Standard Three Artifact Reflection
Title: Reflections, pictures and product guide
Date: January 6th-17th, 2014
Description:
For standard three my artifacts are my reflections, pictures and a product guide from my student teaching experience in Houston, Texas. During my student teaching I worked in a special education inclusion classroom at Hinojosa Early Childhood and Preschool. The school is located in a high poverty area and my classroom consisted of twenty-five students, ten of which had IEP’s.
Alignment:
Wisconsin Teacher Standard Alignment:
I aligned this artifact to standard three: teachers understand that children learn differently. I chose to align this artifact with standard three because through
this experience I have learned many things about teaching students will different ability levels and how to accommodate those students. In order for all the students in my class to fully understand what I was teaching I had to modify and adapt my lessons uniquely to an individual. Since I had ten students who had IEP’s I had to make sure that I was catering each of their needs. The product guide I have included is from a shapes lesson that I taught in Texas. This was a visual aid for ESL students. The product guide gave students the instructions that I had previously given in a word and picture form and they were able to keep this at their spot to reference at any time. They would then check off each step they completed it.
UW-Platteville Knowledge, Skill and Disposition Statement Alignments:
I aligned this artifact with KSD3.e: demonstrates flexibility and responsiveness, which states, “the candidate has the ability to make appropriate adjustments to his/her instruction and accommodates students’ questions and interests while being aware of student differences and difficulties, and can use a wide range of resources and strategies to meet all students’ needs in the classroom”. As the teacher I had to understand when the student needed help and when they would succeed on their own. Just because a student has an IEP doesn’t mean they need help with everything in school. I had to have a solid understanding of the amount of modifications a student needed in order to succeed but not provide so much assistance that the child was no longer learning.
Secondary Alignments:
KSD2.a Creates an environment of respect and rapport
KSD1.b Demonstrates knowledge of students
KS1.d Demonstrates knowledge of resources
Reflections:
What I learned about teaching/learning?
Throughout my student teaching experience at Hinojosa I have learned a lot of things, but one of the most important was how to adapt and modify lessons to meet the diverse needs of my students. The students in my classroom were all unique in their own way, but there were ten students who had IEP’s and needed modifications in order to succeed. It was important to understand the students, because a modification that I made for a student with autism certainly wouldn’t always be beneficial to a student with a vision impairment. In my classroom, there were a range of abilities and disabilities including: vision impairments, English as a second language and cognitive disabilities. I was fortunate enough to have two cooperating teachers to work with and learn from.
ESL students made up a large portion of the class, so adapting to their needs was crucial. One thing that I did to help ESL students was to create a word wall for all lessons that I taught. I created an ice fishing literacy center, so I had an ice fishing related word wall hanging next to the center. I lead a shape lesson, so I created a shape word wall. Each word wall card also contained a picture to match the word. This word wall was a great way for me to pre-assess my students as well. I would show each word card and ask for thumbs up or down to see if they knew what the word meant. Then I asked to give me examples of a circle, square, etc. This let me know that they could use that vocabulary in their daily lives. I also learned that turn and talks are a useful tool in an ESL classroom. Students were able to interact with each other and ESL students were able to have meaningful conversations with their classmates. This was a way to help them develop their vocabulary skills.
What I learned about myself as a prospective teacher?
As a prospective teacher I learned just how important it is to meet the diverse needs of students. For example I had one student with an IEP who really struggled with his writing, and would try very hard but ended up discouraged when he would write the letters. In order to help him during writer’s workshop the other teachers and I would write the words that he wanted in highlighter and then he could trace over them. This allowed him to develop his fine motor skills by writing but didn’t elicit that negative effect from writing. As a future teacher I also learned that I need to be very explicit in my instruction with ESL students. Some of the explicit instruction that I used in my classroom included: defining words in student friendly language, acting or illustrating the words, and using the words in a meaningful context. I also learned that I need to slow down my speech when speaking to students, especially English language learners. Sometimes students had a hard time understanding what I was saying partially because I talked to fast for them to understand. Rephrasing what I said is another strategy I can use with ESL students. Sometimes they may not understand one word, but if I rephrase what I am asking without that word it will make more sense. I now know that as a teacher I will be able to understand the diversity in how students learn and will be able to provide the necessary modifications for my students.
