they can tailor their teaching to engage children in active learning and meet their specific needs.

            Every child is an individual, and educators must be able to relate to each student in a variety of ways. As individuals, students and their families have many different attributes. Students differ from one another through language, the ways they learn, their cultures, and their values. Educators must be aware of these differences, as well as the strengths of their students. When teachers know their students, they are able to find and use resources that address students’ developmental and learning needs. In order to know each child, educators need to observe and listen to the students as they work, learn, and play in a variety of settings such as in the classroom, at recess, and at their specialty classes. It is important that educators learn what motivates their students, what their families value, and what their language and cultures are. I believe that in order to meet the specific needs of students, and be able to engage them in active learning, teachers need to observe their students through multiple lenses. 

            This standard is important to me, because I believe observation is one of the best ways to learn about my students. Through observation, teachers can gain insight into peer relations, how their students learn, and about their students’ cultural backgrounds. These characteristics are important for teachers to know about their students so that they are able to use resources and strategies that are tailored to individual students.. In addition, when educators are aware of student attributes, they are able to choose specific teaching approaches that respond to needs of all their students.

            To learn more about my students during my practicum at the Runkle School in Brookline, Massachusetts, I completed an inventory of learners. The inventory of learners was originally assigned by my professor Deborah Samuels-Peretz so that as student teachers, we would be able to recognize what students have in common and how they differ. Artifact 2A is a copy of my inventory. In the inventory, I put the name of each of my students. For every student, I found out their ethnic background, the languages they speak, their family structure, if they have any special needs, and their social economic status. To find out this information, I asked students about their family backgrounds, where they live, and if they speak any different languages at home. I also used my supervising practitioner, Jay, to find out if any of the students had special needs. By compiling the data from my students, I was able to learn more about them as individuals. Conversing with my students while completing the inventory of learners helped me understand what they enjoy doing in their free time, what their favorite subjects are, and what their families are like. Communicating and interacting with my students enabled me to relate to them in a variety of ways. Although the inventory of learners was for one of my courses at Wheelock, it was a beneficial assignment that I will continue to do when I become an educator. I will probably revise the inventory so that it includes more questions about the way the student learns best, and what activities they enjoy inside and outside of school. 

            As an educator, it is important to be familiar with the cultures, histories, and values of families. In order to do this, I met with the parents during parent-teacher conferences. On Thursday, September 15^th, 2012, Jay and I held a parent-teacher conference with the mother and father of one of our students. We learned that over the past year, the student and his family had experienced some major changes. First, the family had a fire in their home that left them without a place to live. They ended up moving into a new home, but the student was sometimes still affected by the memories of the fire. In addition, the parents had just told the child that they would be moving to New Hampshire, and that he would hopefully be attending a private school. As one of the teachers in the classroom, I was thankful that the parents shared this information with us. Knowing about the history of this child was important so that we could support him and his family in any way possible. 

            Communicating with parents regularly is essential as a teacher. Another way to gain information about the lives of students is speaking to the students themselves. When I began student teaching at the Runkle School, I had never seen or heard about the students in my classroom before. It was my responsibility to learn more about them. I thought that a great way to know my students better would be to go to recess with them. Every Monday I was on recess duty. I supervised the whole fourth grade with one other teacher. During this time, I observed my students and discovered what they enjoyed doing during recess. Some of the students liked playing basketball, others played football and many enjoyed playing on the jungle gym. During recess, I was able to play basketball with one of my autistic students. She was not in the classroom very often so having this time with her was important to me. As we played basketball, I cheered her on, and she did the same for me. I was able to learn about what she enjoyed doing when she wasn’t at school, and about which students she considered herself to be friends with. Through this time with her, she was able to feel comfortable with me, and came to me when things bothered her. This was important, because sometimes she had a difficult time expressing herself and how she felt. The fact that this student was able to come to me when someone hurt her feelings, or when she felt something was not right, showed me how important it is to get to know your students’ personal attributes, and how they see the world. 

            Educators must be aware of the range of students’ special needs within their classrooms. This applied to me while entering my pre-practicum at the Manning School in Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts. In my full-inclusive third grade classroom, there were a variety of learning needs and student backgrounds. Students’ reading levels ranged from being able to read at a fifth grade level to a first grade level. My supervising practitioner, Michelle and I were continuously seeking out information that we could use to develop activities for our lower reading level students. As student teacher, I aimed to work my hardest to meet the individual needs of all my students, but it often became tiring and somewhat discouraging. Our students were between the ages of eight and ten, and many of them found not being able to read well dispiriting. Stephen Levy, an educator and author explains in his text Starting from Scratch how frustrating teaching and learning can become if teachers expect every child in their inclusive classroom to take on tasks some may not be able to accomplish. In his book Levy says,

