Introduction
My role in the ongoing TEMP Project (Teacher Education Model Programs) proved to be an experience like none other I have had in my years in education. My own training and experience has taken place in classrooms ranging from 7th grade to college undergraduate literacy courses. Observing an elementary math class ensured I would be a wide-eyed learner absorbing that fascinating environment.
To be sure, I was a bit nervous as I pondered the prospect of observing an elementary classroom, for I bow at the feet of elementary school teachers and their endurance and dedication to our children. What drew me to the TEMP Project was the possibility of working with a professional development model that not only addresses targeted needs of the individual school identified from the disaggregation of assessment data, but also allows teachers to learn from observing one another as peers. While, historically, teachers have gone into their classrooms and closed their doors, responsible in virtual isolation for the planning, implementation, and assessment of curriculum, this is changing. Recent reform efforts have included teacher collaboration as an integral part of the effort to improve our schools, and as Grant and Murray (2002) assert, “There is substantial evidence that teacher collaboration can be a source of teachers’ professional development, and schools where extensive collaboration is the norm are often more successful than those where teachers collaborate less” (186).
Pre-service teachers are not often taught the skills needed to examine data for the purposes of improving curriculum and instruction. Heritage and Chen (2005) consider the
need for using data to inform school improvement. They note that “…...
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“Educational practice is necessarily based on the assumption that students are willing to engage in educational activities that they will lend their cooperation and support to the process in their education. Students who do not offer such cooperation, who are unmotivated, present significant challenges” (Williams and Ivey, 2001, 75). High school school-children show the most trouble with cooperation and motivation; they only have a few more years of schooling and for some pupils that is the end of their education. That was one of the main reasons why I wanted to observe a high school classroom; the other main reason is because I have actually considered teaching high school grades. I observed Ms. Edith Stone and her Algebra II mathematics classroom.
Twenty-four children were observed for this study. Half of the children were male and the other half were female, all aged between three and four years old, and enrolled in a private southern California preschool that is located on a private college campus. They were all part of a racially diverse classroom, which I drew from in a manner that allowed for a representative sample to be derived.
On April 14th, I got the opportunity to observe Mrs.Osborne's 11th grade AVID class and her 12th grade AP Government class. Mrs. Osborne is a social studies and AVID teacher at Reynolds High School. She has been teaching for 33 years. In the classroom the desks are set up in rows facing the front of the room. Mrs.Osborne's desk is placed in the back corner of the room. On the left side of the room there was a white board and on it written out was each classes learning objective of the day, the days agenda, and what the homework for the day is. At the front of the room students grades are posted by student ID number on a board. The left side of the room had labeled drawers with supplies.
The classroom I observed Tommy is in has about 20 children and two teachers. The age range for this class is between 36- 48 months and Tommy is 47 months. The purpose of this observation is to assess the child to see what appropriate skills based on their age they are able to accomplish. If children are struggling to meet the appropriate brackets the teacher is to set goals that are to help the children become successful and accomplish the goals. In this paper I will be talking about the Carolina Assessment Log and what SMART goals I think may be appropriate for Tommy.
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1. I appreciate the emphasis on learning in and from practice. I am not sure how transferable the examples are to the field of teacher education because of the complexity of the teacher’s work, but there is a value in the overall purpose of the study. For example, on page 3 the authors present how physical therapists learned their work in the 90’s. I wonder if the same method is used
So, how does a preservice teacher learn to do that? Same as with any other skill - practice. And talking with and observing colleagues. And taking classes.
Kevin seems to enjoy the guitar and continues to be actively engaged in classroom activities. Presently, we’re working on keeping a steady beat while playing different strumming patterns (beat/rhythm discrimination). I look forward to working with Kevin in the second half of the school year.
Marzano, R.J. (2007). The art and science of teaching. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
I completed my observation hours at a local middle school. I shadowed the math inclusion teacher for the sixth through eighth grade. I was able to observe three different classrooms and many different forms of instruction. Observing these three different classrooms gave me an insight to what a successful classroom management plan should be. The overall atmosphere of the class begins with the teacher’s attitude and how they approach learning. An effective classroom should be organized, efficient, and valuable class time should not be wasted.
There were several data collections that were used that included term assessment projects, reflection journals, portfolios, and weekly evaluations. During the semester random interviews with the pre-service teacher by the university professors took place along with observations. This collection process was taken over the course of a semester. The pre-service teachers put together lessons that were ...
In electing to observe a kindergarten class, I was hoping to see ‘real world’ examples of the social development, personality types and cognitive variation found within the beginning stages of “Middle Childhood” as discussed within our text.
The students that I observed in the classroom were of middle to high school. I went to see 8th, freshman, 10th , and seniors classes, they seemed excited and very curious to why I was there. The middle school was more alive and rambunctious while I observed them. The High school kids were more relaxed, more comical. Some were paying attention while others seemed tuned out to the lecture or involved in socialization with friends within the class. By the end of the class Mr. Hasgil had restored the attention of everyone by using tactics such as history jeopardy with candy as the prize with the high school kids. In both he middle school and high school the kids were mostly Caucasian with a mixture of black, Asian , and Hispanic in the classes.
The school that I visited was new. It was the first year of the school opening. The school board had combined two schools into one, so the students had to adjust to their new environments and new individuals. They seemed to be getting along well with each other. Since the school is new the teacher has to adjust to new problems that araise. Times for the subjects and times for using the computer labs change. So the teacher must always be fixable for anything. In this observation of this classroom I learned about the enjoyment of teaching. How you have to adapt to each of the students.
Moreover teacher preparation programs are on the rise. Recommend by the Department of Education these programs seek to support educators individually and in teams by implementing training with technology, resources and learning experiences that improve, inspire, and empower educators to provide effective learning environments for all ...