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About Me
- Arlinda Lopez Rodriguez, PhD.
- I am an associate professor at the University of Puerto Rico, Aguadilla Campus. My specialties are TESL, Curriculum and Instruction, Technology Integration and Online course design./ Soy catedratica aasociada en la Universidad de Puerto Rico, Recinto de Aguadilla. Me especializo en TESOL, Currículo e Instrucción, integración de la tecnología y diseño de cursos en línea.
20 comments:
The twenty hours of observation I did for my seminar course have had an impact in my life. I had the opportunity, for the second time in my life, to observe secondary English students and their teacher in detail. Throughout the observation hours, I learned many things that will be helpful to me when I become a teacher.
First of all, I noticed that middle school students are not easy to manage. Teachers must have patience, like the one I was observing. An educator must also show authority without being a tyrant. The teacher I observed had a great relationship with her students; they got along very well. Even if they had a friendly connection, this did not mean that the students could do as they pleased. They had to follow instructions and work. From what I observed, there was a very healthy student/teacher relationship that I came to admire. They showed her respect because they knew she respected them first.
Another situation I noticed is that students got distracted easily when they did not have a lot to do. In occasions, the teacher gave them extra material to keep them busy. Even so, the group was a very cooperative with their teacher and with me. Students were very hard-working and earned their good grades. They also helped in the graduation committee’s fundraising activities (chocolate sales, hot dog sales, civil days, pool party, etc.). Some students were even part of the committee and helped the teacher when making announcements and invitations.
As for the classes given, I found myself feeling really nervous at first, but once I began, everything flowed. Students participated actively throughout the classes and they even let me know if they had any doubts. They enjoyed making an “I am” poem as an example with me on the board. I gave them the opportunity to choose the topic and I would ask them what to write and, as a group, they would fill it out. The next day, I brought them an example of a video created with Windows Movie Maker and they liked it. The immediately began to create their own. At the end of the class period, I handed the students an evaluation sheet, in order for them to evaluate me. According to the results, I did really well and the students even took the time to leave a constructive comments on the bottom of the sheet.
I feel really satisfied with was accomplished along those hours of observation. I am very thankful for the opportunity. The teacher was really nice with me and from her I have learned a lot. She is an example of a teacher who renews her teaching methods to keep herself updated. She is also an inspiration to me because she uses technology integration as part of her instruction. As for the students, I am very happy to know they liked how I gave class. Some of them have found me through some social networks and have added me as a friend. I know that I will never forget this experience because it has left a mark in my soul. I have been branded with the word “educator” for life.
As for the EDPE 4005 course, I have to admit, it has been a lot of work. We have been doing a lot in a very small period of time, yet we have been learning every step of the way. I sincerely thank the professor for her time and dedication into molding us into real educators with field work and professional development experiences and with love and passion for what we do. This will not be forgotten; this has been our connection from theory to practice. Good luck to all of my classmates in your future.
I learned so many things during these observations and the period in which I taught! I knew being in a secondary level classroom would be challenging and yes it was! I encountered what the teacher called a difficult group of students which I now know is a needy bouquet of individuals with needs and wants to which I as a teacher could service to.
Behavioral problems are everywhere to be found and in this particular school it can be seen as the order of the day. Reflecting on my experiences and the questions I formulated earlier I found that these students can be helped.
Sometimes misconduct is a way of asking for attention; even at this level students can believe that the only way they are attended to is by misbehaving. Many parents prompt this because they are not aware of or attentive of their children when they are behaving well, conversely very responsive when misbehavior is occurring. Appropriate behavior needs to be encouraged and exalted while bad behavior reprimanded and awarded with consequences. A child needs to feel that he has only to do what is asked of him or her and behave correctly to be awarded with something as simple as a “very well”. Positive reinforcement is necessary to promote correct conduct. We all, even as adults, feel elated and proud when our progress and execution is applauded. We look forward to repeating or even bettering that which was the cause of such exaltation. Students need to feel that if they do what they need to do with the proper attitude they will be praised and also become better persons in the future. But there are other elements that endorse misbehavior.
Everyone, without exceptions, needs to feel accepted at a certain point. At this stage of development (young adulthood) people have the urge to “fit in”. In some cases “being part of the group” or “being cool” means doing what they are not supposed or expected to do. The search for identity, if abrupt and not guided by an older and suitable role model, can foster feelings of having to follow the current even if it means that all others think that they are wrong. Mr. L needs to know this and work hand in hand with parents, school counselors and social workers to help each student in their normal developmental process so it can be a smooth and fruitful one.
Another important factor to help students with behavioral problems is positive role models. As far as from the government seats to as near as the house they live in, children and young adults need to have positive role models. We are beings that imitate and emulate, even if we proclaim ourselves as individuals. We learned to eat by looking at others do it, we learned to walk because we saw others walking, we learned to socialize because someone introduced us to a world of socialization were we learned by others how to do so. Children learn to speak, feel, act, behave and be by what they are taught or subjected to. Our society is in decadence and if the government, parents, the authority and schools do not work to give children a good example to follow they will follow the wrong ones. As teachers we sometimes have to cover the areas that maybe parents or the government does not cover. Our classroom needs to be a safe environment were we as teachers and individuals are the best examples we can be even in the middle of a corrupt civilization.
There are so many factors that encompass the issue of incorrect behavior! The important element we, as teachers and even parents, should know is that acceptable behavior can be taught and inspired by anyone and anything that is around our children modeling the correct one. We have to know our students (or children) in order to help them, it is necessary that we observe their conduct and those elements that can be targeting it. Also, there is so much literature and help for parents and even children with misbehavior that there is no excuse to ignore the problem.
Some more questions arouse from this research: What will happen to “The Ring Master”, will he progress and become a fruitful adult? Is Mr. L appropriately prepared to deal with students with special needs and behavioral problems? Was the time I spent in that classroom sufficient to draw asserted conclusions and provide definite solutions? I hope A does well and finds that someone is willing to help him even if he is already considered and adult. On the contrary the answer to the other two questions might be very probably: NO.
