IC Standards 1-5
|
As a graduate student of Ithaca College, I strive to base my professional practice mainly around the 10 professional standards set forth by my graduate program standards. In my time at IC, I practiced as a student teacher at two wonderful schools that helped me immensely in expanding my understanding of my own practice. In my first placement, I taught 5 periods of 93 seventh graders at Horseheads Middle School, a fairly large suburban school of mostly middle-class students. In my second placement, I went to Spencer Van Etten High School, a smaller rural school in which about half of all students come from lower socioeconomic backgrounds. While there, I taught 3 U.S. History classes of about 71 eleventh graders, and assisted my mentor teacher with other duties including our student advisory period, a college-credit senior economics class, and an elective sports history class.
|
Standard One: Learner Development
"Teacher understands how learners grow and develop, recognizing that patterns of learning and development vary individually within and across the cognitive, linguistic, social, emotional, and physical areas, and designs and implements developmentally appropriate and challenging learning experiences."
The purpose of education itself is lost if not all students can benefit from it. It is one of my most sacred duties to ensure that all of my students' needs are met by my instruction. To meet their needs, I employ strategies based around the research of Gardner (1983), and strive to create lessons that appeal to the multiple intelligences suggested by his research. In the course of my studies pursuing my masters degree I studied under Dr. Peter Martin and Dr. Felice Atesoglu-Russell in order to gain a comprehensive understanding of teaching both learners with special needs, and those with a developing grasp of the English language. My starting point in making sure all students can effectively engage with my lessons is always to ensure they have appropriate reference materials such as transcriptions of notes which they can understand. In addition, I have tried in my experience thus far, to set aside as much time as possible outside of class to meet with students and discuss any misunderstandings they may have.
In planning my lessons, I always base my learning objectives alongside the hierarchical model of cognition suggested by Bloom (1956-1964), otherwise known as Bloom's Taxonomy. I use my knowledge of my students, gathered from my personal connections with them, to identify key areas of growth and to plan accordingly. In addition, I try to employ collaborative learning as much as possible in my practice, so that students can gain from one another's perspectives and input. Many of my lessons aim to allow students to construct meaning together through conversation and collaboration, as suggested by the studies done by Pask (1970) regarding conversation theory, as well as those on the zone of proximal development by Vygotsky (1978), and the theories of social constructivism suggested by Von Glasserfeld (1988). I use this research and theory in concert with my philosophy, based around gaining as much knowledge of my students as possible, in order to continually develop appropriately challenging lessons for them.
Artifact for Standard One
In my second placement I set up a meeting after class with a student who was having trouble understanding one of the foundational concepts of the lesson segment we were progressing through, a discussion of the Cold War employing storytelling as a means of teaching history. This particular student has an IEP for an emotional disturbance as well as attention related issues and a low IQ. He has tried several times to pass the global regents exam and thus far has not been successful. From left to right, you can see here the notes I took in the beginning of the meeting, outlining his misunderstanding, a brief explanation of how what we would go over together, and how we would proceed moving forward. On the second page, I illustrated the concepts I was explaining to him, you can see his responses and input on the first and second pages written (and drawn) in green. I presented the student with a simplified explanation of the two competing ideologies of the Cold War, and then had him explain the concept to me in his own words. I closed the meeting by instructing him to speak with his special education aide, and what to speak with him about. After the meeting, I wrote in my personal teaching journal about what steps we could take moving forward to ensure he could keep up with future lessons. For a more detailed version of these images, you can look at the PDF version below.
"Teacher understands how learners grow and develop, recognizing that patterns of learning and development vary individually within and across the cognitive, linguistic, social, emotional, and physical areas, and designs and implements developmentally appropriate and challenging learning experiences."
The purpose of education itself is lost if not all students can benefit from it. It is one of my most sacred duties to ensure that all of my students' needs are met by my instruction. To meet their needs, I employ strategies based around the research of Gardner (1983), and strive to create lessons that appeal to the multiple intelligences suggested by his research. In the course of my studies pursuing my masters degree I studied under Dr. Peter Martin and Dr. Felice Atesoglu-Russell in order to gain a comprehensive understanding of teaching both learners with special needs, and those with a developing grasp of the English language. My starting point in making sure all students can effectively engage with my lessons is always to ensure they have appropriate reference materials such as transcriptions of notes which they can understand. In addition, I have tried in my experience thus far, to set aside as much time as possible outside of class to meet with students and discuss any misunderstandings they may have.