Date: January 6th-17th, 2014
Description:
For standard three my artifacts are my reflections, pictures and a product guide from my student teaching experience in Houston, Texas. During my student teaching I worked in a special education inclusion classroom at Hinojosa Early Childhood and Preschool. The school is located in a high poverty area and my classroom consisted of twenty-five students, ten of which had IEP’s.
Alignment:
Wisconsin Teacher Standard Alignment:
I aligned this artifact to standard three: teachers understand that children learn differently. I chose to align this artifact with standard three because through
this experience I have learned many things about teaching students will different ability levels and how to accommodate those students. In order for all the students in my class to fully understand what I was teaching I had to modify and adapt my lessons uniquely to an individual. Since I had ten students who had IEP’s I had to make sure that I was catering each of their needs. The product guide I have included is from a shapes lesson that I taught in Texas. This was a visual aid for ESL students. The product guide gave students the instructions that I had previously given in a word and picture form and they were able to keep this at their spot to reference at any time. They would then check off each step they completed it.
UW-Platteville Knowledge, Skill and Disposition Statement Alignments:
I aligned this artifact with KSD3.e: demonstrates flexibility and responsiveness, which states, “the candidate has the ability to make appropriate adjustments to his/her instruction and accommodates students’ questions and interests while being aware of student differences and difficulties, and can use a wide range of resources and strategies to meet all students’ needs in the classroom”. As the teacher I had to understand when the student needed help and when they would succeed on their own. Just because a student has an IEP doesn’t mean they need help with everything in school. I had to have a solid understanding of the amount of modifications a student needed in order to succeed but not provide so much assistance that the child was no longer learning.
Secondary Alignments:
KSD2.a Creates an environment of respect and rapport
KSD1.b Demonstrates knowledge of students
KS1.d Demonstrates knowledge of resources
Reflections:
What I learned about teaching/learning?
Throughout my student teaching experience at Hinojosa I have learned a lot of things, but one of the most important was how to adapt and modify lessons to meet the diverse needs of my students. The students in my classroom were all unique in their own way, but there were ten students who had IEP’s and needed modifications in order to succeed. It was important to understand the students, because a modification that I made for a student with autism certainly wouldn’t always be beneficial to a student with a vision impairment. In my classroom, there were a range of abilities and disabilities including: vision impairments, English as a second language and cognitive disabilities. I was fortunate enough to have two cooperating teachers to work with and learn from.
ESL students made up a large portion of the class, so adapting to their needs was crucial. One thing that I did to help ESL students was to create a word wall for all lessons that I taught. I created an ice fishing literacy center, so I had an ice fishing related word wall hanging next to the center. I lead a shape lesson, so I created a shape word wall. Each word wall card also contained a picture to match the word. This word wall was a great way for me to pre-assess my students as well. I would show each word card and ask for thumbs up or down to see if they knew what the word meant. Then I asked to give me examples of a circle, square, etc. This let me know that they could use that vocabulary in their daily lives. I also learned that turn and talks are a useful tool in an ESL classroom. Students were able to interact with each other and ESL students were able to have meaningful conversations with their classmates. This was a way to help them develop their vocabulary skills.
What I learned about myself as a prospective teacher?
As a prospective teacher I learned just how important it is to meet the diverse needs of students. For example I had one student with an IEP who really struggled with his writing, and would try very hard but ended up discouraged when he would write the letters. In order to help him during writer’s workshop the other teachers and I would write the words that he wanted in highlighter and then he could trace over them. This allowed him to develop his fine motor skills by writing but didn’t elicit that negative effect from writing. As a future teacher I also learned that I need to be very explicit in my instruction with ESL students. Some of the explicit instruction that I used in my classroom included: defining words in student friendly language, acting or illustrating the words, and using the words in a meaningful context. I also learned that I need to slow down my speech when speaking to students, especially English language learners. Sometimes students had a hard time understanding what I was saying partially because I talked to fast for them to understand. Rephrasing what I said is another strategy I can use with ESL students. Sometimes they may not understand one word, but if I rephrase what I am asking without that word it will make more sense. I now know that as a teacher I will be able to understand the diversity in how students learn and will be able to provide the necessary modifications for my students.