Reflection on the Classroom Observations:
Melissa Torres
My first thought when I was told that I had to do 18 hours of observations and teach two classes was that it was going to be a lot work, but at the same time it will teach me what I need to know and it will help me to develop into a better teacher and human being. I was excited and anxious at the same time, and then I started to worry and think about some of my teachers in high school and about how much I did not want to be like them, I wanted to be better, to cause an impact in their lives, for my visit to have meaning. While I was doing my observations I began to think about the importance of being a teacher and what it would mean to be an effective and reflective teacher. But to tell you the truth at first I thought that I had encountered the “students from hell”. I encountered this particular student which confronted me, he told me “Why bother studying so much, you know that teachers don’t care about their students, you are just in it for the money, you just want to tell us what to do, and you all think that we are dumb and that we wont amount to anything in this world”, I was shocked at first to hear such a reaction, but then I regained my composure and I tried to explain to him, that is true that some teachers do not care, but that he should not lose hope in all of us, because he can miss out on those teachers that do care, like his English teacher, and I also told him that it does not matter what people think of you, what truly matters is what you think of yourself, you should always try your best, so that you can prove everyone wrong and make them devour their words. These students believe that everyone wants to tell them what to do, what's good for them and that we don't want them to find their own answers; that we want them to believe ours. So I tried to think of ways in which to approach them, and show them that I cared, because I remembered that those who are the hardest to love are usually the ones that need it the most. I learned a lot from them, about their needs, concerns and their personalities. Some students really needed help in their English, but I know that at least they tried their best and even though they said that they knew nothing, deep down they did know and they helped each other and manage to answer all of my questions, I showed enthusiasm and comprehension towards them, and they eventually warmed up to me. This was a truly gratifying experience, which I would not change for anything else and students need to have their voices heard, because everyone matters in this world no one is insignificant. I know that this experience will help me with my future teachings and I am hopeful that those students which in time did warmed up to me and truly touched my heart, that they will be able to graduate and become the best that they can be. They were truly worried about graduation and receiving the right guidance to do so, I believe that the school staff should care more about their students and do everything in their power to help them. These students and every student is our future and we should do our best to help them achieve their full potential, by helping them reflect on their own lives and hopefully they can have the opportunity to achieve their goals. I learned that being a teacher requires hard work and willingness to improve myself. Teaching is so much more than just teaching what is on the textbook or in the curriculum. It involves caring and believing in our students capabilities. I know that when I acquire more experience and reflect on the experience that I have attained, that I will then possess the tools needed to become an effective and reflective teacher. Because with each experience that we acquire, if we are willing and open to change we can most certainly change the way we teach and improve it. I have learned that we can achieve everything that we set our minds to, and it is just as simple as believing that we can.
Today is the last day of class. this semester has gone by rather quickly, but it was enough time for me to grow and mature. in this semester I realized that i needed to change my ways to do things and be more into what I do. I believe that I have acomplishe a lot this semester not only in the Class, but excelling in Theatre, at my work and becoming the VP of the student Council. I am proud of myself and I am actually happy with my academic life for the first time.
Reflection
When you first come in a class where you are observing and you are going to give class, the first thing that pops into your head is, am I going to do a good job? Are the students going to like me? Will they behave good? (among other questions) and as we pass through the experience, all of the questions get answered. Personally, I think that the Ethnographic study is a very good way to prepare us as future teachers to deal with the practice.
I was really scared when I came in to the class for the first time because the students even though they are much younger than me, I got intimidated because they all look at you like you are some strange thing and all you can listen is them hushing; Who is she? What is she doing here? Thank goodness that all this nervousness lasts only the first days, as soon as the students get to know you, they become easier to treat and the majority of them change their behavior to good.
The most beautiful thing about this project is that you get to listen to the students call you “Misi” for the first time. This was such a great moment for me because I knew that I selected to job I always wanted and since I’m almost finishing my bachelor’s degree it is important to me to listen to these students called me this way because I can get used to have students call me “misi”. By listening to this little word, it lets me know whether I’m doing a good Job or not. When the students call you like that, means that they have doubts and that you are doing a great job and that they actually need you.
About the classroom I would say that the students behave very good and the teacher helped me so much because I got so much feedback that will be very interesting for me as a future teacher because I can apply all these tips and information for the practice. In one occasion, I also saw an group from the 12th grade and I was so amazed by the way this group behaved because they cut class, they are dealing with mean things, and since they are from 12th grade I think that they should be more responsible because they are graduating soon and they need to behave much better, in difference with the other classrooms that all of them enter the room and they all participate in many activities that I could give that to the students. In this Study, I learned so many things, but the most important is that I saw how this teacher had the group so controlled and how much the students participated in class and how little were the absentees in the class and this is very important because without group motivation and good teaching skills, the students will not learn much and you’ll be considered as a bad teacher and the students will have no interest in entering the class and that is something that I definitely don’t want.
Projects like these should be considered in major classes because we the future teachers can prepare better and I believe that the teacher don’t eliminates us because it also helps us to be interesting to everybody. And about the class, all I have to say is that I learned a lot in this class and I'm looking forward to keep integrating what i learned in my clasroom.
