Rockstar Theorists

 Rockstar Theorists

There are many theorists that have influenced my personal teaching, but a few stand out above the rest. The first theorist that comes to mind is Jean Piaget. Constructivism is one of the theories that has resonated with me the most. Constructivist is the idea that new knowledge is created with reference to prior knowledge. When an experience doesn’t agree with the the cognitive schemes we have for a subject, a disequilibrium occurs that drives learning. This disequilibrium is behind the teachable moments that make lessons much more memorable. In my everyday teaching, I try to create teachable moments by using real-world examples and having students role-play as professionals to solve practical problems. I also make a concerted effort to smoothly transition from one topic to the next so that students are continually reflecting on their background knowledge.

    

   The second theorist that has most influenced my teaching is Howard Gardner and his theory of multiple intelligences. I agree with Gardner’s idea that different students have their own strengths, weaknesses, and personal preferences. Balanced teaching should therefore include variety to appeal to these learning styles. This approach will not only help students with diverse learning needs, but help students become more well-rounded learners. Finally, following Gardner’s theory incorporates repetition in a way that isn’t too boring for the students or the teacher. For example, I’ll often start a new unit with a hands-on activity, then use written notes, readings, lab activities, and videos to cover the content. If students don’t understand the material the first time it’s covered, they’ll ideally get the hang of it when we use an approach that resonates with them. 

    Finally, Carol Dweck and her theory of the growth mindset has had an influence on my teaching since our very first residency. Keeping the growth mindset in mind has altered the way I provide feedback to students. Instead of saying things like “you’re smart,” I try to give feedback such as “you must have worked hard,” or “your efforts really paid off.” These latter comments suggest to students that their success in the course is in their hands. I’ve heard many students comment that they “just aren’t good at science” or “just aren’t smart,” but I hope that embodying the growth mindset will help my students put forth more effort, persevere through challenges, and see mistakes as learning opportunities rather than failures. This is a skill that will help them succeed not just in my classroom, but in all aspects of their lives. 

    Throughout our MAT program, I have been exposed to many theorists and theories that have influenced my teaching. Not all of them have significantly resonated with me, but the teachings of Piaget, Gardner, and Dweck, among others, have impacted the way I approach my lesson planning, teaching, assessment, and feedback. As a professional, it is important to constantly reflect on my teaching and look for ways in which I can improve. I hope to use the teachings of these theorists, and others I learn about in the future, to mold myself into the best teacher I can be.

Classroom Goals

Classroom Goals

In ED640, I established goals for myself that I hoped to work towards during ED645. The first goal was to establish classroom rules and procedures that I can take with me when I become a teacher of my own. I’ve been fortunate to work with two great mentor teachers that have helped me become a better classroom manager, and I can confidently say that my internship experience has provided me with rules and procedures for the future. For one, I like having students start each class by writing the learning objectives in a log and answering a warm-up question. That immediately gets students thinking about science when they walk in the room and it provides me with an opportunity to activate student background knowledge. I also like placing papers that the students need to pick up at the front of the room near the door and bins for students to turn-in their work at the the back of the room. This allows students to flow into the room easily, collecting papers they need for the day, and turning in papers for me to collect. As for the rules, I’ve learned about the importance of developing rules with students and being consistent when enforcing those rules. For example, discussing what it means to be respectful with your students on the first day of class is a great way to ensure that everyone is one the same page regarding appropriate behavior. I want to have a similar discussion about the use of phones when I become a teacher of my own. I think phones are amazing technologies that can certainly enhance education, but in my experience, phone are mostly a distraction in the classroom. Therefore, having a discussion with students about appropriate phone use could be potentially invaluable in the future.

My second goal for my internship was to familiarize myself with the curriculum and start to develop my own lessons and units. Carroll County fortunately provides teachers with a curriculum that has lesson plans, PowerPoints, activities, assessments, and other resources to make this process much easier. My mentor teacher has also allowed me to use many of his own resources so that I have many options to choose from when planning lessons. I’ll usually look at what the county provides, what my mentor teacher has, and resources I have created myself and decide which ones I want to use during class. The scope and sequence provided by the county has also given me a good idea of what topics to cover and how to pace myself. So far, I think I have done a good job in progressing to meet this goal. I have been using the 5E model to plan all my lessons and have my resources organized very neatly on my laptop, on a flash drive, and in a binder so that I can reuse them as needed in the future. I was initially concerned with how I would decide what to teach, when to teach it, and how, but my mentor teachers have given me excellent guidance in curriculum planning.

Setting goals and reflecting on one’s progress towards meeting those goals is important in any setting. This is especially true for an inexperienced teacher. Teachers use feedback from student assessments to improve the learning process, and it’s similarly important to recognize that teachers must continue to learn and grow concomitantly. Upon reflection, I think that I have done a good job of meeting the goals I set for myself at the end of ED640, but there are always ways in which I can continue to improve.