In planning my lessons, I always base my learning objectives alongside the hierarchical model of cognition suggested by Bloom (1956-1964), otherwise known as Bloom's Taxonomy. I use my knowledge of my students, gathered from my personal connections with them, to identify key areas of growth and to plan accordingly. In addition, I try to employ collaborative learning as much as possible in my practice, so that students can gain from one another's perspectives and input. Many of my lessons aim to allow students to construct meaning together through conversation and collaboration, as suggested by the studies done by Pask (1970) regarding conversation theory, as well as those on the zone of proximal development by Vygotsky (1978), and the theories of social constructivism suggested by Von Glasserfeld (1988). I use this research and theory in concert with my philosophy, based around gaining as much knowledge of my students as possible, in order to continually develop appropriately challenging lessons for them.
Artifact for Standard One
In my second placement I set up a meeting after class with a student who was having trouble understanding one of the foundational concepts of the lesson segment we were progressing through, a discussion of the Cold War employing storytelling as a means of teaching history. This particular student has an IEP for an emotional disturbance as well as attention related issues and a low IQ. He has tried several times to pass the global regents exam and thus far has not been successful. From left to right, you can see here the notes I took in the beginning of the meeting, outlining his misunderstanding, a brief explanation of how what we would go over together, and how we would proceed moving forward. On the second page, I illustrated the concepts I was explaining to him, you can see his responses and input on the first and second pages written (and drawn) in green. I presented the student with a simplified explanation of the two competing ideologies of the Cold War, and then had him explain the concept to me in his own words. I closed the meeting by instructing him to speak with his special education aide, and what to speak with him about. After the meeting, I wrote in my personal teaching journal about what steps we could take moving forward to ensure he could keep up with future lessons. For a more detailed version of these images, you can look at the PDF version below.
|
|
|
| Journal and Meeting Notes. |
Standard Two: Learner Differences
"The teacher uses understanding of individual differences and diverse cultures and communities to ensure inclusive learning environments that enable each learner to meet high standards."
In We Want to do More than Survive (2019) Dr. Bettina Love uses her own experiences in education to highlight the enormous impact which students' background can have on their academic pursuits. She highlights what should be obvious, which is that all students are individuals, and their individual background can have a profound effect on their learning. Furthermore, she shows us how our educational system has failed to treat students as individuals with individual needs. Reading my teaching philosophy, one can see that my own teaching practice is centered around getting to know my students as individuals, and using what I know about them to influence our day-to-day interactions, and the lessons I plan for them.
Understanding the differences between students as individuals not only allows me to better accommodate them, using Universal Design principles as suggested by Scigliano (2010), but also makes the student-teacher relationship more enjoyable and more fulfilling. I use Scigliano's "Three Ring Circus" as a guide to determine how I can most effectively cater to the needs of my students according to their learning profile, and create activities that are best suited to their individual abilities. I employ a unique way of doing this, which you can view here, or by going to the "proprietary tools" page. This artifact represents compliance with a multitude, if not all of the Ithaca College standards for teachers and is one of the more notable achievements of my time in both my placements.
"The teacher uses understanding of individual differences and diverse cultures and communities to ensure inclusive learning environments that enable each learner to meet high standards."
In We Want to do More than Survive (2019) Dr. Bettina Love uses her own experiences in education to highlight the enormous impact which students' background can have on their academic pursuits. She highlights what should be obvious, which is that all students are individuals, and their individual background can have a profound effect on their learning. Furthermore, she shows us how our educational system has failed to treat students as individuals with individual needs. Reading my teaching philosophy, one can see that my own teaching practice is centered around getting to know my students as individuals, and using what I know about them to influence our day-to-day interactions, and the lessons I plan for them.