For my ethnographic I chose to do my observations on student interaction. When going to the classroom the first few days it was kind of awkward and surreal. Awkward because I did not know any of the people there aside from the teacher and surreal because a few years ago I was there as a student and now I am there and they address me as a teacher. As the days passed I became more at ease and I started to learn the teacher’s routine when starting the class, of role call and going over what happened in the previous class, all the while watching the students interaction. The way the teacher managed to have good group control and a very light atmosphere in the classroom in my opinion contributed in the students participating willingly in the class. On the first week going to the classroom at first I thought that most of the students were very reluctant and bored in the class, but afterwards I noticed that when the Fiestas Patronales ended that some of the students that had been half asleep in the previous classes were now the most active and participating students. It proved that the environment does affect the students. During my observations I had the opportunity to see how students are with the teacher and with each other, they would joke with the teacher and comment on what was going in the classroom, however they never crossed the line to disrespectful. The students in that classroom seemed to get a close group because they were at ease asking each other for help with some of the assignments and when there were ties that everybody finished early there was a friendly atmosphere. Aside from this the only thing that I observed was the student that had been repeating the class, which I kind of identified him as the student from hell, he was mostly absent and when he went to the class he just sat there doing nothing waiting for the class to end. Another thing that impressed me was the that there were four students that were from special education and that the teacher always made sure they were at the same pace of the rest of the class that were considered excellent students. When it came time to do my hours of teaching since I had already been talking to some of the students and knew the names of most of them I concentrated on making the class different, and by bringing them the audio from the War of the Worlds broadcast and the comics from the story I achieved that, and the students all behaved remarkably well without the teacher ever having to call the attention and I only had to tell a student to stop talking once, aside from that they responded to the activities as I planed which boosted my confidence a great deal.
I learned a great deal from this and I still think that I got lucky by the group I was able to observe because they reminded me of the group I was in when I was their age. However it still lets me wondering what would have happened if the group was more of a rowdy one; would I still have been able to perform with the same effectiveness? I guess I will find out for the future, still this just helped reassured that I am in the way to the right profession and am looking forward to going back in to a classroom, not just as an observant, but as a teacher.
Reflection
Beyond completion of this field work experience I have to say it was very interesting and a great experience. I think it’s very necessary that as a student in preparation of a bachelor’s degree in education we go through such experience. It’s a way of preparing us into reality, what we are to expect once were out their in the real world, in a real classroom full of students. With this experience of observation and teaching I have realized that I have liked giving class to students. This is what I’ve been preparing for and it’s what I want to do. I want to teach and become a teacher in the secondary level. There are many kids who are actually there to learn and acquire knowledge while others are there for help and support at the same time.
Through this experience I can say that I’ve observed that it’s not an easy job, its one that requires lots of work and dedication but I know that I will do my best and dedicate all the time I have available for these students that need a teachers help. Its tough having to deal with such circumstances as no technology and photocopies of works for all students but this is why we always have to be looking and searching for new activities and applying different methods and approaches to create a better atmosphere in the classroom.
I have to say that I’m thankful the teacher gave me the opportunity to observe her class so I can see what the reality is inside a real classroom once you’re out there teaching. Of course I’m a student and was a student of public schools but once you’re out there as a teacher it’s a real different experience and these hours of observation and teaching lets us see reality.
Through observing the teacher I learned that a teacher has to be strict with the students and demonstrate a strong personality towards bad behavior. If this doesn’t occur then students think they have control and do whatever they pleased. I’ve seen how they act when a teacher is to kind and doesn’t set a strong personality. They majority of the students will stop respecting the teacher plus their peers. It’s very difficult to have control over a classroom with so many students and if we don’t show them our serious side they think everything is a joke.
I also learned how difficult it is to prepare lessons for students because even though they were twelve graders they act like they have absolutely no clue what is being said to them. I think its not right what many teachers do when they give their class in Spanish. I’ve observed how they even let students write their class work and activities in Spanish. I think they should be forced to do it in English no matter what. We can’t let them give up so quickly they’ll just learn to get everything the easy way around. I’ve seen how important it is to create a good atmosphere for students and get them to work into groups more often. I think its good to get them into groups frequently because they start participating more and working together to complete the task. At first most of the students I observed and gave class too were to timid to work together and answer questions but then once I got them into working together they started to loose that shyness they had.
Final reflection: Class and Fieldwork Experience
First, I want to talk about my experience during this course... I already have taken classes with Arlinda and I may say that she is always willing to make us learn and use effectively the time we expend in her classes.
This was an excellent experience for me, because it makes me understand that I really want to become a teacher, but a great and effective teacher. I'm stating this because I now know the difference between being a teacher and being an effective teacher. That is why I want to become and effective teacher, because I want to learn from what I am doing with my students and from my students too. That is what effective teacher do, they observe and reflect about their teaching strategies and techniques and about their students’ performance and behavior; in order for them to be able to correct and improve the way they deal or manage them.
Another thing that I liked about this course was all those opportunities that we had to make group work and activities to enhance our interpersonal skills. When you work with a partner is easier to accomplish or understand the information you are dealing with, than doing it alone. I think that was why the professor was always putting us in small groups, as when we worked with the lesson plans or with the research.
I really learned a lot from this class, but from the fieldwork experience too. This experience molded me to become more aware of the necessities of school in so many areas, especially when those schools are high schools. I was afraid of teaching at that level, but when you start observing and becoming their friend, you realized that is not that hard. Students sometimes make teaching easier than it is, if teachers make them feel engaged or motivated with the lesson. I was observing a young teacher that only have like five to six years of experience in teaching. She used a lot of methods and techniques that really maintain the students paying attention and focused in the learning process. Her students were from eleventh grade, but the teacher made them paint and draw so many things related with the topics she discussed during my observation hours. For example, when she was discussing adjectives, she made them draw a picture using adjectives (the green tree, so the student may draw a green tree) I really liked this activity, because there are many students that really like to draw and is their way to learn.
I know that nowadays students are more into not studying, but teachers have to take risk in order of changing that. If a teacher does not break some rules, this will unmotivated the student and make them feel like quit studying is the best choice they have. I think that doing fieldwork is the best way that teachers-to-be students have to improve the way they are going to use to motivate students and to make them stay studying. As all educators said, observing the classroom environments, the students, and the teacher techniques and strategies is the only way we have to reflect and improve the thing that are missing in the teaching-learning process.
