1. What do you see as the purpose of the Code of Ethics and Principles of Professional Conduct of the Education Profession in Florida? The purpose of the Code of Ethics and Principles of Professional Conduct of the Education Profession in Florida is to provide a framework for teachers to abide by in order to create a safe, nurturing and effective learning environment for not only students but themselves, colleagues, families and other vital members that are in the education process. We as teachers have made the courageous decision to take on the responsibility of molding and educating the future leaders of this country so with that comes the duty of ensuring that we are modeling exemplary behavior and positive characteristics that the youth can take after. Although we should not be afraid to be ourselves or think that we have to be someone that we are not when we take on the job of being an educator, it is imperative that we are cautious of how we conduct ourselves. Educators spend five days out of the week with adolescents whom are very impressionable so without a doubt families, administrators and society desire to have individuals who will be fair, knowledgable and professional. Educators will always be under the scrutiny of others being that our professions are so critical to the advancement of the world. 2. What is a specific detailed example from this semester when you demonstrated being an ethical educator?
3. How is each specific example connected to the Code of Ethics?
The formative data collected that I utilized during my inquiry were the results from the student’s fluency tests. I chose this method because it provided insight as to why my focus student was struggling in his core subjects since fluency stands between word recognition and comprehension. Within fluency, there are two things: cognitive energy and prosody. Cognitive energy is the limited amount of attention that every student has. If a student spends too much time using their energy on a certain thing while reading such as figuring out what a word is, they could possibly ignore understanding what they are reading about. Prosody is the reading with expression. This term is thought to link fluency with comprehension because the tone of voice could help convey the meaning of the text.
The summative data collection that I utilized during my inquiry were the results from the forms quiz that students completed at the conclusion of the lesson. The great part about this tool is that you do not have to manually grade the quiz; you can include the correct answers while making the quiz so as soon as the student is finished, they will know which answers they got right and wrong. When the entire class is done, it will inform you of how many students out of the total answered the question correctly. It’ll even show you a circle graph of the percentage of who selected each answer choice. These data collection methods help me understand where my student is lacking and shows whether they understood the material that was taught. I have implemented several formative and summative assessments throughout the semester such as quizzes, evidence of learning questions, and partner work. It is my responsibility as an educator to offer accommodations, supplemental instruction and modifications for my students. This is vital for students who may need extra assistance during instructional time so that they may be able to understand the material to the greatest extent possible like every other student. Some accommodations are listening to audio books or reading to a student during a test to assess their knowledge. Science has never been my strongest subject but having the opportunity to teach the content whole group to fifth graders has strengthened my understanding of the material as well as improving my skills in regards to how I present it to students. Just as the previous formal observation showed me, it is vital to prepare and understand the content thoroughly before presenting it to the class. By doing so, I will be prepared to answer any questions that students may have and have the capability of enhancing the lesson by asking questions that will further the student’s thinking. For example, the essential question for this lesson was “How can I describe that electrical energy transforms into other forms of energy such as light, heat, sound, motion and magnetic?” Not only did I ask students to provide examples of appliances that they utilize daily that require electrical energy in the form of other energies that we previously learned about but also describe the process of how electrical energy is a part of those devices.
If I were to teach this lesson again to the same group of students, I would incorporate higher order thinking questions throughout the lesson to further students’ understanding of the content. My collaborating teachers stresses the importance of taking that next step of asking students to explain their answers which will require them to think critically about what they are learning. My mindset as a pre-service teacher has shifted from determining that my students have mastered the content simply because they answered questions accurately to accessing their ability to provide an explanation for their answers. This approach will convey that students are not using memorization or repeating what they hear others state but they have developed an understanding of the content. One instance during the lesson that comes to mind is when the video that was being used as an overview in the beginning of the lesson began to buffer after about two minutes. As expected the students went into a frenzy since they were fully engaged so I calmly paused the clip so that I could give it a few moments to load but that didn’t work. My collaborating teacher then suggested that I reload the page. However, that tactic didn’t work either. So, I took the initiative to bypass that segment of the lesson and transition into the reading portion of the lesson to avoid wasting valuable time. Referring to Feap 2, Organizes, allocates and manages the resources of time, space and attention, I acknowledged the importance of the ability of being flexible and responding quickly when an adjustment is necessary during the lesson. One of the areas in which I could improve in as a pre-service teacher is realizing that everything will not go as planned. However, I am responsible for making rational decisions when complications arise that are beneficial for the students and their learning needs instead of interrupting the lesson to mend a minor problem. After interning in a first-grade classroom for an entire school year, it is undeniably a different experience being in a fifth-grade classroom. The students are given the liberty to be more independent and the lessons are more student led rather than depending on the teacher to reign over the entire process. Of course, this is necessary being that students will be transitioning to middle school in a matter of months where they will be expected to be self-sufficient and capable of problem solving without being walked through every step. Not only is the content more complicated in my opinion, but the task of teaching it is as well. The student’s learning preferences are even more differing now that they are older and more in tune with their abilities. I honestly recognize that the need for differentiating instruction is at an all-time high in intermediate grades.
