Formative Assessments

Formative assessments are important in many ways. A teacher can use formative assessments to gauge how well their students are understanding the material. These type of assessments can tell the teacher if the students are understanding or not understanding what is being taught. If the students are understanding the lesson, then the teacher will be able to move on to the next lesson. If the students are not understanding the material, then the teacher knows that they need to spend some extra time on that subject. Formative assessments can also help the teacher determine which students might need extra guidance while they are in their classroom. If a student repeatedly shows that they do not understand the material, then the teacher can spend extra one on one time with that student or come up with alternative ways for that student to get a better understanding.

Formative assessments are also a great way for the teacher to gauge their own performance. If most of the students perform well on the formative assessment, then the teacher knows that they have done a good job conveying the knowledge that the students need to know. If most of the students do not perform well, then the teacher needs to either spend extra time on that subject or find an alternative way of teaching the content. If the students have performed poorly, it may be the way the teacher is teaching the material and formative assessments are a great tool to observe teacher performance.

Classroom Management

My first year teaching was a classroom management nightmare. I thought that I was prepared but I quickly realized that I wasn't as prepared as I thought I was. The biggest issue that I had was being consistent my first year of teaching. I tried to be consistent but I realized that when I was tired or aggravated I was more strict. I also noticed that when I was in a better mood, I would allow the students to do things that normally I would not have allowed. This sent mixed signals to the students and they really couldn't understand how I expected them to act. As my experience increased I saw an improvement in this area. I was able to be more consistent, and the students knew exactly what I expected of them. This made the classroom much more easier to manage. The students knew that if they did not act in a way that they were supposed to, there would be consequences to face.

I also realized that students really like structure. I had tried "free days" in the gym and it always seemed that this is where most of the behavioral issues happened. A "free day" is where the students can decide on what activity they wanted to do, usually on a Friday. Almost every time I did this, I had more disciplinary problems than on a regular day. I noticed that if I had specific instructions for what the students needed to do, they were much more likely to stay on task and do what was asked of them. For example, the students love "station day". This is where I have four or five stations set up around the gym and the students rotate to each station. They stay at each station for six or seven minutes and then rotate. As a teacher, I stand there and it looks like this would be the most boring activity I could do in p.e. but the students absolutely love it. I believe that it is the structure that they love. With the stations, they are told exactly what to do and when to do it. I feel that because they are told what to do, they enjoy the activity more.

I realized very quickly that classroom management is extremely important to not only keep your class under control but also create an environment that encourages learning. I also believe that as your years of experience increase, your classroom management also becomes better. Every year that I teach, I find out things that work and don't work. I don't believe classroom management can be taught in a class, but it needs to be learned through experiences from the teacher.

Building a rapport

I believe that in order to build a rapport with students with special needs, the teacher must treat that student just like any other student in their classroom. The way I build a rapport with my students is by getting to know them. I will find out what their interests are and try to have conversations about their interests. I do the same thing for special needs students. It may be a little more difficult to get to know these students at times, but I believe that it should be done. I also feel that once you have begun connecting to the students, they will be more willing to work for you. If a student trusts you as a teacher, I feel that they will be more willing to participate and give a greater effort while they are in your classroom. I know that I need to do a better job with this with some of my students with special needs. I need to make sure that they understand that I care about their success. If they can see that I care about them, I believe that I will get more positive results while they are in my classroom. I also need to be careful with this because if I spend too much time with these students, I may single them out from the rest of the class. I believe that these students should receive some special treatment but not go overboard with it. I may help these students out a little more but not enough that it seems like they are getting more attention than the rest of the class.

Student-Centered Instruction

I believe that student centered instruction is a great way for the students to learn new material and information. This type of instruction enables the students to reach the goal on their own. With this type of instruction, the student is taking control of learning the material. The teacher's role is to guide the students and the discussion in the right direction. The students are in control, but the teacher needs to make sure they are hitting key points to enable the students to learn the new concept, skill, etc.

Because the students are taking control of the instruction, I feel that they are capable of retaining more information because they are learning in ways that correspond to their individual learning style. It is also   a different way to learn and the students could be more likely to stay engaged on the topic as opposed to the teacher standing in the front of the room and lecturing to them. Although this is a great way for students to learn, the teacher needs to be careful and plan so that the students will stay on task. Naturally, if a student is placed in a group with their peers they will want to talk about things not related  to the material. I believe that this is the most difficult aspect, for a teacher, when using student centered instruction. The teacher needs to be prepared to steer the students back on topic if they become side tracked. The teacher can do this by asking questions that students must figure out on their own. Another way to avoid socializing would be by simply knowing your students. By knowing how each individual student will react when put in student centered instruction, the teacher is able to maximize student activity and learning.

Small Groups vs. Whole Group Discussions

A teacher must be prepared to instruct the students whether they plan to use a whole group lecture or if they will use small group discussions. Even though, the material that is covered is the same, a teacher must plan differently for each type of discussion.

