Reflection #4

a) Everybody stereotypes no matter how much you deny it to yourself. As a secondary teacher myself, I am completely guilty of doing this during my first week of student teaching. Although I had stereotyped my students all into formal groups in my mind, I never let the students know that or even see glimpses of it. What would happen normally is I would expect this student I had stereotyped to react to a certain situation in a predictable way. I learned quickly that you cannot predict anything about teenagers! I would agree with this teacher that the process of getting new students seems completely ridiculous at times. The stress that’s put on the student to adapt quickly to classroom changes and making friends, on top of catching up to the material being taught in class, can be overwhelming. And yes, the teacher already has an opinion on how this student may or may not act in their class. It’s the sad reality. There is a shining hope though, that although this new student is in an unfamiliar place with unfamiliar people, you as a teacher can help this kid get off on the right foot and build a trusting relationship. This can build their confidence in getting to know other students and helps them make gains in the classroom.

b) The best way to treat students fairly would simply be to have an open mind. We’re all taught different lessons in our lives, and most times we’ve been groomed to think and act a different way than our students. There’s nothing wrong with having opinions about people or topics, but to assert these “restrictions” on our students is inappropriate. I want my students to think differently than I do, because I certainly don’t want a classroom of robots. One example I can give you is a student of mine who is transgender. My first impression was that this student was this way because they wanted attention, but I gave the student a chance. This student is probably one of the most polite and well-mannered students in my classroom. I’ve never had any issues with them, and from what they tell me, they are a straight A student. I’ve built a trusting relationship, one that this student doesn’t have with all of their teachers because of their own narrowness. 

Reflection #3

“With the right focus and right energy, every child will learn. And as every child learns, the future of this country will never have been brighter,” (School Success 2007, p. 1). I have polar views when it comes to statements like these. I believe that every child should be provided the opportunity to learn, and I can say with confidence that in my classroom they will. But, giving someone the opportunity to learn and that person being capable of learning are two different things. On the topic of inclusion, I have seen first-hand the successes of a classroom with dynamic learners. It surprised me how much students were willing to help each other, especially the special ed kids. Seeing them grow more confidence in themselves and in interacting socially has made me a firm believer in inclusion. When it comes to addressing the needs of every student, I can honestly tell you that in the class sizes we have right now it’s not humanly possible. I don’t want to sound defeated, this is just something I have realized in a short amount of time in a classroom. For example, we have two classes of with thirty students in each of them and we only have 50 minutes a day to teach them everything they need to know. My teacher and I help every student we can, and we are also available at times outside of the regular day, but to accomplish what we want to accomplish with our students, we NEED the parents to be heavily involved in their child’s education. “Learn everything you can about your child’s school. You know your child best and understand his/her needs. Research shows that when parents and families are involved in their children’s schools, the children are more likely to succeed,” (School Success 2007, p. 3). 

Success Journal

Tweets throughout the week:

Monday: Helped my cooperating teacher through a rough day! #edsuccess

Tuesday: Caught up on grading and got good results back from benchmark testing! #edsuccess

Wednesday: Survived the last round of benchmark testing. #edsuccess

Thursday: Helped students become more prepared and comfortable for their quadratics test tomorrow. #edsuccess

Friday:  Prepared lesson plans for next week and set up an upcoming project. #edsuccess

Tweet Reflection

This assignment really helped me realize the little successes that we, as teachers, have each and every day. Even if, like my first tweet, the success for the day is simply surviving. I can only hope that my cooperating teacher, or any teacher for that matter, never has another day that was as tough as Monday was. I’ve learned sometimes just being there for another person that is struggling can be a major help. This applies to my students as well, many of them are bright students who suddenly become overwhelmed by information on benchmark testing days, which brings us to the first objective that I would love to improve upon.

Helping my students feel more confident in their test taking skills would be my biggest end-of-year goal. I would like to think that my teaching is so overwhelmingly awesome that no student could possibly fail a test, but alas I am human. When my students fail at something, especially objectives that we’ve covered in class, I can’t help but feel guilty. Another success I’m striving to achieve is to become a better classroom manager. Sometimes I feel like I lack the consistency to be a great classroom manager. I have to learn to hold all students to the same high standard. 

Reflection #2

Part One

The Chapter 14 poem puts a giant spotlight on why teaching is more than reading and comprehending a textbook. Any person can have a student “read and regurgitate” any day, and it doesn’t require much effort. I’m a math teacher so I’m going to use math examples, but most of you reading this understand the concept of a quadratic equation. Many of our math students are taught how to set up this kind of equation, and later on are taught how to “factor out” certain parts to find intercepts on a graph. All of this is, of course, tested on the infamous STARR test and Algebra 1 EOC. I wish my students could see quadratics the way I do. I’ve seen how this simple equation can send rockets to space, and build the tallest of skyscrapers, yet all the test asks for is a right answer. It doesn’t apply any sense of real-world connection, which is why I think we are starting to lose students with high drop-out rates and decreasing standardized tests grades.

Part Two

1.       A common formal assessment in my classroom is mainly class discussion. I know this is not the most effective way to assess my students, but it is part of a routine that the students feel comfortable with. I feel like I know which students might struggle with certain parts of a lesson, and I work with them separately during class.

2.       We’ve had many different types of summative assessments, ranging from a “normal” paper test to projects and also what we call rotations. During rotations, the students work on different topics at different times during class and how well they explain the concept to each other is how we grade.

3.       I feel with formative assessments, you tend to check and see if the students understand the concept that day. With a summative assessment, you are testing their ability to recall all of the important topics from the past few classes. I guess my main point is that you want to make sure your students are able to recall what they need to know at the right moment.

4.       I would definitely incorporate portfolios, especially for my algebra 1 students since they are moving on to algebra 2. Also, I would like to use presentations. Any way that I can help a student learn solid researching skills along with public speaking skills I’ll do it. Lastly, quizzes. I feel like the more times they are tested over the little things more periodically, the more comfortable they’ll feel when the summative assessment comes around. 

Reflection #1: Introduction

My name is Courtney Rutledge, and I'm going to teach 8th grade math at Lee Middle School. Upon graduating I have no definite plans on where I want to go, I'm open to anything! I do wish to be involved in some kind of coaching, and although I'm a golfer through and through, I would love to coach any sport.
When it comes to the many different roles of a teacher, I believe the three most important roles are motivator, perceiver (real word? who knows!), and of course educator.
A teacher that can motivate their students can accomplish most anything. I think of the parable of the teacher that kept pushing his students towards the edge of a cliff, and when he pushed them over the cliff, they flew. I know that most teachers I have met recently are really bogged down in the horrendous amount of testing that the students have to go through, and I agree that all of this testing takes away from learning but it doesn't have to take away a teacher's passion.
Teachers need to be very perceptive when it comes to the feel of a classroom, and just noticing the small details. If a lesson plan is not going as expected, or if the students are struggling, they need to be able to notice this and adapt. It's also important for the safety of our students. By seeing small personality changes, or even bruises and scratches, a teacher can prevent school disasters and familial abuse.
The word "educator" is usually synonymous with "teacher." Just by being hired at a school makes you an educator, it takes a special kind of educator to be a teacher. As mentioned in the reflection instructions, a teacher is many different things. An educator covers content and comprehension, which is an important role of a successful teacher.
I'm looking forward to getting to be in and have some control over an actual classroom this semester. It's finally time to be on the other side of the desk, and I hope my students can reach all of the goals we set not only for in the classroom, but outside as well.