Understanding the differences between students as individuals not only allows me to better accommodate them, using Universal Design principles as suggested by Scigliano (2010), but also makes the student-teacher relationship more enjoyable and more fulfilling. I use Scigliano's "Three Ring Circus" as a guide to determine how I can most effectively cater to the needs of my students according to their learning profile, and create activities that are best suited to their individual abilities. I employ a unique way of doing this, which you can view here, or by going to the "proprietary tools" page. This artifact represents compliance with a multitude, if not all of the Ithaca College standards for teachers and is one of the more notable achievements of my time in both my placements.
|
Standard Three: Learning Environments
"The teacher works with others to create environments that support individual and collaborative learning, and that encourages positive social interaction, active engagement in learning, and self motivation." Learning environment goes much farther than the physical space in which learning takes place. Much more vital to the development of a positive learning environment is the interactions between students, and between students and the teacher. In my teaching I create situations and activities in which students can engage with the learning together, in accordance with the foundations for constructivism laid out by Vygotsky (1962), which combined with the work of Piaget and Bruner, suggests a number of benefits to students learning from one another as they discuss and solve problems collaboratively. A positive and beneficial learning environment relies on working with students, and having students work together, to achieve a high degree of relational capacity. This allows for more meaningful, and more valuable discussions in lessons, and encourages critical thinking among peers. I have also worked to foster these positive relationships by planning lessons that include games and other team activities with which students must work together in order to succeed. |
A photograph of my classroom from my second placement, a fairly small room with two black boards, one white board, and one Activ Inspire Smartboard.
|
Standard Four: Content Knowledge
"The teacher understands the central concepts, tools of inquiry, and structures of the discipline he teaches and creates learning experiences that make these aspects of the discipline accessible and meaningful for learners to assure mastery of the content."
In both of my student teaching placements, one thing that my mentors have never questioned or expressed concern about is my content knowledge. As a lifelong student of history, I have managed to amass an extensive arsenal of historical knowledge. I have also managed to create a very strong classroom presence due to my experience in public speaking, presenting, and performing in front of audiences. I employ a storytelling approach to teaching history, in which I seek to create entertaining, relatable, and engaging learning experiences for students. In the vein of content knowledge, I have studied extensively and done original research, which I presented to an audience of faculty and students in order to graduate from Presbyterian College.
Another crucial part of my practice is reflecting on my practice, and making improvements to the way I present concepts to my students. I believe in constantly looking at what I am doing, and the manner in which I do it in order to continually pursue excellence, a central theme of many of the history courses I took at Presbyterian College under Sumner and Nelson. In order to continually improve my practice, I keep track of my efforts in a reflection journal, and I ask students directly how I can improve lessons to suit their individual learning styles.
Artifact for Standard Four
In both of my placements, I sought to create meaningful history lessons, often utilizing a storytelling approach to make history engaging and fun for students. In an effort to continually improve my practice, I consulted my mentor teacher, advisors from my program and my students themselves regularly to identify areas for growth and continued development. On the left are two forms of student feedback from my second placement in which I gave a short structured form in three parts, which was designed to get a bearing on what aspects of my teaching style students were engaging with and which aspects could be improved or replaced. In the first (top left) the student highlights that my teaching style is engaging and relatable. The student then makes reference to a lesson in which the internet failed, and we were not able to watch a video that had been a focal point of the lesson for the day. In this instance, I was able to adapt to the adversity and teach the lesson without the help of the video, but I remarked in my reflection journal that the improvised lesson was not as engaging without the video. Overall, it was not a bad day for my students insofar as the learning objectives for the day were still met, but there was a brief moment where I had to reset and adjust my plan. The second (Bottom Left), a student remarks that I can sometimes talk a little too fast for her to follow, as she is a student that takes very detailed notes in class. She then references an aspect of my storytelling approach, which is the use of impressions to make the lesson more interesting and engaging for students. On the top right is a letter that a student in my second placement wrote me before I left that school in which he gives his overall impression of my practice, which I very much appreciated. In his letter, he mentioned that it might be beneficial to my students if I would review prior concepts more in class. As one can see from the feedback form from my second placement on the bottom right, I took this suggestion to heart and made it a part of my style moving forward.
"The teacher understands the central concepts, tools of inquiry, and structures of the discipline he teaches and creates learning experiences that make these aspects of the discipline accessible and meaningful for learners to assure mastery of the content."
In both of my student teaching placements, one thing that my mentors have never questioned or expressed concern about is my content knowledge. As a lifelong student of history, I have managed to amass an extensive arsenal of historical knowledge. I have also managed to create a very strong classroom presence due to my experience in public speaking, presenting, and performing in front of audiences. I employ a storytelling approach to teaching history, in which I seek to create entertaining, relatable, and engaging learning experiences for students. In the vein of content knowledge, I have studied extensively and done original research, which I presented to an audience of faculty and students in order to graduate from Presbyterian College.
