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 15th, 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.
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