Now that the semester is almost over I can see the positive effects that this course has had on me, not only as a teacher but also as a human being. Prior to this amazing experience I was just a student but now that I have had the opportunity to actually teach I consider myself a student- teacher. When I say that this course has influenced on my persona I am referring to the professor, my classmates and my observation/ teaching experiences as a whole. This is because without the professor’s knowledge, motivation and the teaching experiences she shared with us as well as my classmates’ shared reflections and observation/ teaching experiences, and mine I would not have been able to grow as much as I have throughout this course. It takes all this to make a student grow into becoming a teacher. As student-teachers, we take little pieces of knowledge and experiences from others and make them part of our own. By doing this we are going through professional development because we are actually analyzing and selecting viewpoints that will compile our personal educational philosophy.
This course has been like riding a rollercoaster because we had low-anxiety days as well as nerve-racking days full of unexpected situations. There were times when we were on our comfort zone listening to methods, strategies and techniques for teaching, (which I have to say sound wonderful to put to practice), but then again there were days when were face to face with reality as we observed and taught real students and heard about shocking experiences that opened our eyes into a new world, something different for which I, personally, was not prepared for. But the greatest thing about all this is that it had to be like this. I am not unrealistic or naive about teaching anymore, on the contrary, I have learned to balance this awareness with courage, a strong courage to teach (or with tough love, like the professor would say). Now I realize what this course is all about: it is all about connecting theory to practice (like the professor had said all along). Before this course, all I had in my mind was theory (everything was so “pink” and sweet) but now with this pre-practice I am realistic and feel prepared.
Consequently, these experiences have shaped my formation as a student-teacher. Previously, I did not have the slightest idea of what type of teacher I would be. When the professor assured us that we would have to modify our educational philosophy throughout the course I thought that I would not have to do that, after all I thought mine was great. But now I know that there is always something you learn and improve on and when this happens to you, you realize you have just changed your perspective (philosophy). I know that, just like many of my classmates, I now envision myself as a tough yet loving type of teacher.
Despite the obstacles I have encountered during classroom observations, where teachers tried to dismay me by encouraging me to forget what they teach us in college because it “does not work in real life and therefore you have to be plain tough”, I have to say I think they are wrong. All of us in this course have seen that it is possible to be tough and loving at the same time. The best example is the professor’s own teaching experience. It would be unmotivating to hear this from an inexperienced professor, but not when you hear it from someone who has taught for so long and has been so successful. This is why I feel motivated and willing to make the difference and to be unique. If we fail to do this for fear of pressure we are going to prolong the negative results we see year after year in our students.
Maybe what I have been saying throughout this reflection may sound too pretty to hear but hard to do, and in fact it is. Some might even think that I am just saying this now and that a couple of years later I will be doing the opposite, but I am sure I would not because every time I step into a classroom, either to observe or teach, I see faces of children that need help and I now I am there to do that. I was raised with great moral values and knowing that I am getting paid to do something I am really not doing would remain on my conscience and would be unforgettable. As a mother, I have that maternal instinct, and for this I think I see my students as if they were my children and I would never do anything to them I would not do to my own children, such as guiding them into failure, misjudging them or doing them any other harm. Hopefully, these will be the things that will keep me thinking like this and if I am able to do this, my teaching performance and students’ results will be just as great as I have expected.
Reflection
At the beginning I was very interested in observing an exceptionally bright student. I wanted to investigate about their behavior and learn teaching strategies to benefit these students to fulfill their needs. I knew that is a teacher don’t keep them involved and challenged they will get bored of school, and eventually they will not success academically. Of course I don’t want that to occur in my classroom, knowing the potential of a child. But then when I step into the classroom I observed that there were many necessities that were not being attended, from the students, the teacher and school. Things are not going good in the school I visited so I began getting worried. Then I decided to take time to observe everything, to perceive and see things objectively, and many things came out. As a result I decided to observe phases of instruction and a child with a behavior problem at the same time. The things that I saw worried me even more and a filled me with a deep sadness; school is supposed to be an integral institution, in which excellent education should be the mayor goal. I do not want to even think that there are teachers that are not compromised with our children. I think that we have a serious problem in our country, people only think in the benefits and not in the serious responsibility that involve educating our future adults. From the school respects, I could observe and I truly know, that the resources, talking about the director, social worker, advisor, and community, that should be engaged with the students healthy development, are ignoring serious situations, “because they have better things to do”. It makes me very angry, what could be more important that help raising a complete citizen? It is concerning because ignoring the problem will not resolve the issue, it will become worse. What really made me think was the student’s side. They are supposed to be fourteen to sixteen years old children, but they are acting like adults; are dealing with adult problems and responsibilities. So I ask myself, what type of life are we giving our children as parents? Do they have an innocence stage in which they should not be corrupted? Is childhood being respected? In my perspective they are being corrupted physically and psychologically. Childhood definitely is not being respected, where are our values? Our children want to grow faster their parents. At school we can really see how our society is growing. I believe that in my years as a teacher I will have so many memories that I could even write a book.
Our teenagers are trying to survive in a society in which survive the most apt, they are accommodating themselves in a place that demands everyday more; technology, science, and medicine, are advancing and we need to adapt ourselves as smart humans. School is influenced by everything around. Teachers have the tough job to reach each student and make them grow, which means that teachers also need to evolve. We need really good teachers; determined, tough, and compromised, to work with this generation.
What I realized, is that I should be tough, ready, expect everything, and work hard to be a teacher. Field observations always enrich our knowledge in education and help us to prepare for the fieldwork. I know it is not easy, I don’t want it to be easy, I will get very bored if it was. I want it to be challenging, because I know I can work with it and I love to be teacher.
The class had been very enriching. I had grown in knowledge and had gain experience, which helps me become a better teacher. It is necessary to learn theory because we need to base our teaching in something; this is why I believe in the classes like Seminar. It had been great because all the things I learned, our researches had been very helpful and thought provoking for me, now I have many aspects to consider when I begin to teach and also the professional development activity impacted me because it gave be an example of how it would be as a teacher. I accept that I would like to have more time to learn even more and to be less rushed with the projects. In general it was worthwhile and pleasant.
