Karen Donohoe
Standard 2
April 22, 2015
Standard 2 Understanding all children in their many dimensions
1)
Educators
should know their students as individuals and as learners, and be able to
relate to them in a variety of ways.
2)
They
should be familiar with the cultures, histories, and values of the communities
and families they serve, and know the attributes of the individual children and
families with whom they work.
3)
Educators
should be aware of the range of special needs their children may have, and seek
out information concerning the strengths of specific children as well as
resources to address their developmental and learning needs.
4)
They
should use their knowledge of variations in development, second language
acquisition, and disabilities to support children’s physical, emotional,
social, cognitive, linguistic, intellectual, and creative development.
5)
Educators
should observe and listen to children as they work, learn, and play in a
variety of settings to gain insights into what their students know, how they
think, what they value, who they are, where they come from, and what motivates
them.
6)
Educators’
knowledge of children and families, language and culture, and community
development should motivate educators to view children’s actions and responses
through multiple lenses. The more they
learn about their students, the better they can tailor their teaching to engage
children in active learning and meet their specific needs.
Standard
two is about knowing each student as an individual in order to help them learn
to their greatest potential. There are many different parts to the student that
a teacher needs to be aware of. It is important for the teacher to be able to
connect with the students on a personal level as well as in the classroom.
Teachers must know each students life outside of school as well. If a teacher
knows what is going on at home they will be able to gage better whether the
student does not understand the concept or if they really did not have the time
or space to do their homework at home. Student’s home lives can have a strong
affect on their attitude during school. It is the teacher’s responsibility to
meet all of the learning needs of each of the students, by reaching out to past
teachers or other professionals within the school that have worked with the
students that would know what or what not to do to help the student. Teachers
need to address all students needs including physical, and emotional. For
example taking away recess is not meeting the physical needs of the students;
they need at least twenty minutes to let out their energy. It is important to
the teacher to also observe their students during different times of the day to
see them in learning and social settings. The more teachers know their students
the better they can modify their teaching to each students needs.
I think
that this standard is extremely important because it coincides with my
philosophy of being a compassionate teacher. In order to be the best teacher
that you can be you must know your students in all of their domains. Artifact
2A is a piece of my philosophy of education paper that I wrote during my pre
practicum. I talk about my strong belief in a healthy relationship with the
students. I think that this relates to standard 2.1 because I believe in
relating to my students in different ways. I think it is important to have a
relationship with your students that are school related but also that is not
school related. I think that artifact 2A shows my thinking about what kind of
educator I want to be and how my strong beliefs of education show my intentions
of being a teacher that understands the many dimension of my students.
I have
reached 2.3 through my focus child observations. I have one child that I have
decided to focus on because of her need for an individual education plan (IEP)
in math and her denial of testing by the school. This child’s mother spoke with
the classroom teacher in January about getting her tested for an IEP and then
left the country for three month because of a family emergency. During this
time the school did not take this child’s learning into their own hands based
on the mothers request. The school’s reasoning was that they needed the
family’s request for an IEP in written form. Once I found out that this student
had not been tested when the parent asked I knew that she would be a perfect
student to focus on and try to give her the extra help that she needed to
succeed. Artifact 2B is my notes of an observation that I made during a math
lesson. My focus child is in the lowest leveled math group. When doing a
multiplication word problem my student was unsure if she should multiply. She
needed me to reread the problem to her and after I emphasized some words for
her she realized that she needed to use multiplication. After observing my
child I could narrow down her difficulty in math to her ability to comprehend
what she is doing. Repetition of new material is helpful for her, and for a lot
of her classmates as well. I was able to take this observation of this one
student and use it in my own teaching. When teaching the lowest level math
group I needed to pace my instruction and make sure that when I was teaching
new material I provided enough examples and practice with the new material
before having the students work independently. I was able to make myself aware
of this student’s needs and use my knowledge of teaching through my courses and
adapt my lessons to benefit her learning the best I can.
I have
accomplished standard 2.5 through observing my students during indoor recess.
The students just started going outside for recess in the beginning of April,
so they were indoors for two months while I was student teaching. I was able to
observe and accidently over hear conversation and interactions. I was able to
see who is a friend with who and what they have in common that draws them to
each other. Through my observations I have learned about the students interests
and what they prefer to do with their free time when they are not outside. It
is nice to see the students using their imaginations and what they are
interested in to entertain themselves. They often show no emotion during class
time making it difficult for a new student teacher such as myself to really get
to know the students. Artifact 2C are some of my notes that took during recess.
In the beginning of my time in the classroom I liked to observe the kids during
recess to see how they interacted with each other and what things interested
them. I tried to incorporate the things that they liked into math problems or
examples that I could use to explain something I was teaching to grasp their
attention. My observations of the students at recess helped me to be able to
get to know my students but also some of the things that they value, things
that they are good at or enjoy and how they think in social situations.
