Certification Ready - Reflecting after Long Practicum

During my practicum I discovered the importance of forming relationships with students. This was evident through many interactions I had with students and how they influenced the way that I taught day to day. Each day I would have a plan. Although I thought when I began this journey, that it is important to get through the lesson plan, it is more important to read the students and let them guide their learning. This turned my plan, which was never actually set in stone, into a guideline. The image on this card represents the students in my class. Each dove as each student, where some may need the same thing from a lesson, and others need differentiation, or even just some additional DPA. Although every child in my class was a student, they were individual and had differing needs. This led me to push my practice as a teacher and include more activity, hands-on experiences, discovery learning, peer support and small groups to increase engagement of students in order to maximize their learning.

The Journey Back – Reflecting Before Long Practicum

This image was chosen for this particular reflection process because I feel a strong similarity between the spider and myself. The spider is in a little nutshell boat, in a wavy sea. I feel the same way, as I am about to embark on my own voyage through the wavy sea. I anticipate that some days will be nice, easy, breezy sailing but some days the swells will rise and I will have to navigate through the rough sea and persevere through – This is similar to teaching as not every lesson will go smoothly, and I will have to maneuver and make adjustments based on the surroundings. This does not scare me however; the little spider smiles as she has all the tools necessary to complete her voyage and is eager to see what waits on the horizon. I feel the same as this program has provided me with knowledge that I never knew I would attain, and challenges that have caused me to rethink my way of teaching. The little spider is doing so much all at once, and that is how I feel I will be when I am teaching. Constantly monitoring learning, assessing what needs to be done next, while keeping in mind the lesson plan, but being able to diverge from it if something catches my attention or my students. The wind guides where I go – which is exactly what my students do, as they are the focus of teaching. Without the wind, I cannot move forward, the sea would not move and I wouldn’t be challenged to steer in different directions.

As I am about to embark in my own boat and sail the new sea, I am eager at the adventure I will have and the learning that will take place.

Some Inspiration

Smart Science - Reflection

The reflection of my science course was based around how my identity was impacted by what I have learned from this course and how it will make me a better science teacher. Throughout this class, my preconceived notions of what science should be and how it should be taught were challenged. I thought  that it was important for a teacher to have all the answers to every question. That was drastically changed. Science is not about having the answers, but about the process of inquiry. Inquiry is what drives students learning and I love how science embraces and encourages this. It is hands on and mind on - FULL ON. As teachers of science and in general, we are to facilitate this process by challenging students misconceptions of things they thought they knew, kind of what I personally learned from this course. Providing opportunities for students to ask questions and investigate them through experimentation and research will help provoke an inquisitive mind-set that students can take beyond the 'science lab' and into a real world context. My ultimate goal is to foster life-long learners. Science aligns with this and science is just fun anyways!