SHERLEY
To end my reflections I want to point out all that I have learn trough out my observation in the classroom and how it have change my way of seen things. To begin when a first got to school and made my first 10 hours of observation it was simple; I just sit down and take notes of the teacher’s routine and strategies to give class. But time started to pass and I’ve got to know the students better and how they worked and get along and I got to become part of them, they would open up to let me know their doubts and how could I help them and so on. I really think that students are capable to go beyond their ideas and what they expect from themselves but most of all what they need it’s to be listen and not controlled all the time, as the professor said the students need tough love, someone who cares for them but at the same time let them know which path and track to hand on. The teacher I observed showed a really good relation with the students and as future educator we should always have in mind that we would have to face “a kid from hell”, the kids who would have A.D.D. and many more deficiency that we as future teacher have to deal in our classroom.
How have I learn and how I relate my prior knowledge with the one gained through my observation and in seminar class, well as student in the university we are taught to become a successful teacher and have the preparation to teach students well, and we make class demonstration and everything looks wonderful and motivated but the reality is that we never get to cover what we want and how we want. In class we have feedback from our own classmates and everything seems to be understood and cover, but if there’s something I have learn through my observation is that student are not prepare for English and we never get the satisfaction of our lesson taught. These experience help you become more reflective on yourself and learn each time to change you strategies on teaching so the students never lose their interest as learners.
As we learn from the beginning of the course of seminar to become reflective, as future educator that is our successful way to become effective in class, as teacher and as person because that is the key, to go back and compare to what you knew and what you know now and how it has change. The key for a successful teacher is to go back and compare to see if you have become a better and effective teacher or you have been stuck in the same spot which means you need to become more reflective on your work and as a person. When you are a teacher you are also a students because you never stop learning how to become more effective and successful on you work and in life. Professor Arlinda once said to me “the more you know, the less you know” and that stayed with me and its true because as future teacher you are always learning new things but it opens to different doubt and ideas that you need to keep learning to clear them up and have answers.and to finish i would like to said that i really enjoyed taking class with Arlinda as much as my classmates good luck to all and enjoy your Christmas vacation.
The Seminar and Curriculum class has taught me many things about being a teacher. The most important thing that I learned from this class is the importance of reflecting. I honestly never gave much thought to the reflection process. This class has made me change my perspective on reflection and now I view it as a tool that helps me to perfect my teaching skills. This class also taught me the importance or connecting what I learned in all of my four years of University study to my actual teaching professor. I took many concentration classes before this, including another seminar class at the elementary level, but this is the only class that I took that really made me think and connect the theories that I learned to my teaching.
As partial fulfillment of this course, I had to complete twenty hours of observations in a high school in order to conduct an ethnographic study. The part of this study that I would like to stress in this reflection is the importance of lesson plans. I observed phases of education and I noticed that my teacher did a very poor job implementing the three phases of education (initial, developmental, and closing). The teacher confided in me that she does not usually write lesson plans, once I heard this, I knew right then and there that her problem sprouted from a lack of planning. Lesson plans are a great tool to help teachers plan and carry out their classes. Teachers that write lesson plans anticipate questions and problems that might arise which help them to become better prepared when teaching. Lesson plans are also a way for teachers to document what things they do in their classes. They also help teachers to appear organized and that makes the students think that their teacher is responsible and organized. Lesson planning ahead of time also assures that the three phases of education are going to be implemented on a daily basis. I admit, that I used to think that lesson plans were annoying to write, but after this study, I realized how essential they really were.
The most important question raised from my observations was why teachers in the public school system do not take the time to write lesson plans. I know that lesson planning was emphasized in their studies. I want to know why many teachers stop writing them when they begin working. I also want to know why there is such a big difference between the freedoms that students have in Puerto Rico compared to students from the United States. In the US, students are not allowed to do half of the things that students here get away with. Students here can leave the school when they want and they are allowed to speak on their cell phones- those are just two examples of the freedoms that students have hear that I did not have in the US. I would like to know how this trend started and why it is allowed to continue even though there exists some circular letters that restrict the things that students are allowed to do.
As part of this observation experience, my professor had us help the teacher that we were observing. As I already mentioned, I helped the teacher to transfer the attendance record online. She also had me correct some student projects. I never knew that correcting project can be so time consuming and tiring! I understand why some teachers and professors take so long to correct, it is hard work. The teacher also had me pass out papers, answer the student’s questions and run errands for the teacher. It was a good experience because it showed me all of the things that teachers had to go through on a daily basis.
We also had to teach two classes as part of our observation experience. I taught a lesson based on the song “What a Wonderful World” by Louis Armstrong and I taught a lesson based on the short story, “Priscilla and the Wimps” by Richard Peck. I had a great experience teaching. What helped me give my classes was the fact that I recently completed a research project on classroom management. The two classes that I gave were a perfect time for me to test the techniques that learned. I loved the fact that the techniques that I learned proved helpful because I had great group control. The students listened to me and did what I said. I loved it! This experience was so great, that I now doubt whether or not I like teaching High School over Elementary students. I used to think that older students would be scary, but now I know that they are great if you know the right ways to control them.
Overall, I loved this class and I loved the ethnographic study. I loved this class because it made me view teaching in a whole different way and I loved the study because it made me realize what type of teacher I would like to be in the future. This study also made me appreciate the teaching profession more because it takes a lot of work to be a teacher. I would like to thank Prof. Lopez for being such a great professor and for serving as my inspiration. Thank you. I would also like to thank my classmates, I really learned a lot from you all. Hopefully we could all keep in touch even after graduation.
GOOD LUCK TO YOU ALL!
FINAL REFLECTION
I choose the Eladio Tirado Lopez High School in Aguada to make my observations. I had to teach here which lead to teacher-student interaction. First, I am going to write about my experience during the hours of observation. I observed grade twelve. Given this opportunity to work with students in a classroom, I observed a variety of behavior. Some students were motivated into wanting to learn, but a few others were just indifferent. With this reaction I concluded that not all students go to school because they want to learn; therefore leading me, a future teacher, to be dynamic and make the classroom atmosphere a dynamic one too, so students can see that learning and going to school is fun.