One of my
students is very shy and I did not know how to read her. My cooperating teacher
let out little bits of information over a long period of time about this
particular student. My cooperating teacher told me that she was just defiant
and that is why she does not participate. She then told me that this little has
a stutter and that is why she does not like to participate because she doesn’t
want to stutter in front of the class. Throughout reading and writing my
cooperating teacher asked me to sit next to this students and make sure that
was doing her work, which I later was told that when a teacher sits next to her
during class she works harder because she is receiving positive attention. I
was notified that this little girl seeks attention because she receives none at
home. One day when I was sitting next to this girl during reading she said that
her mother told her she needs to eat a hamburger because her arms are too
skinny. A few weeks ago this child came into the classroom without responding
to my good morning with a word or eye contact. After creating a relationship
with this child, something in my stomach told me that something was wrong. I
reached out to this child and she would refuse to speak to me or look at me.
After getting the cooperating teacher involved she informed my cooperating
teacher of what was going on at home that had her so upset. After getting the school nurse involved and
assuring the students that everything was going to be okay, I realized that
this little girl needs positive reinforcement to excel in her learning. She
needs a compassionate meaningful relationship with an adult that she can trust.
It is not that this little girl is incapable of understanding the work; it is
that she is terrified of her home life creating a constant distraction from her
ability to learn. This story applies to standard 2.6 where an educator must
know the different aspects of their student’s life in order to look at
situations through different lenses and respond in the most appropriate way. If
I had only known that this student was defiant and has a stutter I would not
have known how much a difference I was making in her learning just by sitting
next to her while she writes. Although I do not have an artifact for 2.6 I
believe that this example speaks for itself in a way that no artifact could.
The students took a standardized state practice test last week and this girl
came up to me and said, “Ms. Donohoe I don’t understand this”. I told her that
I could not help her with the work but would it help if I sit next to you so
you can focus, and she responded with yes. I knew that I could not help this
student with her practice test but that all it took was for me to single her
out with positive attention for her succeed in her learning.
Within this
standard it is important to make time for reflection. Teachers must observe and
reflect to come to a conclusion on how to understand the different aspects of
their students and use them to their advantage as a teacher. A Teacher’s Reflection Book’s goal is “to help dedicated teachers
who were committed to reflection, but who simply couldn’t figure out how to
work it into their daily lives, to find that time and structure that
reflection.” (Peters, Weisberg 2011) This book provides guidance for teachers
who are struggling with finding the time to reflect on their lessons, students
and overall days. Reflection is extremely important when dealing with student’s
personal issues that they may share with you. A teacher needs to be
compassionate but also find time to reflect on separate their day from their
life outside of work. Without reflection and time to decompress, teachers would
burst with emotion or stress.
This
standard coincides with my philosophy of education so much that I could share a
million stories where I have created a bond with a student over the years that
will stay in my memories forever. Creating the relationship with a student is
the hardest part; the connections and information about themselves will come
with time, but creating a trustworthy, honest relationship requires equal
effort from both parties involved. I think that I need to work on being the one
to create these powerful teacher student relationships instead of letting them
just happen. I feel like in a few situations I have let the students come to me
and she bonded that way, but I think that if I were to seek them out for a
connection they would respond surprisingly well to me. This standard is so
important to improving the lives of children and can never be accomplished to
completion because relationships are constantly growing and changing.
Peters, J.K., & Weisberg, M.A (2011) Teacher’s Reflection Book: Exercises,
stories, invitations. Durham, NC: Carolina Academic Press.
ARTIFACT 2A
Philosophy of Education Paper
A caring teacher that
takes the extra few minutes to check in with a student and make sure they are
understanding can give a child confidence and a sense of affection that can
make them want to do well in school. It is as simple as person believing in the
child to motivate the child to do well in school or in life. Teachers have a
large influence on children because for ten months out of the year the children
are with their teachers five days a week. Family relationships also have a lot
to do with how children are influenced. I think that the people they spend the
most time with, and also the people they respect and trust most easily
influence children.
I still strongly
believe in this statement of relationships are the greatest motivators. I would
like to elaborate on this a littler more. The classroom teacher that I am
working with now is very sweet and kind with the students and I really admire
it. It is important to be kind to the children and have a strong relationship
with them. It is difficult to have a strong relationship with a student if you
are always strict with them and only talk about school related things. A strong
relationship is well rounded and requires different connections between two
people.
ARTIFACT 2B
ARTIFACT 2C
Recess observations:
-D and J are creating a research book. Finding answers to
student’s questions and publishing them in a book they plan to finish by the
end of the year.
-Group of boys making video cameras with stick together
cubes and microphones pretending to be the paparazzi asking teachers and
students question and putting the microphones by their mouths (hiding from
people they are videoing)
-Girls doing dance competitions in teams of two
-Two girls are dancers and do splits and turns while other
girls act a little sillier
-J often sits quietly not playing with boys or girls and
colors
-F also colors and gives drawings to teachers
-B will interact with different friends on different days
and sometimes will chose to read to self
-L wants gymnastics lesson for her birthday but her mom is
to poor to get them
No comments:
Post a Comment