Teachers often labor the assumption that we need to meet the needs of all the children in our classes. We have children who are able to read Shakespeare and children who can barely read at all. We have children that can do algebra and children who cannot do simple addition...We also have an increasing number of children who cannot speak English. I am all for inclusion, but working under these conditions, we barely hold on to the children with pressing academic needs, we throw an occasional bone to challenge the ones who are bored, and we do all we can to keep the children in the middle somewhat productive and involved…I don’t know about you, but I hate feeling guilty. I don’t like the children in my class to take on tasks they cannot accomplish, and I don’t like to either (Levy, 1996, p.3-4).

In an attempt to prevent a guilty conscience, Michelle and I aimed to find books that would be exciting, while still giving struggling readers the practice that they needed in order to continue their reading development. While guiding a reading group, I was paired with one of the English language learners in my classroom. This boy was significantly behind grade level in reading so it was important for me to work with him in a way that would address his developmental and learning needs. For this lesson, I designed activities that would support his individual needs. Artifact 2B is an excerpt from a reflection that I wrote after the lesson. 

            One standard that I am continuing to work on is 2.5 (use knowledge of second language acquisition, developmental variations, disabilities to support physical, emotional, social, cognitive, linguistic, intellectual, and creative development). Although I have had a good amount of English language learners within the two classrooms that I was student teaching in, I am interested in learning more about strategies to support second language children. In the future, I’d like to take a course or attend a seminar about English as a second language. I believe that it is important that all educators are able to support their students and their individual needs. One thing that I find would be beneficial for me to do is to attend Spanish courses. I took Spanish in high school and found that being able to speak two languages is hugely beneficial.. If I were to become fluent in Spanish or another language, it would open so many opportunities for me to bring language into my classroom community and curriculum.

References

Levy, S. (1996). Starting from scratch one classroom builds its own curriculum. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Standard 3

Standard 3     Knowledge of content and integrated curriculum

Educators should know, understand, and use the central concepts and tools of inquiry appropriate to the subject matter and age/grade levels they teach.  They should be able to create meaningful learning experiences that develop children’s understanding of subject matter and increase their skills.  Educators should plan integrated units of curriculum, instruction, and assessment based upon their knowledge of subject matter, curriculum goals, and developmentally appropriate practices among the families, communities, and cultures from which their children come.

Educators have the responsibility of knowing and understanding the concepts and subject matter of what their students should be learning. In order to learn these, teachers should become aware of state, country, and school district standards for learning. Educators must use these standards to help guide them in the planning of lessons and units, to ensure that their students are learning the appropriate material for their grade and age levels. For students to learn to their full potential, educators should plan learning experiences that are meaningful and that will also result in learning. Wiggins and McTighe (2005) outline the process teachers can use for thinking about the outcome first. 

How do we best get everyone equipped? Or we might think of it as building a wise itinerary, using a map: given a destination, what’s the most effective and efficient route? Or we might think of it as planning for coaching, as suggested earlier: What must learners master if they are to effectively perform? What will count as evidence on the field, not merely in drills, that they really get it and are ready to perform with understanding, knowledge, and skill on their own ( p.19).

 The experiences that students have within the classroom should be ones that help them understand the subject matter and that meet curriculum goals. Educators must be aware of the varying cultures, family values, and community beliefs that children bring with them into the classroom. When teachers understand the different aspects of students’ lives, they can prepare lessons and units that are based on standards and curriculum goals, as well as the home lives of the students.

            This standard is important to me as a prospective elementary educator, because I want to create an inclusive environment within my classroom so that all of my students can learn their best. I believe that educators need to adhere to local, state, and national teaching standards, but should also bring the backgrounds of their students into each lesson they teach. When teachers take the time to include aspects of students’ cultures in lessons, the children will learn subject matter and also increase their skills more readily than if the lessons were not made for each child to find a way to understand the concept.

            During my full time student teaching at the Runkle School, I used the Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks to guide me in creating lessons for my students. Every time I had an idea for a lesson, I looked on the Framework’s website to see if what I planned on teaching corresponded with the state standards. This was important for me to do, because it is my responsibility as a future educator to make sure that my students are learning concepts that are appropriate for their age and grade level. Artifact 3A is one of the lessons from the science unit that I taught. As seen on the lesson plan, I used the Massachusetts Frameworks to guide me in making my objectives for the lesson as well as the overall learning goal.