As to my experience giving class in a public school it was scary at the beginning because I knew I had a great responsibility with the students I was to teach. I knew that a teacher was observing me so I had a commitment with myself to do the best. It is always kind of frightening because being in front of the classroom with unknown people always gives you the chills even when I was always prepared for class. I questioned myself what would I encounter myself with: student's different type of behavior and motivation. Once I began I found it exciting. Standing in front of a classroom made me feel the figure of authority even though I was nervous. Preparing me for each day's class and preparing materials was challenging. I had to carefully read the poem and make sure that I understood every detail of it because you do not know with what questions a student may come up with just to verify if you know what you are talking about. This was not the hard part. The thought of thinking that I would not be able to answer their questions made me a bit nervous, but I overcame that because the group that I taught for two days was an excellent group which dominated English. They showed their desire of participating during in class and they were respectful. It was a very dynamic group and I was fortunate to have the opportunity of teaching them. I thought teaching was just standing up in front of the classroom and talking about a subject. I have been proven wrong; it takes a lot of planning, dedication and will power to teach. It was a lot of pressure because students' learning relied on me as a teacher. Teaching can be difficult and challenging, but as I said before my group was very supportive and made my experience a wonderful one.
I believe that students should have this experience of going to public schools and participate actively with students because it will give future teachers ideas of what they are going to be faced with when they become actual teachers.
Lesliebeth Acevedo Rivera
Even though I had sent it to your e-mail, here it is again just in case in the blog.
Reflection #4
I often wonder who am I as a learner, teacher and a leader. Reflecting on the answer to this question, I find difficult to respond to it because I feel that I am constantly changing as to my perspective of education. Life has caused me to mature and gain knowledge as a learner, friend and finally of becoming a good educator. I have always been interested in learning. Education has always been a part of my life and as you can see it still is.
Somewhere in my experiences as a learner, I learned that wondering and questioning are good things to do. I believe this is the fundamental concept that has kept me interested in my education. I have found that having this attitude makes learning much more meaningful, so I as a future teacher will try to pass this positive behavior onto my students and to all children that I encounter.
As a future educator, I would like to be an effective one reason why I plan to continue further studies in education. As I learn more and more I will feel my confidence building, and I know that this will impact who I am as a teacher and as a leader in my future.
Being an effective teacher includes things like creativity, patience, understanding, and the desire to help and inspire children. People, usually those who are not educators, often express their opinion about how teaching is such a simple thing to do, assuming that anyone with knowledge, or anyone who enjoys children can automatically and effectively teach. I entirely disagree because good teachers develop over time.
Lesliebeth Acevedo Rivera
My classroom observations were a great success. Teaching classes is not as easy as I thought. During my observations I came to the realization that this was my future. The observations helped me see how a class is taught on a daily basis. Observing high school students helped me evaluate myself as a future teacher.
Throughout my observations I was able to learn from both the students and teachers. In respect to the students, I realized that some students are unmotivated to learn English and that it is unnecessary. Many feel embarrassed to speak the language and this has to stop. I feel that teachers are not taking enough time to encourage them.
When I become a teacher, I want to avoid repetitive teacher routines. Students need to see a difference in the way classes are given. I believe teachers have to be active with the class and circle among students. If I remain in my seat during the whole class will my class be effective? In no way will this technique be effective; because students need to see that the teacher is motivated to teach the class. I was able to experience this negative technique and I believe the students lacked in motivation.
One of my goals as a teacher in training is to speak English at all times, even if the students beg me. Many students want the material given to them in hand. During my observations I was faced with students who wanted me to speak in Spanish; however I encouraged them to speak the language fluently.
As my observations ended I was able to reflect on the positive aspect of teaching. I truly enjoyed teaching and I was able to bond with the students. Teaching is a gift and not all people are prepared. My experience was very positive and I hope to be a great teacher.
Class reflection: I had a great experience in the class. At first I was a little frustrated, but who wasn't. I believe this class has helped me a lot in my future teachings and I would like to thank Prof. Lopez for her dedication! I am going to miss all of my classmates! I wish you all the best. I love the idea of becoming a teacher and I am thrilled with the fact that I am finishing. Becoming a teacher was not my first choice, but I am grateful to have taken this path!
Nataly Rodriguez
Reflection #5
The teacher I was observing was really excited that I was going to be teaching two classes; she was so excited that on the day of my 11th observation she asked me to help her out and teach the class. I ended up teaching that whole morning three periods of 12th graders. The following observations she would ask me if I wanted to teach and I would say yes and right there and then she gave the plan for that day’s class and I taught. As one of my classmates mentioned, it felt great to be called “missi”. They would ask me: “Missi tu vas a darnos la clase hoy?” and if I answered yes they would get excited, which made me feel really happy.
The good thing about having the experience of working with different groups was that I could clearly see that each group had their own identity, style, and pace. I could never work with each group exactly the same, I had to be more dynamic with one group that was always hyper; but with this other group I had to go really slow, explain things more than once, and go and help some students individually. When we become teachers we will have different groups of the same grade level, and although we might have the same lesson plan, as our professor taught us, we also need to have a plan b, plan c, and a plan d just in case. And that is only as a whole; as a whole, groups are different, but inside those groups are from twenty to thirty different individuals, with different interests, different needs, different problems, different many things that can affect their learning. I had a group that I enjoyed teaching the most (the hyper one) but in that group I found that there were like five students who would finish their work in, literally, three minutes, and then other students would take almost twenty minutes to do the exact same activity. That is not such a bad situation until the ones who finished first got bored, started to talk, stand up and were constantly repeating “misi I’m bored” when I am trying to help the other students who have difficulties.
