Curricular and instructional programming for learners with mild to moderate disabilities in grades 7-12 (Instructional Practice) was one of the few courses that gave me the ability to self evaluate myself and come up with a plan that would help me grow in my field of study. At the beginning of the semester I came up with three areas I believe I needed to improve on, those then became known as goals. One of those goals was to familiarize myself with the common core standards for higher grade. I personally have a strong dislike towards the common core, so it was hard for me to see it through another perspectives. I began this journey by going on websites that explained what the common core was and how it was beneficial to the school systems.
This experience gave me the opportunity to shadow on of my classmates (Haley) as she worked with students with IEP’s and accommodation plans in the resource room. I seen her interaction with these students and the great respect they held for her. The best part was seeing how the dynamic changed working with in the resource room and in the classrooms. In the resource room Haley was able to personalize and re-teach material they were learning in the classroom. When they were in the classroom, Haley would be a student taking notes along their side and would help guide her students through the lesson. She would teach them learning strategies that they would then use when in the classroom. When I first began in the education field at Plattsburgh State I never though for one moment of teaching older kids, and after this observation I can honestly see myself interacting well with these students. Through this opportunity I was able to see the way teachers interacted with one another on a personal level and professional one, I also took noticed of the importance of maintaining a clear and detailed communication between different staff members. During my last observation I got to shadow a substitute and it was clear that Haley and her had a mutual understanding of what a regular day looks like. Overall, this experience was just wonderful and I am glad I got the chance of taking part of this
Cole, H., Hulley, K., & Quarles, P. (2009). Does assessment have to drive the curriculum?
It was my pleasure to be able to experience children with these disabilities. A day spent at Westgate was aery active one, I always was able to write plenty of notes from my observation. When the English language students were peer mentored with their 4 grade class, they had to write an autobiographical poem. The fourth grade students had to help their first and second grade ELL students write this poem. When the poem is all written out the students will then type up the poem on word and create a PowerPoint. After the poem was finished they would then present the poem in front of the whole class. This activity was pretty challenging for the fourth grade student because they had more reading and writing skills then the first and second graders. Ms. Lewis; the class teacher had to always redirect the ELL students because they did not understand what to do or what some of the questions said on the organizer. The next day I was in I was able to experience working with three students that had learning disabilities in the classroom. The teacher would separate the children in to groups, the learning disability children were paired up with me and they were given different book pages and problems to work on. Since these children were struggling in math I was able to help them comprehend. I was asked plenty of questions on how to do the problems. Usually Ms. Lewis is paired up with these students but today instead of me just observing them she wanted me to be hands on with the students and be able to interact with them. The next day I went I observe the boy with ADHD. It was very interesting to observe him. I was able to see him use assistive technologies to be able to focus. He also was seated on the outside of the desk range right by the teacher’s desk. I believe he was by the teacher’s desk and on the outside so he was
At this time, I became a group leader in an after-school program for a 3rd-grade class. This was my first time working with children and as imagined, it was a tough transition. The students were Latino and African American, living in poverty stricken neighborhoods with a dysfunctional home life. The program focused on students who were at risk of retention. A large number of students were below average and had been recommended to receive extra academic support. As a result of my time spent working and learning with the students, I choose an educational path.
I sat with her every other day for the first four months of the past school year, and gave her specific expectations and examples to ensure extreme clarity. This teacher became one of our most requested staff members this year, due to her successful implementation and the step-by-step planning of the newly adopted Common Core State Standards. She truly respected the time that I took to work along her side, even though I hadn’t taught Language Arts or History at the Middle School level. The wealth of instructional strategies that I provided, alongside her content knowledge served her Steadiness Personality and Behavior style that is motivated by cooperation and sincere appreciation.
