Classroom

(Also found in my Philosophy of Education)

Classroom organization is something that I've had to think about often, starting with Practicum, and even now in writing lesson plans for Math Methods. The classroom will be arranged in clusters, as I students will doing a lot of group work and cooperative learning. Everyday, I will put the outline of the day's events on the board, and encourage students to check of each section as we go. There will also be a word wall when appropriate, which will be incorporated into the lesson plan. In this way, I can be sure that my students know the proper vocabulary that goes along with a particular section. As a teacher, when I write my lesson plans, I like to go back and forth between group work, and doing examples/teaching at the board. I like to reflect on each section of group work that I have my students do, and I rely heavily on observation to ensure that I am meeting my students' needs. Observation also allows me adjust my lessons accordingly.

Motivation is something that all teachers struggle with. How am I going to get all my students motivated today? Some of the topics I've had to write lesson plans about were, in my opinion, not the most exciting material, but being creative and incorporate student interests can always make a lesson more interesting. Humanism is very applicable here, as it emphasizes heavily on student choice. Student choice, as I have already described, is extremely useful tool in motivating students. If they have some freedom over the assignment they are producing, then they will be more likely to work had and do a good job. When I was in high school, I took a college chemistry course. The final project had to have an oral component and at least 2 visuals, but we could present the information in any way that we wanted. I opened my presentation with an interpretative dance about the dissociation of salt particles in water. I would never have been able to that if my teacher had not been so open, and always encouraged creativity. Progressivism also mentions choice, but in a more toned-down way. The example in the textbook talks about having students watch a movie and writing done any questions they would like answered. Then you take those questions and those are the topics you talk about next. That is also a great way to spark discussion amongst the students. If they are truly curious about the questions they wrote down, then this could start a great class discussion. Choice is a strong motivating factor for students.

To be honest, I have not had a lot of experience discipline. During my time in Practicum, the students were great and I didn't not have to take any type of disciplinary action. They were well behaved, and, for the most part, wanted to learn the material. Some of them struggled, with was off-putting, but by floating around the room, observing and answering questions, I was able to help them stay on track and understand the material at hand. As for other disciplinary issues, I do not want to be the type of teacher who sends her students to the office at every turn. In class, we have talked about the issue of discipline thought our Teaching Hope books. Each teacher had different approaches to their students, some which I agree some, some that I don't. Teaching Hope also made the class think of all the 'hard stuff', things that could happen in a classroom that we might not be ready for. What if a student gets out of control? What about throwing things? What about depression? And there's no right answer, but there is a best answer for your student. If I've learned anything about discipline, it's this. You need to deal with it right away, and you need to deal with it yourself, if possible. Several good examples of this were brought up by Sara and Ryan's Educational Research Project. If a student is angry, for example, and gives an attitude, it is not okay to just send them away to the principle. (In severe situation, such as a risk of violence, then you should not deal with it on your own. But I feel, for the most part, that students just need to know that someone is there. They don't need another trip to the office). I would ask the student to wait in the hallway, get my class working on something, and go talk to the student in question. You never know what could be going on with your students, and sending them away will only cause them to resent you. You need to let them not that that behavior is not okay, and ask them why they feel that way. You might be surprised at what your students will tell you, if you just ask.

Assessment, I never stop thinking about. How am I going to assess my students in a fair way? There are two very strong factors at play in my view of assessment. First of all, I think back to Fair Isn't Always Equal. Do my students have the tools they need in order to do well? If not, then how can I properly assess them? How do I know what they can do if I haven't given them the tools to show me? The other portion of my knowledge of assessment, comes from my math methods course. As I have already discussed, I rely heavily on student observation in my classroom. This is an excellent type of formative assessment, that I have seen work many times in the classroom. As for summative assessment, I know that I will need to give my students tests, and quizzes, and projects. But for each summative assessment I assign, I will make sure my students know what I am looking for by using a rubric. I remember in school, and even sometimes in college, getting bogged down because the assignment was too vague, or the teacher didn't specify what they were looking for. Which choice is important, your students need to now how they are being assessed. They can't show you what they know if they don't know what you are looking for. Handing out a rubric solves this problem. There are my two biggest ways to assess my students, and are great tools to keep in any teacher's toolbox.

