I had the privilege of working with Michael Fauth for eight weeks to fulfill one semester of my block teaching requirements for Western Illinois University. Prior to Mr. Fauth’s class I had never taught a class before, therefore I was nervous and anxious at the beginning of my experience. However, that quickly dissipated because of his thorough directions and detailed feedback both written and verbal. I have utilized and internalized Mr. Fauth’s praise and constructive criticism on the lessons I have created over the eight weeks I worked with him. I have taken this feedback and will continue to apply it to lessons I teach in the future. I have only become stronger as a teacher candidate from working with Mr. Fauth and his class.
I absorbed many teaching strategies and classroom management skills while observing Mr. Fauth interact with his students. One instructional strategy Mr. Fauth does well and often in his class is modeling. One way he does this is through his modeling of critical thinking skills. I have observed his students become more critical about the sources they read and are always encouraged to ask questions. Another strategy that is used often in Mr. Fauth’s classroom is reciprocal teaching. Classroom discussion is a large part of the class and Mr. Fauth creates an atmosphere in which the students feel comfortable about sharing their ideas,
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thoughts, and opinions. Mr. Fauth also provides students with opportunities to work in small discussion groups to help each other summarize and clarify the texts meaning. I have observed this to be effective because the students are able to teach each other in their own words which has benefited students who have a more difficult time making meaning and connections within the texts. The skills Mr. Fauth models for his students are not only beneficial for them in history class as they can also be applied to many other subjects and the real world. Mr. Fauth has instilled in his students the importance of being an active citizen and gives his students the tools to be positive members of the community. I have gained confidence in my classroom presence and teaching ability through working in his class.
Mr. Fauth has encouraged me throughout my experience to try new teaching strategies with students that I have not previously thought of. I believe teachers who have the opportunity to work with Mr. Fauth will also benefit greatly from his drive to encourage others and his ability to collaborate on new ideas and strategies to incorporate in the classroom. The positive experience I had while working with Mr. Fauth and his class reinforces my dream and desire to continue to work towards my goal to become a
teacher.
The article, “Critical Thinking? You Need Knowledge” by Diane Ravitch, discusses how in the past people have been deprived from the thinking process and abstract thinking skills. Students need to be given more retainable knowledge by their teachers to improve their critical thinking skills. (Ravitch).
Teach for America is an important program for today's and future education because it establishes contemporary thoughts and teachings. Like Kuhn states, “society is changing so fast” (Kuhn). Due to this belief, education is transforming and it is the teacher's priority to keep up with this pace. Teachers from Teach for America, or even great teachers within current education, are constantly reinventing their teaching styles and les...
Snyder and Snyder’s article indicates that critical thinking is a skill that can be learned, developed, and practiced through instructions. The authors also discussed that critical thinking shall be regularly integrated into the curriculum for the students to be able to participate in active learning. In this journal article, it proposes that by using instructional strategies, students can actively engage themselves in the learning process instead of solely depending on memorization and lecture. Learning by memorization isn’t acquiring knowledge or skills; it will be merely forgotten
The poem "Easter Wings" by George Herbert is a poem full of deep imagery not only in its words but also in the visual structure of the stanzas. In Herbert’s poem why does he use a shape poem? Because he wanted this poem to have many different levels and meanings. Herbert also used huge amounts of mental imagery so that the reader can find new truths and meanings each time he or she reads it. The poem tells of the poets desire to fly with Christ as a result of Jesus' sacrifice, death and resurrection.
Mrs. Kari Brandon is the teacher I aspire to become. She is passionate, smart, and driven. This is a teacher who knows that paper and pencil are not the only way to teach a child. She aims to be a teacher who makes a difference in a child’s life by teaching them to love themselves and school. She goes above and beyond every day in her classroom and devoted her life to teaching. The world needs more people like this who care and can make a difference—not just with how she teaches school, but also how she stood up for that little girl that suffers every day at home. She showed her that she is loved, she is valuable, and she is smart. Brandon’s teaching style goes to show that there are multiple ways children learn and being active and moving
Through exploring multiple learning theories and reflecting on my own teaching beliefs, I have developed my own theory of learning. As I developed my theory, I wanted to consider what it takes to be a highly effective teacher. An effective teacher must have mastery of instructional strategies, classroom management, classroom curriculum design, and use assessments as feedback (Laureate Education, 2010a). By using a variety of instructional strategies, teacher’s can meet the learning styles of all the students in the classroom. Effective classroom management can lead to students feeling safe and more willing to take risks. When a student feels comfortable to take risk, then learning will increase and the students’ confidence will grow. Classroom management also creates order in the environment, which will allow effective learning to occur. By understanding curriculum, the teacher can target skills and causes learning to take place. Teachers need to deliberately plan lessons around standards and specific goals based on curriculum and the school’s mission (Marzano, 2010). Assessments need to be use to guide instruction and used as a “method for improvement and mastery,” (Marzano, 2010). While determining my own theory of learning, I believe that I need to consider what effective teachers demonstrate in the classroom.