            In addition to always using the Massachusetts Frameworks in my lessons, I also aimed to make my lessons as meaningful as possible for my students. When children are able to remember a lesson, it means that they were truly focused and interested. When students are focused, their understanding of the subject matter increases. One of the lessons that my Runkle School students remember the most is when I read the book The Wall to them around Veteran’s Day. We discussed what it meant to be a Veteran, and how it may feel to lose someone that you love during a time of war. I then introduced the writing lesson that I created to celebrate our veterans and active duty servicemen. I explained to my students that we would be writing to six different active duty marines that were currently stationed in Afghanistan. This intrigued my students and they immediately wanted to know more about them and what their jobs were. My students were interested and focused throughout the mini-unit of letter writing. They brainstormed questions and ideas that they would send to the men, and wrote first and second drafts. In addition, they drew the men pictures and included jokes to send to them. By completing this lesson, my students learned how to write a formal letter in drafts, but more importantly they learned about the importance of corresponding with men and women who help protect their country and promote democracy for others. Letter writing is still a great skill to have despite technological advances within the past decade, and my students also found it to be a fun activity. Artifacts 3B are some of the letters that my students wrote to the Marines in Afghanistan.

During my pre-practicum, I learned how to create units from a class that I attended at Wheelock College. In this course, we used the Massachusetts Frameworks and Understanding by Design to create our units. By looking at the frameworks for third graders, my group decided to produce a social studies unit on the major events and geography of Massachusetts, which is labeled as Artifact 3C. Our unit included goals, essential questions, knowledge, skills, and assessments. Although this unit was not implemented in any of our classrooms, it is a unit that I would use in mine if I were teaching third grade in the future. By using the frameworks and Understanding by Design, we were able to create a unit that included developmentally appropriate practices and concepts. Within the unit there were also various activities that addressed the issues of culture, religion, and community relative to the first people that immigrated to Massachusetts.

Through my student teaching and courses at Wheelock, I have learned how to create meaningful lessons and units that include concepts that are age and grade appropriate. I will continue to educate myself about ways to create lessons and units that allow my students to gain skills and knowledge of subject matter. It will be important for me to apply all of the knowledge I have learned throughout my classes here at Wheelock to my actual teaching.  I’m excited to further my education and learn more about different assessments. The experiences my students have within the classroom shape their knowledge and skills; therefore, I aim to continue to create beneficial lessons that enable my students to remember the concepts.

 

References

Wiggins, G. & McTighe, J. (2005) Understanding by design (2^nd ed.) Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

Standard 4

Standard 4     Educational practices that foster learning, development, and achievement in all of the nation’s children          

Educators should use teaching strategies and educational practices that develop children’s capacity to think critically, analytically, and imaginatively, and extend their knowledge and understanding of the world.  They should provide multiple ways for children to deepen their grasp of concepts, stretch their thinking, express their understanding, and learn critical skills.  They should search for appropriate materials, experiment with new technologies, collaborate with specialists and colleagues, and consult with families and community members to meet the instructional needs of all their students.  Educators should establish caring, inclusive, stimulating, and safe learning communities in which all children feel they belong, and in which they can assume responsibility, take intellectual risks, make mistakes, explore alternatives, participate in decision making and work both collaboratively and independently.  They should understand principles of effective classroom management as well as human motivation and behavior from the foundational sciences of psychology, anthropology, and sociology.  They should understand cognitive processes associated with various kinds of learning and how these processes can be stimulated.  They should also understand language development and the role of language in learning.  Educators should understand principles and techniques, and advantages and limitations associated with various teaching strategies.  They should be able to communicate effectively within many domains (oral and written discourse, mathematical/symbolic representation, non-verbal communication, audiovisual and computer-based technologies), and model effective communication strategies in conveying information and in asking questions.

            The teaching practices that educators use are enormously important because they help promote learning, development, and achievement in students. It is teacher’s responsibility to meet the needs of all students within the classroom. To do so, educators need to provide students with multiple ways to express their understanding, challenge their thinking, and learn necessary life skills. When educators collaborate with others such as student’s families, community members, and other educational professionals, they receive additional support and new ideas that enhance the learning experience. If educators are willing to accept advice from others, they can create an environment that is responsive to every child’s needs.

In addition, educators are also expected to create a classroom community that is safe, stimulating, and inclusive. Students should be able to take risks, make mistakes, explore different ways to solve problems, and assume responsibility. When children feel safe in their classroom, they are able to focus, try new things, and be themselves. It is educator’s responsibility to empower and inspire students so that they can learn their best. Educators need to understand human motivation. All children are motivated in various ways, so teachers should use a variety of teaching strategies that will help students become self-motivated. As a prospective elementary educator, standard four is important to me, because it is my responsibility to learn how to use a variety of teaching strategies that I can enact in different circumstances. There are advantages and disadvantages to each strategy, and as an educator, I must find which one works best for each student in my classroom. It is more than likely that many students will have needs that cannot be met by certain strategies. That means that educators must make sure that they accommodate all of the needs of the students in their classrooms.