As a teacher, I want to have a classroom climate that my students feel comfortable being open and asking questions in. This brings in a lot of Humanism, as I want to teach my students about respecting one another’s opinions. As a math teacher, I want to focus on problem solving abilities. There isn't just one way to solve a problem, there isn't just one way to get the answer. I want my students to speak free and share. They could all benefit from being exposed to someone else's viewpoint. And just maybe they might find someone's viewpoint to make more sense then how they were thinking about, or maybe it'll spark new questions and new ideas into their heads. Either way, it all starts with knowing they can speak freely.

The learning focus will always be, as I have mentioned, on problem solving and critical thinking skills, which is where Constructivism comes into play. It's not enough to know the answer. How did you get there? Why does it work? What does it mean? It my Problem Solving class, these are the questions we answer every day. What other problems does this suggest? This is exactly the way I want to teach my classroom, and I may very well expose them to excerpts from Polya's book How to Solve It. It is a well written piece of literature that focuses on problem solving techniques, including simplifying the problem, and locating a similar problems. Have you seen this before? I want my students to understand that math doesn't just stay in the classroom, there applications all around us. By enhancing problem solving and critical thinking skills, you enhance your ability to make connections and solve problems outside of school. For example, I might teach a lesson on solving for missing angles in right triangles (which I wrote lessons plans about in Practicum). What other problems does this suggest? What real world application does this have? Making connections to student interests will also help to motivate the students and keep them on track.

I draw a lot about my teaching style from Progressivism. The focus will stay on my students. My classroom will be hands on environment, where students discover answers through experimentation. For example, manipulating graphing tools will help them see first hand how exponents of leading terms change the graph. As I have discussed already, I will act more as a guide to my students, asking leading questions and providing extra examples as necessary. Having students come to their own conclusion allows them to internalize the material much better because they did it on their own.

My leadership style, which stems directly from my philosophy of education, could impact a school district in many ways. I'm new to the field of education, which means my views, techniques, methods, are going to be much different than in the past. That's just the way things are. I hope to bring a lot into my school district, as well as the field of education in general. I want to show those around me that I can teach with compassion, that principle's office isn't the end all be all of discipline problems. I want to spark creativity, and get motivate those around me to do the same. I want to start conversations with veteran teachers. I know that I can learn a lot from them. But I also feel that they could learn a lot from me, too. I want to hear their stories of classrooms past, and use that knowledge to create a healthy environment. I want to know what they've tried in the classroom and what happened. This is why I find books like Teaching Hope, Freedom Writers' Diary, and Fires in the Bathroom so interesting. Tell me what it's really like. In practicum, I felt like I was still wearing training wheels, so to speak, but one day I am really going to be out there on my own, and I know that no amount of reading can prepare me for that. So I will start conversations with the teacher's around me. Tell me about your classroom, and I'll tell you about mine. We can all work together to make a better classroom environment, a better learning environment for our students. That it is, after all, why we became teachers, isn't it?

Moreover, technology is of the greatest issues in schools today. My research project on technology integration really helped open my eyes to many issues I hadn't given much thought to in the past. There is so much wonderful technology out there, including the smart board. Too many times, teachers will smart board use them as glorified projectors. But what else can they do? They've never been trained, they've never seen this before. So what do we do? We get into schools and start educating those around us. We start workshops about technology integration and open up a discussion between teachers. How do you use that in your classroom? What tips do you have? Such and such is working for me, what else have you tried? Once a dialogue is opened up, that is when change can truly start to happen. And I suppose that the Progressivist in me, viewing school as a vehicle of social change. But where else would change start, if not with education our children? We owe it to them to provide the best education we can give them. As a teacher, these are the kinds of conversations I want to start in my school district, not just about technology, but about anything that might occur in the classroom, and anything that could benefit our students. As I said before, we can learn from each-other, it's just about starting a dialogue.