Inquiry & Reflection
Discussion of How Artifacts are used to Make Decisions about Teaching
By way of collecting artifacts and evidence of student work and methods used for this work sample, I have learned the best-laid plans mean nothing without student engagement and work. Second graders are slow workers because every task can seem quite large. On sunny days, even asking them to not talk to their neighbor can prove difficult for these young minds. However, I was able to be flexible and make changes to my lesson plans on the spot to accommodate my learners. I learned from my first work sample and was better prepared to assess student learning through use of a science journal that I had the students used as exit tickets. Because I was able to understand and value the importance of constantly assessing where students are in their learning, I was able to more fully support them and teach to where they were at and not necessarily what I had planned to teach.
This work sample I have been able to attain both of the goals I had set from myself during the last work sample. I was able to focus on collecting data more frequently in regards to where the individual students are cognitively through the use of journal writing and exit tickets. Another goal I was able to accomplish in order to improve my practice, was to ensure that my instruction was more applicable for ELL's by providing more visual and kinetic aids. I did this through videos, images, songs, and dance. One of my most important goals from my last work sample was to create a more student-based learning environment. In order to accomplish this goal, I began setting up my lessons so that the students were the ones not only asking the questions, but answering them as well (or knowing where to go to find the answer independently). I collaborated with both my mentor teacher and university supervisor in order to make this a reality. Concerning the future of my practice, I will continue to work on making my lessons more culturally relevant and improving my practice concerning inquiry-based learning for all of my students.
By way of collecting artifacts and evidence of student work and methods used for this work sample, I have learned the best-laid plans mean nothing without student engagement and work. Second graders are slow workers because every task can seem quite large. On sunny days, even asking them to not talk to their neighbor can prove difficult for these young minds. However, I was able to be flexible and make changes to my lesson plans on the spot to accommodate my learners. I learned from my first work sample and was better prepared to assess student learning through use of a science journal that I had the students used as exit tickets. Because I was able to understand and value the importance of constantly assessing where students are in their learning, I was able to more fully support them and teach to where they were at and not necessarily what I had planned to teach.
This work sample I have been able to attain both of the goals I had set from myself during the last work sample. I was able to focus on collecting data more frequently in regards to where the individual students are cognitively through the use of journal writing and exit tickets. Another goal I was able to accomplish in order to improve my practice, was to ensure that my instruction was more applicable for ELL's by providing more visual and kinetic aids. I did this through videos, images, songs, and dance. One of my most important goals from my last work sample was to create a more student-based learning environment. In order to accomplish this goal, I began setting up my lessons so that the students were the ones not only asking the questions, but answering them as well (or knowing where to go to find the answer independently). I collaborated with both my mentor teacher and university supervisor in order to make this a reality. Concerning the future of my practice, I will continue to work on making my lessons more culturally relevant and improving my practice concerning inquiry-based learning for all of my students.