Four years and a half I have spent in the university being prepared to become a teacher and work in classrooms just like those mentioned. Four years and a half I have spent learning many things in college classrooms but I realize now that I will learn much more once I am in a classroom six to seven hours a day, five days a week, nine months out of the year, and thirty years of my life. In total I spent twelve hours teaching this semester and from those hours I learned that teaching goes beyond what a professor can teach you in the classroom, and it even goes beyond professors’ stories of the times when they were teachers in the DE (I do want to make clear that without those years and excellent professors I would have been totally lost and maybe would have ran out of that classroom and never looked back, but thanks to them I was able to manage it). My point is that this is a profession that you will learn by experience. Our responsibility goes beyond preparing a class, standing in front of the class explaining a subject, assigning work, correcting it, and giving a grade. Our responsibility is to know our groups and our students and prepare classes where they are the center and the reason.
When it comes to teaching, the thing is that you either love it or you hate it, you either get scared and run, or accept the challenge and face it. I simply love it, and because I love it I decide to accept the challenge because, hard to explain and maybe to understand, although I still do not know my future students, there is this weird feeling inside me that I already care for them.
About the seminar and curriculum course I will say that I loved it and learned more than I ever thought I would. I believe it was the class that most prepared me for my practice and teaching profession. The only thing I feel bad about is that I know there was much more our professor wanted to teach us but the time was limited. I’ll just have to stick close to her so that she can teach me more ;)
I had done observations for another class last semester but the experience does not compare to this semester’s observations and there is a reason for this. The reason is that this time I was sent to make observations with more preparation, more realistic thoughts, more knowledge and more skills. This is by far the most important and relevant study I have done through my university years because it has positively changed the view of my future. It wasn’t until I did these observations and I gave class that I started to feel this strange emotion that I didn’t understand until I soon noticed that what I was finally feeling was passion for educating children. I can finally say from my heart that I am passionate for becoming a teacher. This study has made a great impact in my life because apart from learning from the teacher I observed, I also learned so much about myself. Observing this teacher and her special and unique way of teaching really motivated me. She is such an enthusiastic and friendly person that it almost seems contagious. I learned that we can transmit our feelings to students. Students are able to sense if you are really there because you want to help them or if you have no interest in them. I want to be able to motivate students and let them know that I am there for them. I learned that it is our job to motivate students, but to be careful not to be too extrinsic. I learned that it is teacher’s jobs to teach students useful skills that will be of help in their daily lives. The most important part about teaching the English language is that students learn at least how to defend themselves in real life through writing, reading and oral skills. School is like a second home where students acquire useful knowledge they can apply to real life situations. I never thought I would see a Spanish activity in an English class. It never even crossed my mind to integrate Spanish during English instruction. Effectively, the teacher always gave her classes in English, except for the one day she had students write in Spanish. I actually learned something new observing this class. I am always thinking how when I become a teacher, I want to teach material that is relevant and that students can relate to. If we come to think of it, to master English as a second language, ELL students must first master their native language (Spanish). Well, there are many skills that we teach in English that are also relevant in Spanish. For example, the structure of a paragraph, characteristics and types of poems, the parts of an essay and other skills are the same in both English and Spanish. It is good to let students know the similarities between both languages so they can associate them when writing or reading. It is an approach that can facilitate learning. Through this experience, I learned that we should continuously try different methods when teaching always looking for different ways to enhance our teaching. We cannot think that an activity will not work out if we do not put it into practice and evaluate the results through assessment. This was the most significant observation for me because it taught me a new idea about language acquisition, never leaving the focus of teaching in the English language. Through observations and teaching, this study has helped me grow professionally and personally. This study has opened my mind as to finding out about different topics through experience when becoming a teacher. I can’t wait to keep putting theory into practice and personally find out different and effective ways to teach in order to please my main focus, which will be my students. I am more than ever eager and excited to become a secondary English teacher.
As for this course in general, it has really been a lot of work, but it has been worth the effort. This class has been different from all the others because personally, it has helped me see teaching from a whole different perspective. This class has not only taught me new skills but it has also taught me many qualities about myself. It has helped me mold my person as a future teacher and it has helped me set goals in my future career that I can’t wait to accomplish. I have learned from every work done for this course, from every experience that the professor has told us and also I have learned through my classmate’s reflections. I have started to put some of the theory learned in this course into practice and I can’t wait to acquire more experience. It was a great semester where I got to learn more about myself as a future teacher and from all of the material given by the professor. I just want to thank the professor for being such a great example for us and personally, for opening a whole new perspective about teaching. This class has made a big impact in my life. To my classmates: don’t give up! We’ve made it a long way! Hope everyone has a great vacation, bye!
My observations were a wonderful experience. I enjoyed every second of it. The instrument that I used was “Observing Instruction for English Language Learners”. It was to observe how English was developed inside the classroom through the students and the teacher.
I observed two groups and they were different in general. Group 1 was more engaged with the teaching-learning process than Group 2. They were both good groups but Group 2 got distracted more easily and talked more. Students in both groups (in general) talked fluent English. Their pronunciation was great. Very few students mispronounce some words but that was all. They mostly spoke in English but as well as it happens to us university students and professors they also code-switch and sometimes spoke in Spanish. But it was rarely. The teacher spoke English the majority of the time and also code-switched. The language (English) was widely used throughout the classes. The teacher supplied instruction through a variety of strategies, covering reading, writing, listening and speaking skills. I observed reading classes. They read and discussed a story. The teacher gave feedback throughout the reading and made reference to the past as well as the present. The story was “War of the Worlds” and there is an old version and the resent film starting Tom Cruise and the teacher discussed all of this with the students and explained the differences between them. The students were very engaged and they participated in the dramatizations of the scenes within the play they read. Both groups were motivated in doing the dramatization. Group 1 had a majority of boys and Group 2 of girls. Girls were more eager to play male parts than boys were about female parts. Group 1 was set in a quick pace but Group 2 was slower. After the completion of the reading of the “War of the Worlds” they saw the movie “Stepmom” starting Julia Roberts. Then I gave my two classes.