One particular instance that caught my attention while watching the video of my lesson was that around 18 minutes and 48 seconds, one of the students were raising their hand. At that specific moment, I was working at the table in the rear of the classroom with a small group of four students with my back to those students who were working in partners; therefore, I did not detect the student waiting for my acknowledgment. The student held up his hand for about 6 seconds before taking the initiative to come over to me and voice his concern. This helped me realize that although there are students who can work independently, I am still responsible for ensuring that I am accessible to all students. This was a learning moment for me as a future educator because if this occurred in a primary level classroom, probably first grade or kindergarten, the student may have held their hand up until the moment I turned around or simply put their arm down which could have led to them not completing their work. Now I will be conscious of where I stand during the time designated for partner and independent work. By doing that, I will able to detect when a student in another part of the room needs assistance or has a question to ask. This lesson was an excellent example of what we are taught in our courses about reaching our students in order to teach them. I believe that students learn best when the lessons include subjects that are applicable to their lives and are interesting. It is best to relate the material to things that will motivate them to pay attention such as creating the lesson with a focus on their interests. Electrical energy is an important concept to teach students since it is a part of their daily lives; from the time, they turn on their lights in the morning to dress for school to the moment they plug their phone into an outlet to charge. Our world wouldn’t be the same without electricity. The world is constantly advancing so it would be great to teach them about a form of energy that they may work to improve in the future. There is also a high demand for workers in the technology and science fields. I believe that sparking an interest in electricity and science will encourage students to learn more about how their community operates and how they could become involved professionally. If I were to teach this lesson again, one component that I would keep the same is the list of pre-assigned partners that was included in the PowerPoint presentation to let students know who they would be working with to complete partner work. Not only was it helpful for the students, but for myself as well. It made transitioning from one section of the lesson to the next much smoother than it would have if I allowed the students to choose their own partner. I also preferred to pre-assign partners to give the students a chance to work with someone other than their friends or that significant person that they always tend to collaborate with. The students were not happy when they found out they couldn’t select their partner but that moment taught me that as a teacher I will make decisions that will not please everyone. However, if my intentions are good and there is a purpose for what I do, I should not be afraid to implement beneficial actions. The fifth-grade class is full of personalities and different learning abilities so during this lesson it was important to ensure that every student was able to understand the content. The use of technology was an effective instructional material to cater to those whose learning styles are more usual as well as presenting the material in another method other than lecture. When I was in elementary school, I don’t recall my teachers using videos or interactive games to engage us in the lesson. In the beginning of the lesson, I showed a Brain Pop video that provided an overview of electrical energy and hopefully make the reading clearer. Brain Pop is a familiar educational website so when students caught sight of it, they were excited and that proved that I had their attention. I believe that capturing their attention in the beginning of the lesson is so important and will be the precedent for the remainder of the lesson. For those students who struggled with the content, I pulled them into a small group in the rear of the classroom during the time designated for partner work to provide direct instruction which included reading directions and questions aloud, paired reading and modeling how to find answers in the text. There is usually an instructor who comes into the classroom who pulls those students for a few minutes or assists them but it was a great experience for me to figure out how to accommodate their needs in the general environment. At one point of the small group instruction, I had to read aloud to a student who was having trouble to make the text comprehensible. At the conclusion of the lesson, students returned to their desks to answer an Evidence of Learning question independently on a sticky note. I reviewed those sticky notes and discovered that the students answered the question correctly.
Wondering: How can I enhance the learning experience for my focus student in the areas of fluency and comprehension? |
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November 2017
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