Another crucial part of my practice is reflecting on my practice, and making improvements to the way I present concepts to my students. I believe in constantly looking at what I am doing, and the manner in which I do it in order to continually pursue excellence, a central theme of many of the history courses I took at Presbyterian College under Sumner and Nelson. In order to continually improve my practice, I keep track of my efforts in a reflection journal, and I ask students directly how I can improve lessons to suit their individual learning styles.
Artifact for Standard Four
In both of my placements, I sought to create meaningful history lessons, often utilizing a storytelling approach to make history engaging and fun for students. In an effort to continually improve my practice, I consulted my mentor teacher, advisors from my program and my students themselves regularly to identify areas for growth and continued development. On the left are two forms of student feedback from my second placement in which I gave a short structured form in three parts, which was designed to get a bearing on what aspects of my teaching style students were engaging with and which aspects could be improved or replaced. In the first (top left) the student highlights that my teaching style is engaging and relatable. The student then makes reference to a lesson in which the internet failed, and we were not able to watch a video that had been a focal point of the lesson for the day. In this instance, I was able to adapt to the adversity and teach the lesson without the help of the video, but I remarked in my reflection journal that the improvised lesson was not as engaging without the video. Overall, it was not a bad day for my students insofar as the learning objectives for the day were still met, but there was a brief moment where I had to reset and adjust my plan. The second (Bottom Left), a student remarks that I can sometimes talk a little too fast for her to follow, as she is a student that takes very detailed notes in class. She then references an aspect of my storytelling approach, which is the use of impressions to make the lesson more interesting and engaging for students. On the top right is a letter that a student in my second placement wrote me before I left that school in which he gives his overall impression of my practice, which I very much appreciated. In his letter, he mentioned that it might be beneficial to my students if I would review prior concepts more in class. As one can see from the feedback form from my second placement on the bottom right, I took this suggestion to heart and made it a part of my style moving forward.
|
|
Standard Five: Application of Content
"Teacher understands how to connect concepts and uses differing perspectives to engage learners in critical thinking, creativity, and collaborative problem solving related to authentic local and global issues."
"Teacher understands how to connect concepts and uses differing perspectives to engage learners in critical thinking, creativity, and collaborative problem solving related to authentic local and global issues."
Applying content was something that I wanted to take a look at in my student teaching placements was how to apply content in ways that would make encourage critical thinking among my students. One way I thought of to encourage this would be to start each day with some sort of activity aimed at encouraging discussion and critical thought between students. In my middle school placement, I did this by starting each day with a history quote of the day, which was selected to relate to prior concepts we had discussed. I believe strongly in the problem-based approach to learning of Bruner (1961). The history quote of the day was a small activity that employed this approach, in which I would ask students would read the history quote, and then discuss what was meant by the historical figure when he or she said it. I had originally planned to continue doing the history quote of the day in my second placement, but it was replaced by something that my mentor teacher had already been doing with his students which was a review of current events at the start of class. This was similar to the quote of the day activity in that it asked students to connect current events to what we were discussing in our lessons.
My lessons seek to accomplish the learning objectives I set for the unit based on Bloom's three domains. I learn everything I can about the learning needs of my students, and their learning styles as we approach lessons together. In implementing instruction I make use of the scaffolding techniques suggested by Vygotsky, wherein I support learners to the point where they can stand for themselves. My lessons generally call on students to work together to routinely call on prior knowledge in order to make connections between what we are discussing and what we have discussed. In this way, we establish continuity between themes and features of our story as we progress together. In this way, we work within students' zones of proximal development and develop within them the skills they need to stand alone as historians.
[[Not Found]]
My lessons seek to accomplish the learning objectives I set for the unit based on Bloom's three domains. I learn everything I can about the learning needs of my students, and their learning styles as we approach lessons together. In implementing instruction I make use of the scaffolding techniques suggested by Vygotsky, wherein I support learners to the point where they can stand for themselves. My lessons generally call on students to work together to routinely call on prior knowledge in order to make connections between what we are discussing and what we have discussed. In this way, we establish continuity between themes and features of our story as we progress together. In this way, we work within students' zones of proximal development and develop within them the skills they need to stand alone as historians.
[[Not Found]]