Although my decision to pursue my master 's in education is a recent one, teaching has always been my goal, and the past few years as a substitute teacher, summer camp counselor, and informal science educator has secured that fact. I have been lucky enough to have had many different experiences in such a short time as a substitute teacher, and I can sincerely say that I am glad to have had these experiences before deciding to commit to li...
Helping students to learn and grow is a foundational belief of what I will strive to accomplish as a teacher. Every single student has their own individual talents and strengths and I plan to cultivate these strengths to help students become the best they can be. As every student’s learning is extremely important to me, I believe in providing an engaging and welcoming learning environment which students truly enjoy. This will always be a safe and positive environment for all students. My teaching strategies include elements of clarity, variability, enthusiasm, and opportunities to learn and discover. These are essential components I possess and will continually work to improve as an educator.
Dr. Ponder walks on our first day of reflection. This day we would have to speak about how the goals of this class would benefit us personally and professionally. Being an English major it is easy for me to see how reading, writing, and arguing will benefit me in the future because that is my major is all about. My response to these questions during reflection were always the same. By being English major means always reading, writing, and arguing. However, I did not realize that these skills would benefit me now with my current job. I have had many times where I had to read e-mail and manuals that made no sense to me. I have had to write documents for my bosses as well as sometimes constructive argue with customers who want us to give in under
In this course I experienced an important change in my beliefs about teaching; I came to understand that there are many different theories and methods that can be tailored to suit the teacher and the needs of the student. The readings, especially those from Lyons, G., Ford, M., & Arthur-Kelly, M. (2011), Groundwater-Smith, S., Ewing, R., & Le Cornu, R. (2007), and Whitton, D., Barker, K., Nosworthy, M., Sinclair, C., Nanlohy, P. (2010), have helped me to understand this in particular. In composing my essay about teaching methods and other themes, my learning was solidified, my knowledge deepened by my research and my writing skills honed.
Ornstein, A. C., Thomas, J., & Lasley, I. (2000). Strategies for effective teaching. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Brown, Collins and Duguid (1989) has reinforced that point by stating that “learning is social and not isolated, as people learn while interacting with each other through shared activities and through language, as they discuss, share knowledge, and problem-solve during these tasks.” Therefore, students are enabled to obtain, develop and use tools that assist in their critical thinking as they collaborate in their learning environments. (Brown, Collin and Dugrid, 1989)
These past seven have whizzed by quicker than (insert metaphor), and it 's hard to believe that I am one fourth of the way through my sophomore year. This class has been without a doubt my favorite class I have taken at Concordia so far. At the beginning of the semester I was overwhelmed looking through all of the assignments that the eight weeks entailed, and was not too excited about taking the class online instead of on campus. However, I quickly discovered that I loved sharing my thoughts and ideas on the discussion board, and enjoyed reading the various insights my peers had to offer. I loved the fact that instead of simply learning about Piaget, and Vygotsky 's theories we were learning how to apply them into a classroom setting. Although all the concepts and topics were valuable the ones that significantly changed my perspective on teaching were those on learning styles, the impact of poverty, and trauma-informed care.
Paul, R., & Elder, L. (2006). Critical Thinking: Tools for Taking Charge of Your Learning and
Every classroom is filled with different students and different ways of learning. No two function the same. Therefore, as a teacher, you must create your own learning atmosphere. In my classroom, I hope to have a rich learning environment that corresponds to children of any race and cultural, those who are English Language learners (ELLs) and students with special needs. Furthermore, my classroom should also be a place of collaboration between the teacher and family. Building this strong relationship is important for everyone in the classroom.