In order for educators to meet the needs of their students, it is important that they find out as much background information about each child as possible. Educators must meet with parents, and confer with colleagues to identify the instructional needs of each student. During my practicum at the Runkle School in Brookline, my supervising practitioner (Jay) and I met with one of our student’s parents for a December parent-teacher conference. This was our second conference of the year, so we already knew what the student excelled at and what he still needed some work in. During the parent-teacher conference, the young boy’s parents asked what types of books he should be reading at a fourth grade level. Jay and I explained to the child’s parents that on average, students at the fourth grade level should be reading chapter books. This child was capable of reading chapter books, as was evident by his reading level. His parents then reported that although they did not see him reading chapter books, he was constantly reading graphic novels. This is something Jay and I had both noticed, so we told the parents that we would look into some chapter books that he could check out from the school or classroom library to take home.

The key to success at this point was to find out what our student enjoyed about the graphic novels. He said that he enjoyed the pictures and the exciting, action-packed stories. Next, Jay and I talked with the school librarian about chapter books that would have the same qualities that our student enjoyed in graphic novels. Together, the student and I went to the library to look at some of the books Jay and the librarian suggested. He found one that was just right for him. Once he finished the book, he continued to look for similar books that would spark his interest just like the graphic novels did.      

I believe that our “graphic novel student” was able to take an intellectual risk and explore an alternative to a graphic novel, because he felt safe enough to try something new.  This is partly due to the sense of community that was created in our classroom from the first day of school. When children feel as if they belong to a group, it is much easier for them to be themselves and be open to new things. In my pre-practicum classroom at the Manning School in Jamaica Plain, there was a sense of community that was astonishing. Students took responsibility for their learning, for classroom jobs, and for being kind to others. They knew that they could take risks inside the classroom, make mistakes, and accept the consequences. The classroom teachers and I strived to establish a caring and inclusive environment that would endure for the whole year. Student safety, in the physical, social, cognitive and emotional domains was important. One way we promoted this philosophy was by hanging and reviewing poems and quotes that encouraged a sense of community. One of these sayings is shown in Artifact 4A.

Educators also need to understand that children are motivated in different ways. Each child has different interests and ways of learning, so teachers need to be aware of these differences. Since every child learns differently, it is important for teachers to emphasize  student-centered learning. Parkerson and Parkerson (2008) describe this approach as one in which the teacher serves as guide. “With the learner-centered democratic approach…the teacher guides students through learning experiences and helps them bring meaning to the subjects being studied. Developing student enjoyment, motivation, and interest are important goals of this approach” (p. 173). When educators pay attention to what motivates students, and when they allow each student to learn in his own way, they will struggle less with behavior management.

Children have the ability to motivate themselves, but sometimes they need guidance from an adult figure. For instance, during my full practicum, I was having a difficult time with classroom management. After speaking with my Wheelock College supervisor, we decided it was because of that lack of enthusiasm I showed when teaching the lesson. The lack of enthusiasm that I exhibited during my lessons may have been due to nervousness or to fear of not knowing the material well enough.  I reflected on this feedback, and decided that I would spend the extra amount of time reviewing the material while planning my lesson so that there would be no doubt that I would know what I was teaching, and therefore would have no reason to be nervous. The next time my Wheelock supervisor came to observe me was much better than the last time, because my enthusiasm gave the students reason to be excited. From the excitement, my students were motivated to be active participants in the lesson, and to complete group and individual assignments that followed. Artifact 4B shows my correspondence with my Wheelock Supervisor about how the lesson went compared to the previous visit.

Another way to help motivate students is by using tools such as visuals or manipulatives, to help students with various kinds of learning styles. When educators are able to do this for their students, it allows children to become masters of their work and grasp better understanding of the concept being taught. In addition, adding just the right amount of stimulation in order to support student learning allows children to work in their best way possible. The earlier learning tools are introduced in classrooms, the sooner students are able to understand the way they learn, and what will help promote learning inside and outside of the classroom. During my time at the Manning School, the classroom that I was a student teacher in had all types of tools that could help visual, kinesthetic, and English language learners. In our classroom we had ten students on individual education plans (IEP) in addition to seven English language learners. It was important for us to have signs up in the room identifying important words such as sink, library, computer, and desk. Artifact 4C is a Readers Workshop schedule. This artifact helped both visual and English language learners, because a picture is provided next to the word that explains the activity that they would be participating in.

