What I Learned In My Initial Individual Learning Program

At the beginning of this program, I had no clue what I would be learning. I wanted to learn more about planning curriculums for my content area. I wanted to provide instruction that would benefit all of my students. Over the course of this program, I have witnessed myself become a wiser educator. I have learned about the different aspects of this field and have applied what I have learned to this field. I have gained a newfound understanding of what it means to be a teacher. My job is to “cause successful learning related to school, program, and course goals”, “cause greater interest in the subject”, and “cause greater confidence, feelings of self-efficacy, and intellectual direction in all learners” (Wiggins, 2010). Walden University has prepared

The first goal I set for myself was to help my students identify two strengths in English. At the time, I had quite a few students who needed to retake that STAAR English I or II state assessment. Over the course of the school year, I was able to help students identify at least three areas in English where they had made improvements. Many of the students who were retesting lacked motivation in English class because of the countless times they had taken and failed the assessment. One way I attempted to motivate students was to include them in the assessment process. Anne Davies (2007) believes that “when students are involved in the classroom assessment process, they are more engaged and motivated, and they learn more” (p. 31). In class, the students and I dissected the STAAR assessments and were able to identify common question stems and question topics. I allowed students to create similar test questions for class assessments. Students were surprised that they learned about English throughout this process. Students viewed their scores on district-wide assessments for each marking period. Students found improvements in reading comprehension, short answer response, revising and editing as well as essay

I reported that I did not feel that my student-to-student interactions were as civil as they could be. Throughout this program, one thing that I have learned is that it is impossible for students to learn if they do not feel safe and valued in their learning environment (Jones & Jones, 2016, p.7). The feeling of safety must not only come from the interactions with the teacher, but also from the interactions with classmates. Jones & Jones (2016) report “feeling valued, cared for, and supported by others in a community is a positive motivating force that promotes attachment to the group and commitment to community norms and values” (p. 93). In order to make students feel like part of the community, I provided opportunities for students to get to know one another. At the beginning of the year, students completed several activities where discourse was the main focus. As part of the activities, I taught social skills to help students learn to converse with others. As a class we discussed, looking each other in the eye to show sincerity, listening closely to what others have to say, as well as how to respectfully disagree with what someone has said. By setting the expectations for how to interact early in the school year, I found that my classes felt and functioned like respectful