The two classes that I taught were great also. I was very nervous before starting the first class, but once I started it all came out naturally. In my first class I gave students a summary of the movie and discussed it with them. We discussed movie genres and movie ratings with a handout that I created and the students provided examples for each movie genre. Then as a group we completed about the movie “Stepmom”. Their assignment was to complete another movie review but with a movie of their choice. In the second class each student had to read and share with the group their movie review. As they mentioned the movie title I wrote them on the board and then proceeded to classify each of them in one of the movie genres we discussed on the first class.
I was less nervous for the second class and I totally forgot about the teacher, I felt as if I were teaching my own students. At the end of the second class a brought two small boxes with treats for boys and girls. They stood up and picked something from inside the boxes and were very enthusiastic about it. Finally I took a picture of them and thanked them and the teacher for the opportunity. It was very emotional that good bye for me; my first two classes to real teenage students. I felt proud of my accomplishments in both classes. I do not regret anything about them; on the contrary, I rejoice in those experiences and wait for the moment when I get to teach to my own students in the future.
As for the class (seminar) was great too. The topics discussed through the class were very pertinent and helpful to our professional development. We covered a lot of important information for our future role as a teacher and educator. We went deep into the school, faculty, students and the community. The class helped us understand each one of those topics. We also went into the standards and grade level expectations which are very important for teachers to know since they are the starting point of the teaching-learning process. The research projects gave us the opportunity to scrutinize a topic of our interest and share them with our peers to help one another develop each others knowledge. I thank you all for sharing and I am sure we will all leave a mark in history because of our love and passion to teach. Our students will be fortunate to have passionate, dedicated and reflective teachers guiding them through their learning experiences.
See you all, I hope, December 17, 2008 at Arlinda’s house. Take care and God bless you all.
I have learned so much in the seminar cours and in the 20 hours of observation ar Esther Feliciano Mendoza. First of all to do my education phylosophy, no one had asks me before what I think about education and which philosopher I might use in the classroom, it was a research of my thoughts and believes. Second, always be an efective teacher and create an ambience agreable for you and the students. Third, to always analyze myself as a teacher and try to recall your experiences as students so you can help your students since the times changes but the feeling of being a student do not. The teacher, then, can create diverse lessons plans so the teacher could lead the students in a democratic classroom. My research about leadership also had impact in me as a teacher because I never thought of being a teacher leader. I do not want to misinterpret leadership with authority. I want to be a leader whos authority is caring about them and their life and education.
Meanwhile I was observing Mrs. Vazquez Classroom; I notice that she is that kind of teacher, a leader, who cares about the students and their jobs in the classsrom. Doing my twenties hours of observation I took diferents ideas from the teacher and one of them was the song activity. I had fun in that activity because even the shy student does it. Even thougth, the teacher is very good; she was almost all days 5 minutes late and gives the students the hope that she could not come.
When I gave the class, I was very excited because I had a plan with drama and dialogues that took me complete it in 3 days. I wanted to expose them in oral and writing comunication. I started the class with a self presentation and the review of the vocabulary. Then I gave them the class about context clues and sinonimous. The students make exercise about the topics and other such as sequence of events. The students as an activity must create a dialogue using the vocabulary and context clues and dramatize it. This activity took two days to achieve the goal. In the first day, they created the dialogue and in the second day they dramatize the dialogue. When I gave them the class the students were attentive, some were talking, the normal in a classroom. They did not like to write the dialogue, in their own words, the job was difficult. At their opinion, the task was difficult because they do not know English. Their lack of confidence gave me the oportunity to cheer them up and help them. The group was separate in groups of eight students and each student must write one sentence for the dialogue. Then the dialogue was not difficult, easy to do it. The two groups were very good. The first one, Mrs. Vazquez’s classroom, was respectfull but some of them were not. The second group was very cooperative with me. I gave the English class to both groups. I love the experience in teaching, because I did something different for them and apply the techniques learned from the seminar cours.
I have learned so much in the seminar cours and in the 20 hours of observation ar Esther Feliciano Mendoza. First of all to do my education phylosophy, no one had asks me before what I think about education and which philosopher I might use in the classroom, it was a research of my thoughts and believes. Second, always be an efective teacher and create an ambience agreable for you and the students. Third, to always analyze myself as a teacher and try to recall your experiences as students so you can help your students since the times changes but the feeling of being a student do not. The teacher, then, can create diverse lessons plans so the teacher could lead the students in a democratic classroom. My research about leadership also had impact in me as a teacher because I never thought of being a teacher leader. I do not want to misinterpret leadership with authority. I want to be a leader whos authority is caring about them and their life and education.
Meanwhile I was observing Mrs. Vazquez Classroom; I notice that she is that kind of teacher, a leader, who cares about the students and their jobs in the classsrom. Doing my twenties hours of observation I took diferents ideas from the teacher and one of them was the song activity. I had fun in that activity because even the shy student does it. Even thougth, the teacher is very good; she was almost all days 5 minutes late and gives the students the hope that she could not come.
When I gave the class, I was very excited because I had a plan with drama and dialogues that took me complete it in 3 days. I wanted to expose them in oral and writing comunication. I started the class with a self presentation and the review of the vocabulary. Then I gave them the class about context clues and sinonimous. The students make exercise about the topics and other such as sequence of events. The students as an activity must create a dialogue using the vocabulary and context clues and dramatize it. This activity took two days to achieve the goal. In the first day, they created the dialogue and in the second day they dramatize the dialogue. When I gave them the class the students were attentive, some were talking, the normal in a classroom. They did not like to write the dialogue, in their own words, the job was difficult. At their opinion, the task was difficult because they do not know English. Their lack of confidence gave me the oportunity to cheer them up and help them. The group was separate in groups of eight students and each student must write one sentence for the dialogue. Then the dialogue was not difficult, easy to do it. The two groups were very good. The first one, Mrs. Vazquez’s classroom, was respectfull but some of them were not. The second group was very cooperative with me. I gave the English class to both groups. I love the experience in teaching, because I did something different for them and apply the techniques learned from the seminar cours.
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