An important concept for educators to understand is that every teaching strategy has its advantages and weaknesses. What works for one child may not work for the next, so it is vital that educators are able to use many strategies to promote student learning. One student in my fourth grade classroom at the Runkle School was on the Autism spectrum. He also had weak dexterity. For one of my community activities, I asked students to practice their writing by writing about their neighborhood. To begin, I gave them an example. I told them about my Wheelock College neighborhood and even drew a map of the surrounding areas on the board. Students were then sent back to work in their desk clusters. I immediately went over to the student with weak dexterity. I told him that I would like him to draw me a picture of his house, his neighborhood, and anything else he could think of that would give me a good representation of what his neighborhood was like (Artifact 4D). Knowing that drawing was much easier for him than writing, I modified the lesson for him in order for him to remain motivated and interested in the activity. I checked back with him several times to ask him questions that would prompt him to tell me about his neighborhood. In addition, his paraprofessional also had conversations with him during this activity period. While he talked about his house and neighborhood, she wrote down everything he said. This allowed him to draw his neighborhood, which allowed him to explain himself in his own way. He was also able to communicate his thoughts verbally with the paraprofessional and me. The ability to modify lessons for students is important, because everyone learns differently. Educators must understand the limitations and advantages of each strategy they use so that each student’s educational needs can be met.  In this example, I held the disabled student to the same learning standard and curriculum goal as the others, but the difference came in changing the approach that allowed him to be successful.

One part of standard four that I am still developing in is the understanding of first and second language development. I have been introduced to this concept, and I am excited to learn more about it. I believe that bilingualism is a great asset to have in today’s society, and that it can truly help people if they are fluent in more than one language. The process of becoming fluent in more than one language is difficult and it is important for educators to be aware of. Educators must provide English language learners with the support they need. As I continue to learn more about the process of supporting English language learners, it will be useful for me to research strategies to implement in my future classroom. I am interested in taking a course, and possibly becoming certified as an ELL teacher. It is important that I continue to reflect on what strategies I believe work and which ones do not. I will also continue to learn about my students and the way they learn so that I am able to meet their educational needs.

References 

Parkerson, D. H., & Parkerson, J. (2008). The american teacher. New York, NY: Routledge.

Standard 5

Standard 5     Assessment in a multi-racial, multicultural democracy   

  

Educators should understand that assessment is an integral part of teaching, and that children’s developmental and academic interests, accomplishments, and challenges should drive their daily instructional decisions.  They should know that various types of assessments, including self-assessment, have different uses, advantages, limitations, and biases.  They should understand that appropriate assessment must consider the cultural, familial, and community contexts from which children come.  Educators should know how to use a variety of formal and informal assessment tools and strategies to monitor and promote each student’s learning and development; use both formative and summative assessments to determine students’ understanding in each subject area; and be aware of technological tools that can facilitate assessment.

                Assessment is an integral part of teaching. That is why educators must use it in their classrooms. Assessment provides educators with data about what their students’ interests, accomplishments, and challenges are. Educators need to use this information in order to plan their lessons. What students learn from these lessons should be measurable through assessments so that educators can plan and implement future lessons that will meet the needs of every student in the classroom. It is also important for educators to realize that they need to use a variety of assessments because different ones work for different students.

As a future educator, assessment is important to me because it enables me to gain information about my students. It shows me what my students’ strengths and weaknesses are, if they understood the concept, and whether the assessment was a valuable way to test their knowledge. It is vital for me to know about different types of assessments, and which are appropriate for each of my students. The knowledge that I gain from the assessments helps me reflect on how the lesson went, and how I can plan for the next one. Additionally, assessments allow educators to track how their students are doing over a certain amount of time, and to determine if they need extra support. The authors of Understanding by Design, Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe (2005), bring up an essential point in their text about the role of assessment in teaching. They state, 

Teachers are designers. An essential act of our profession is the crafting of curriculum and learning experiences to meet specified purposes. We are also designers of assessments to diagnose student needs to guide our teaching and to enable us, our students, and others (parents and administrators) to determine whether we have achieved our goals (p. 13). 

            During my practicum at the Runkle School in Brookline, Massachusetts, my supervising practitioner asked me to lead literacy lessons. One of the books the class and I read together was Island of the Blue Dolphins, written by Scott O’Dell. Throughout this unit, students were expected to respond to various questions in their reading journals. While I planned these lessons, I pre-read the chapters we would be reading and generated questions that I could ask my students to see what they remembered from the book.

