My Classroom Dissection

My curriculum observation is an analysis of a third grade class in a public charter school. Charter schools are known for their strong core curriculum and creative elective courses and teaching methods. I also selected this particular class setting and student group because of the questioning and dialogue commonly used in the learning process at this grade level. I speculated that the in-class interactions would consist of open-ended questions and reflective dialogue. This extends the learning process and allows for better assessment of student comprehension of the material. My goal was to pinpoint teaching strategies and theories being used by the teacher and determine their effectiveness.

Beginning my career at Western Carolina University, I had no idea the impact writing has on future educators. It is extremely important to have an effective writing strategy in all aspects of teaching. You will be required to write lesson plans, referrals, and letters home to the parents. Each of these have different strategies, and all of these are used simultaneously throughout the school year. Throughout the essay I will explain how to do each of these writings, and also give step by step instructions on an effective way to make sure it is done correctly.

Writing can be a daunting task for students in any grade. Teachers have to implement new basic components for those struggling to write. Finding new methods and being able to execute them requires teachers to design lesson plans that help

Teaching is moving from an individual to a collective activity. The level of agreement and alignment across classrooms around powerful practices are increasing. The school is aligning its organizational resources around support for instructional improvement.

Planning and teaching a writing workshop for our SPED groups is not something that my mentor and I do often, due to the fact that for our writing groups we push in with the 4th grade writing teacher at our school. So planning a writing workshop and teaching it to our groups was a little challenging. I ended up observing the writing teacher at our school to see how he conducts a writing workshop in his classroom. After being able to watch his methods and collaborating with him on my thoughts I was able to plan a lesson tailored for our SPED groups so the learning is at their instructional level.

My most significant change begin when I adapted the diverse education practices, assisted by my education counselors and mentors. The people in each department

1.) I look forward to learning to utilize technology effectively in the classroom, because I have heard from friends that are teachers that technology can greatly facilitate successful instruction. The second learning outcome that I look forward to learning is the knowledge of using a variety of technology tools to perform administrative tasks. I believe these skills will allow me to focus on my subject matter more efficiently in a multitude of ways. Lastly, to select representative products to be collected and stored in an electronic evaluation tool and how to evaluate products for relevance to the assignment or task will allow me to become familiar with products that I will need to be able to use in my professional career. I want

Where students struggle the most are transitions, this is where the lack of a consistent third is most apparent. While I expect all the students to come to the carpet for large group, or participate in small groups my team does not have the same expectation – no matter how many time I ask for all student to participate. Sometime I feel they have the philosophy of “let’s get through the day” let the child do what they want, when they want. (This has been especially true with the most recent

Breaking down the wall of isolation in yesterday’s classrooms ushers in a new era of norms of collaboration and collective responsibility for student learning. As, William Gordon stated in our textbook, Developing the Curriculum, our 21st Century classrooms have to evolve with the times and provide our students with the outcome-based education that prepares students in our rapidly evolving global and technological economy. Fostering National, state, community and school improvement can only be done in a culture of collective responsibility.

Understanding and working with curriculum has become a daily occurrence for me. Upon graduating with my undergraduate degree, I would not have been able to tell anyone about standards or how to correctly align a course. This is something that I do on a daily basis now and will continue to build upon in my School Improvement Project. Our school recently bought new curriculum and it is my goal to ensure that the curriculum is correctly aligned and leads to students’ success.

I almost was to start with commonly used writing strategies and have them identify which ones I am using, as I am working on this outline. I think we have to go back even further with them to talk about those writing strategies, because we haven’t really ever talked about anything besides outlining before. Like, in terms of a structured lesson, I think.

As a future educator there are many ideas or philosophies on how teachers should teach students. Students learn best when they are able to relate to the material that is being taught. Cohen (1999) writes, “This educational philosophy stresses that students should test ideas by active experimentation. Learning is rooted in the questions of learners that arise through experiencing the world” The curriculum is based on the needs, ability, and experiences that the student has. From the curriculum, teachers create lessons that influence their students to actively participate and encourage development. The teacher is merely an organizer who offers encouragement as well as prompting the students to use critical thinking skills by challenging them with questions. Students then use this skill to cooperate in groups as well as discuss view point that they may not agree with. This form of duel communication is a skill that allows the student to become more comfortable with their social skills as well as team working.

Bron and Veugelers (2014) elucidate a classroom environment encompasses a vast and diverse student body that should be reflected in the utilized curriculum which will continually adapt to the ever changing elements and culture surrounding it. Important to realize, is that there is a very considerable group of stakeholders responsible for the advocacy of the curriculum map, those who are composed of neighborhood residents, youth involved in the justice system, unemployed, regulation enforcement agencies, contractors and developers, employers, ordinary community members, and government officials (Rabinowitz, 2017). Accordingly, whether stakeholders are directly or indirectly involved with the students, their input ensures successful outcomes in achievement for those focuses within the learning arena.

The Kindergarten classroom is large, especially compared to rooms I have seen in other public schools. Upon entering the room, small closets and cubbies are located to the left and right hand sides of the entrance way, each child sharing a closet with one other student. Behind the closets on the left is a crowded section with Mr. A’s desk pushed to the corner and piled high with assessment materials and reference books (I never witnessed it being used for anything other than storage). The section also hosts a wardrobe for teachers to hang their coats and the dramatic play area, filled with a play refrigerator, kitchen sink, table and chairs, and closet. Students have a few blocks, two stools, baskets of fruits and vegetables, kitchen utensils and place settings, dress-up clothing, fabrics, hand bags, and phones all at their disposal for the area.

This week there is a considerable amount of change occurring within myself, the students, and the classroom environment. I am learning how to effectively work with another teacher and how to utilize having two teachers in the room at once. Another important change I have noticed in myself is how much reflection occurs in my head after each activity. Meghan and I meet every day to discuss each part of that specific day and analyze whether or not it was valuable for the students learning. Thus, teaching style, pacing, timing of when subjects are taught, and behavior management have all been altered this week to fit the needs of our class. I can see myself becoming more of a reflective teacher that is always focused on if my students are