From each of my previous English classes from summer 2014 to summer 2015, I have learned a new method on writing a good essay and same method that I have learned previously. When learning the new method of writing a good essay, it was hard as I got too used to doing the regular way of writing an essay. That would be the reason why I would struggle sometime to write a good paper as each English class I take would learn a new unique or same method. I am getting better as I steadily improving my weak points in my paper, but I would still have some problems with grammars in most of my paragraphs, which is the reason why I would go to learning center and have peers review to see where I should change and improved the essay. Learning same and different methods from each English class is difficult to get used to and it takes little by little to develop an excellent paper to turn in.
Cole, H., Hulley, K., & Quarles, P. (2009). Does assessment have to drive the curriculum?
In the 1980’s a report called “A Nation At Risk” stated that American children had fallen behind in such subjects as math and science. Thus came the advent of education’s increased focus on literacy and numeracy, accountability and academic standards. These high standards, according to Dumas (2000), are the most significant trend in schools today.
I have known that I have wanted to become a special education teacher for almost three years. Over those three years I did lots of hands on experience with special education students. This past semester though I learned more in a semester about special education than I have in the past two and half years. Intro to Exceptional has taught me a lot of good information about laws, rules, and regulations of special education.
Deciding to go back to school for my master’s degree was not a particularly easy choice. Just starting a new job I found myself surrounded by smart, highly educated peers. It took me ten years to complete my undergraduate coursework, and while I was the first person in my family to obtain a bachelor’s degree, surrounded by coworkers that had advanced degrees caused me to feel very inadequate. Promoted to this position based on my merit and knowledge, I kept reminding myself that I did not need an advanced degree for validation. Yet, I was also faced with the fact that I would need to be competitive with my peers should further advancement become available. When considering my options the cost and time commitment needed to be taken into account. Knowing I was going to be working a graveyard made it difficult to see how I would fit in time to
Through the completion of my graduate program in Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment, I have gained an immense amount of knowledge and a plethora of skills which I have used and found valuable in my seventh grade English classroom. My outlook on student learning and my empathy towards students has also been positively affected by the program. These learning opportunities have led me to become a better educator both inside and outside of the classroom.
Curriculum is important being it’s the underlying factor that plays a role in determining ones growth, achievement and success. The majority of curriculum con...
Since then, Basic Principles of Curriculum and Instruction has been a standard reference for anyone working with curriculum development. Although not a strict how-to guide, the book shows how educators can critically approach curriculum planning, studying progress and retooling when needed. Its four sections focus on setting objectives, selecting learning experiences, organizing instruction, and evaluating progress. Readers will come away with a firm understanding of how to formulate educational objectives and how to analyze and adjust their plans so that students meet the objectives. Tyler also explains that curriculum planning is a continuous, cyclical process, an instrument of education that needs to be fine-tuned.
This experience as a whole provided me with the opportunity to show my professional quality as an educator, a cooperative team member, and a lifelong learner. A few things that I continuously had to reflect on throughout this experience was my self-competence, my performance as well as the children’s, and of course my professional demeanor which directly impacted the effectiveness of my planning, teaching and...
I thought about the ways I could help a struggling student, and the sense of pride I would feel when they accomplished a difficult task. I thought about the way my classroom would look, and the fun activities I would incorporate. What I had not thought about were the multitude of challenges I would face in dealing with diverse students. However, having the opportunity to experience some of the challenges teachers face has not deterred me from pursuing a teaching career. As a result of my field experience, I have a far greater passion for teaching and a profound respect for the amazing teachers I have known in my life. I will work tirelessly to ensure that all of my students are inspired as well provided the tools and opportunities they require to
In this course I experienced an important change in my beliefs about teaching; I came to understand that there are many different theories and methods that can be tailored to suit the teacher and the needs of the student. The readings, especially those from Lyons, G., Ford, M., & Arthur-Kelly, M. (2011), Groundwater-Smith, S., Ewing, R., & Le Cornu, R. (2007), and Whitton, D., Barker, K., Nosworthy, M., Sinclair, C., Nanlohy, P. (2010), have helped me to understand this in particular. In composing my essay about teaching methods and other themes, my learning was solidified, my knowledge deepened by my research and my writing skills honed.