            On the first day of this unit, I implemented a lesson about paragraphs. This lesson included how I wanted the students to set up their journal pages, with their names and the date, and the characteristics of a paragraph. I asked students to participate during this lesson by voicing what they believe a paragraph should look like. After giving them a few examples of strong paragraphs, I sent my students back to their seats to complete their reading response questions. I circulated among my students as they worked to see how they were doing and to provide help to those who needed it. Once the children had been working for about twenty-five minutes, it was time for them to go to recess. When they were at recess, I looked over their reading journals and found that many students had not followed the directions. Artifact 5A is an example of one of my student’s first reading response. He had not set up the page the way I had asked him to, and also did not write in paragraph form. Although I wanted my students to remember ideas from the book, it was also important for them to write in complete sentences in order to create a paragraph. I used the data from this assessment to help me plan my next lesson where we would review what a strong paragraph looked like and compare it to a a weak one. Through implementing this writing assessment, I was able to see what the children understood and what they needed more focused instruction on.

            It is important for educators to meet the needs of all their students. It is evident that each assessment has its advantages, limitations, and biases. Teachers need to be aware of what assessments are appropriate for each of their students, and what they can do to modify them for students if needed.. For example, at the Runkle School we use the Words their Way curriculum for grammar and spelling. This curriculum was set up in a way for students to learn how to spell according to what reading comprehension stage they were at. My students found the Words Their Way activities to be interesting and fun, and many of them excelled at the end of the week spelling tests. Although many of the students found this curriculum to be helpful, there was one child in my classroom that was on the Autism Spectrum who found this program to be especially challenging. In class when we were going over the words, it took him a long time to write them out. Because of this, he often became frustrated, stressed, and unfocused. During the quizzes, the words needed to be repeated several times and although we allotted him more time to complete the tests, he still felt overwhelmed. Through speaking with my supervising practitioner and the student’s paraprofessional, we decided as a team that the aide would give him his tests in a different classroom. We also decided that he would receive fewer words on his tests so that he wouldn’t become overwhelmed. Being able to modify the spelling test of this student helped him because he was able to focus on his words and their spelling, and in turn did better on his assessments.

            In order for an educator to truly know what assessments work for each of their students, they must know the students themselves. For my teaching reading course at Wheelock, we were assigned a student to tutor for half of the semester. On the first day we met with the child, we completed an interest inventory (Artifact 5B) that served as an informal assessment tool. The inventory included questions like: What are your favorite activities? What is your favorite animal? What do you enjoy doing during your spare time? These questions prompted the child to tell me about himself, and enabled me to learn more about the student I would be tutoring. It also gave me ideas for lessons and activities that I could include in our sessions that would promote student learning.

            To assess student learning it is important to use formative and summative assessments to determine student understanding. One way I consistently did this during my lessons was to ask questions throughout and try to involve my students’ thoughts as much as possible in the implementation of the lesson. Students would use their prior knowledge as well as information we would go over during the lesson to explain their thoughts. My math lessons always began with a headline story which would be used as a warm-up. The activity would get my students’ brains turning and would allow them to become focused before the actual lesson started. One of my lessons (Artifact 5C) aimed to teach students about different types of lines (perpendicular, parallel, and intersecting). To teach this lesson, I had many visuals readily available for student use. Students enjoyed coming up to the board when I asked them to draw different types of lines.

            Once the discussion and activity pieces were finished, they continued the lesson individually in their math workbooks. When students were finished they were expected to complete an extension. As a future educator, I believe one of the most important parts of a math lesson is the wrap-up. For this lesson, I asked students to join me on the rug to complete the activity. During this wrap-up, I had students go around in a circle saying one thing they learned from the lesson, or something they still found confusing. Next, we related the lines we learned about to lines that they see in their daily lives. Students were able to recognize that lines on a paper can be related to a desk, a football field, or even an intersection. Both formative and summative assessments were included in this math lesson which provided me with lots of feedback on how the lesson went for each of my students.

            As a prospective elementary educator, I find assessment to be one of the most important components of teaching. It is important because it allows educators to see advantages and disadvantages of certain assessments. It also shows the strengths and weaknesses of lessons and student learning. One component of assessment that I strive to learn more about is how to integrate more technology into my future classroom. I believe that technology is an asset that is now available to educators, but is not widely used. Assessments through technology can help students that find testing to be difficult due to the writing requirements. Certain programs can also help students solidify their knowledge in order to succeed during testing. I also look forward to creating more creative types of assessments that students will find enjoyable and will also help me gain knowledge about my teaching and how and what my students are learning in my classroom. 