When a teacher is using a whole group discussion, they must plan to keep the students engaged the entire time they are lecturing. I usually use this type of instruction when I am introducing a new skill or new material. This is where I can instruct the students on how to perform a certain skill and then demonstrate the skill to the whole class. When I am using a whole class discussion, I make sure that I plan each topic that I want to introduce to the class and make sure that I do it in a clear manner. After I have taught the whole class, I often ask questions to ensure that the students where paying attention.

For a small group discussion a teacher must be able to plan so that the students stay engaged while they are in their small groups. With my experience, I have learned that the students can become off task quickly when they are put into small groups. The teacher must be able to plan enough activities or ask enough questions to keep the students on task and working towards the goal of learning the material. I usually use small groups after I have introduced the students to a new skill. This is where they can "fine tune" the material that I went over during the whole group discussion. I walk around and make sure that the students are practicing the skill and correct mistakes that I see. I am a firm believer that the students learn more efficiently when they are performing the skills that they are learning.

Multiple Teaching Strategies

I believe to be an effective teacher, one must be able use multiple teaching strategies. This not only enables the teacher to reach more students but it also prevents the students to become bored. By changing teaching strategies, the teacher will be able get to the students who learn in different ways. One student may benefit from lectures or taking notes, while another student must have visual cues and hands on activities to learn the material. If the teacher changes their way of teaching often, more students will be able to retain the information that the teacher is giving them. Also, if the teacher is changes their teaching styles, the students are less likely to become bored. With different teaching strategies, the students are more engaged with what they are learning and therefore, are able to benefit the most. During the weekly discussion, a great point was brought up. "Does changing teaching strategies also keep the teacher from becoming bored?" I had not thought of this but this statement is absolutely right. If the teacher becomes bored, then the students are most likely bored also.

After reading and discussing this topic, I believe that I need to change my teaching styles more often. I believe that it will keep the students engaged and also keep me engaged. The next time I see a student who seems to not get a concept I am trying to teach, I will keep in mind that I need to change the way I am teaching that student. Another point that was made during the discussion was that if a student does not seem to get the material and the teacher has explained it over and over in the same manner, then it is the teacher's fault because they have not changed the way they are teaching the material.

Reinforcing Behaviors and Televison

I have experienced some students who would act out just so they would be able to receive some attention. I feel for these students because obviously they are acting out since they do not receive any attention at home or away from school. I need to make it a point to spend some extra time and give these students positive attention so they would not act out in a negative way. I have done this in the past by making a "problem" student a special helper for me. I made that student in charge of cleaning up the area or making sure the equipment is in the right place for when they were in p.e. This seemed to help some but they eventually became bored and I would have to find some other way to give them some extra attention. I thought that some of my classmates made a good point in the discussion by saying that some students wanted to go to the office because they wanted to get out of class. This is another situation where I believe an alternate form of punishment should be used in order for the students' to realize that their behavior is unacceptable.

After watching Sponge Bob Square Pants, I realized that children who watch this show my believe that the acts they watch in the show are acceptable. There were multiple aggressive verbal and physical acts throughout the show. I believe that the audience who watches this show (younger children) are susceptible to mimicking these acts because they believe they are acceptable. Although there were many negative acts, there were some positive ones. Most of the characters did help each other when a problem raised. They sometimes made the matter worse, but at least they were trying to help the other character. The advertisements also concerned me because they promoted unhealthy foods. I believe that with childhood obesity, we should be very cautious in what we expose the children to. If we constantly show them sugary snacks, then that is what they are going to gravitate to throughout their life. I feel that we need to begin to promote healthier options so the children can begin to eat a healthier diet.

Piaget's Stages of Cognitive Development

Piaget's Stages of Cognitive Development are Sensorimotor, Preoperational, Concrete Operational, and Formal Operational. He states that everyone goes through each one of the stages as they mature through life. The first stage, sensorimotor, they child is just trying to figure out what is going on around them. They use the skills that they were born with to analyze the world around them. In the preoperational stage, the child begins to use their imagination to learn new things. However, they are unable to understand logic. When a student is in the concrete operational stage, they are able to use logic to figure things out, but are still unable to use abstract thinking. The last stage, formal operational, usually sets in around age twelve and we stay in this stage throughout adulthood. In this stage, we are able to think abstractly and we need less "hands on" type activities to learn new skills.

After reading about Piaget's stages of development, I realized that in order for my students to gain the most from my teaching, I need to keep in mind these stages. I currently teach pre-k through second grade and I understand now that I need to show my students what the skills that I am teaching them, look like. For example, I was teaching them how to jump rope and I told them to swing the rope and then jump through it. All of the students that had not jumped rope before, turned the rope, let it sit on the floor, then jumped through it. I finally showed that they needed to keep the rope turning while they jumped and I had more of those students that were able to perform that skill after they watched me.

I believe that we, as teachers, need to be careful with this concept because we could focus on the stages too much. Just because a student is a certain age, does not mean that they will be able to process material in the way these stages describe. There are too many variables to set these stages in concrete while teaching our students. I do feel that these stages are a great tool and could be a foundation that we can use to educate the students, we just need to make sure that we are flexible and teach in other ways to maximize student learning.