References

Wiggins, G. & McTighe, J. (2005) Understanding by design (2^nd ed.) Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

Standard 6

Standard 6     Reflective practice in diverse settings    

     

Educators should continually reflect on their practice to extend their knowledge, improve their teaching, and refine their evolving philosophies of education.  They should stay abreast of developments in the profession, and be able to think critically about various teaching practices.  Educators should continually strengthen their knowledge of subject matter through scholarly study, professional reading, and discussion with colleagues.  They should deepen their understanding of children’s learning and development through classroom-based action research.  Educators should be open to change and innovation, continually engaging in the process of professional growth.

Educators need to have the ability to reflect on their own work. Reflection enables educators to improve their teaching by looking back and deciding what they believe worked for their students and what did not. From there, educators can decide what they need to do in order to meet the needs of their students. Once that decision is made, teachers can participate in various career building activities to improve their teaching. If they take the time to do professional reading, and converse with colleagues, it will improve their knowledge of subject matter and new educational strategies. In addition, educators should also do classroom-based research in order to fully understand child learning and development. Through reflection and research, educators can learn about themselves, their students, and about their professional career. Most importantly, reflection offers teachers the opportunity to grow and learn like their students.

As a prospective elementary educator, reflection is important to me. In most of my education courses at Wheelock I have been expected to complete reading and teaching reflections. Although this was an expectation of me as a student, it was also one the greatest things that could have been assigned, because I was taught the benefits of writing down my thoughts. Reflecting helped me organize my ideas and solve issues that may have risen during my practicum or while reading for class. I believe reflections are a strategy that educators should use in order to voice their beliefs and ideas. They should also be used to write down some event that happened, such as a lesson that didn’t go exactly to plan, in order to find a solution to the problem. Another benefit of reflection is that people are able to write down an idea or event that they may not remember in the future. Looking back at my writing has allowed me to see how much I have grown as a student and professional, as well as some concepts I should continue to work on in order to extend my knowledge.

My pre-practicum took place at the Manning School in Jamaica Plain. I was in an inclusive third grade classroom with two main teachers. For my pre-practicum I was expected to perform three lessons that my Wheelock College Supervisor would observe. I planned for my last lesson to be a full class lesson on the lives of Pilgrims. As I began writing my lesson plan I realized that I was not exactly sure what I wanted my students to learn about the Pilgrims. It had been awhile since I had learned about the Pilgrims, so in order to plan for the lesson I knew I would need to do some research. I started researching online, but none of the information I found appealed to me. After reflecting about my failed attempt of creating a lesson, I went to my supervising practitioner to see if she had any books that I could read to the students to teach them about the lives of the Pilgrims. She suggested that I use the classroom library. After looking at various books such as, Samuel Eaton's Day: A Day in the Life of a Pilgrim Boy and Sarah Morton’s Day: A Day in the Life of a Pilgrim Girl, which were both written by Kate Waters, I realized that there were points from each book that I wanted to include in my lesson. I eventually created a book that I read to the class based on both books that I found in the classroom (Artifact 6A). Although I began my lesson plan without knowing what I wanted my essential questions or learning goals to be, I was able to reflect on what I already knew in order to find out what I needed to know more about. By researching I was able to extend my knowledge in order to complete the lesson.

In my seminar class in the fall, one of the assignments was to post lesson plans on Blogger. Once we posted the lesson, we were expected to reflect on how the lesson went. I found this activity to be extremely helpful throughout my practicum experience because it allowed me to look back to the lesson and really try to pull it apart to see if the class met the set goals. It also enabled me to see if there were teaching or planning strategies that I needed to improve upon. I posted two lesson reflections on November 6^th, 2011, that prove that I reflected on my practice in hopes of improving my teaching. Artifact 6B and 6C are the lesson reflections that I posted.

In the first reflection I noted that the many of the students did not completely understand what the expectations were for the lesson. At the end of my reflection I decided that I would go over the same lesson, which was about the characteristics of a paragraph, so that all the students would be able to form one correctly. In the second lesson reflection, I pondered why the majority of my students were not engaged in the math lesson. I believed this was because I did not give students who already understood the lesson more challenging work. To improve my teaching, I decided that from then on I would design extensions and more challenging work for the students that understood the mathematical concept.

            During the spring of 2011, I wrote my educational philosophy (Artifact 6D). At that time I had completed both of my field placements and I was in the midst of my pre-practicum. One main idea that I discussed was having the ability to create a multicultural environment that would be welcoming to all students. My goal was to set up a supportive environment where students are able to recognize and accept cultures other than their own. I also added that I wanted to create a classroom where there are opportunities for student-directed learning. In addition to multiculturalism and student-directed learning, I also stated that I have a holistic approach to teaching. These three ideas that I included in my educational philosophy were a good basis for me to start with. If I were to rewrite my philosophy now, I would include many of the same ideas, but with a greater focus on student-directed learning. I believe that it is important for the student to develop his own ideas through observation and experimentation. When a student is able to create his own idea and figure out a problem on his own, the child will feel a great sense of satisfaction. 

            Being able to create a philosophy also correlates with keeping up with developments in the profession. As a student studying to be an educator, it is my responsibility to educate myself about new practices of teaching in order to evolve my thinking. One way I began this process was by completing an assignment for my course in Introduction to Elementary Teaching. For this assignment, I researched the history of Native American schooling and some modern perspectives (Artifact 6E). While researching I read a variety of articles and books about Native American schooling and how Native American perspectives can be incorporated into schools. Through this process, I was able to think critically about these new teaching practices, as well as gain more knowledge to support my philosophy of creating a multicultural environment for my students.

            Another way to learn new teaching practices is through conversation with colleagues. In my seminar and special needs courses that coincided with my practicum, my peers and I discussed events and issues that were arising in our classrooms. We conversed about strategies that work in our classrooms and gave each other insight when someone was experiencing an issue that they did not know how to resolve. One of my peers introduced the rest of us to an outline that she made for morning meetings. She told us that having a rubric which she used to plan, helped her organize her thoughts and objectives for the meeting. I thought about using her rubric (Artifact 6F), and implemented it the following week. I found the morning meeting organizer to be extremely helpful for my planning of morning meetings.

            During my practicum I was assigned a project in which I would complete a focus child study. Although this was not a complete classroom-based research project, I did observe one child from my classroom across all developmental domains (physical, social/emotional, language/literacy, and cognitive). I observed him because he is an English language learner that needed some extra help due to his lack of literacy skills in English. In the first part of the project (Artifact 6G), I completed three to four observations under each developmental domain. I used these observations to learn more about the student and the way he learns. By completing this project, I was able to see what kind of activities should be implemented in order to support his learning needs. What I found was that many of the tools he needed in order to learn, such as visuals, aided many of the other students in the classroom as well.

            It is vital that teachers are open to change because the field of education is always evolving. It is also important that educators are able to take criticism from their colleagues and supervisors in order to grow professionally. In the text Positive Discipline, the authors ask,

Have you ever noticed how easy it is to solve someone else’s problem? The reason is obvious. We can bring objectivity and perspective to the problems of others when we are not emotionally involved. Have you also noticed that teachers work in isolation and don’t like to admit to other teachers that they are having a problem for fear of being judged as inadequate? (Nelsen, et al., 2000, p. 217).

When teachers are able to take advice and grow professionally, it benefits the learning of their students. During my practicum, my Wheelock College Supervisor came to my classroom to observe me on five different occasions. She wrote reports for each observation and listed things that I did well, and gave me recommendations on what I needed to improve. As a student teacher, I was able to take the advice from my Wheelock College Supervisor although I was not happy when she was so blunt about the mistakes I was making. Artifact 6H shows the observation report from my lesson on November 14^th, 2011. At the end of the report my supervisor stated, “Begin to refine management strategies, in particular the strategy of creating/posting/referring to class set of behavior expectations.” I took the recommendation seriously, because I believe in order for students to learn and be focused the teacher needs to show presence within the classroom. What I learned from this situation was to use my supervisor’s advice in order to grow in the professional field of education. Although I struggled with my confidence in the classroom most of the semester, by the end I learned how to show my presence.

On her final visit to my classroom, my supervisor voiced how much my confidence had improved from her first visit. In her final write-up (Artifact 6I) she wrote, “Ms. Pihl is to be commended for her openness to help and coaching. Her management of student behavior is strengthening,” and, “Increased management of behavior. It is good to see you exerting more force in your request for certain behaviors.” With the ability to listen to constructive criticism, I was able challenge myself by changing my presence in the class. It was hard for me at first, but with plenty of practice I was able to engage in the process of professional growth.

As a prospective elementary educator I believe that it is my professional responsibility to continue to reflect on my practice to extend my knowledge of subject matter and developments of the profession. To do this, it will be important to be open to change, perform classroom-based research, and to converse with colleagues. Although I have not finished a complete classroom-based research project, I do believe that it is an area in which all educators should have experience in. I look forward to completing research in my future classroom to deepen my understanding of my student learning.   

I have reflected on my work as a student teacher. Through reflection I have accomplished many things and also recognized what I needed to improve upon in order to develop my skills as an educator. It will be important for me to stay involved in research and new developments in the field so that I can experiment with innovative strategies in hopes that they will increase student understanding. When educators reflect on their practice, they are able to recognize the need for improvement, and how they can succeed at it.

References

Nelsen, J., Lott, L., & Glen, S. H. (200). Positive discipline in the classroom. (3 ed.). New York, NY: Random House.