Is It For Me? Final Blog Post

Before beginning this course, I had already decided that I was going to become a professional teacher. However, the things that I learned in this course and in the Service Learning, helped me to gain a greater understanding of what that decision really means. First, there is so much more to being a teacher than just teaching. Second, the dynamics of each classroom vary greatly. And, finally, there are many, many resources available to help you succeed.

I always knew that teaching was more than just being in front of a classroom. This course helped me understand that much of what happens for a teacher is done before getting in front of the room. I will need to find ways to adapt my lessons for all learning types. I will need to find ways to make my lessons engaging and help students learn in various ways. I will need to get to know my students, and occasionally their families. These other aspects of being a teacher are not really things that I had consciously considered prior to this course.

I have been volunteering in my kids' classrooms for years, so I have gotten to see the differences in the dynamics and set-up of their classes. I was interesting to do my Service Learning with a teacher that my own kids have not, nor will they (because they are in the Chinese Immersion and she is an English-only teacher), have. My favorite part about that was that most of the days I was in the classroom, they had at least one lesson on Math, which is a subject I truly enjoy and one my kids learn in Chinese, so I have not really seen it before.

I used to think that I knew what resources were available, but I could not have been more wrong! I have loved learning about things like infographix and popplets. I have not ever heard of those before and although I struggled to figure out the websites at first, the skills that I have gained will be invaluable. I also hope to be able to make these types of resources more widely known by incorporating them into my classroom and sharing them with my colleagues.

The next step to start the program. This semester I completed all the pre-req's, this course included. I have applied and been accepted to start the program in January. I am not only excited to be going down this path, but also nervous. Although I am confident that becoming an elementary teacher is what I want, I am not sure that I am ready to undertake what that really means. I guess I'll just have to get used to it since I have only 3 semesters until student teaching!

Classroom Assessment

I took this opportunity to review all the posts I have on this blog and surprised myself. I didn't realize that I had posted so many articles; I feel like I was able to articulate my own learning and understanding in many ways. I also found connections between the course topics and my service learning. It seems like each time I go to the classroom, I find more connections to the things I am learning in this course.

Blogging has given me an opportunity to evaluate my experiences in the classroom more closely than I otherwise would have been able to. With the frequency of required blog posts, I feel like I noticed more things in my service learning than I would have otherwise.

From the first blog post to the last, I see that my blog posts are more precise and more detailed. I am able to see plenty of growth in my understanding of how the classroom works. I can also see that I learned way more about teaching than would be expected from an introductory class.

Standards and Accountability

Standards are evident everywhere throughout my Service Learning placement classroom. The teacher has posters reviewing main subject points throughout the room and often refers students to them when they have a question. I am often in the classroom during the math lesson of the day and I can see the common core curriculum being taught to the students. I was uncertain about how the students would respond, but in reality, they understand well the concepts that are being taught. The teacher does a wonderful job explaining to them the "why" of the concepts instead of just memorizing facts. It is apparent that Mrs. Wheatley takes full advantage of knowing the state standards when teaching. She incorporates these standards into all parts of her teaching and, most importantly, strongly encourages the students to think for themselves and to really learn while in her class.

Diversity in Today's Schools

There is quite a bit of diversity in my service-learning classroom. There are some students who have a hard time sitting through the instructions, who are disorganized, and who cannot stay on task. There are students with different family backgrounds and with different skin color. Mrs. Wheatley addresses this diversity by differentiating her instruction in many ways:

1. She has small group reading time. While the class works on a specific language assignment, she pulls students back in small groups to work on the level of reading that is best for them. The students know their reading group by color, not by "good, better, best".
2. She has a classroom with a Print-Rich Environment. Her walls are covered prompts to help students remember what they have already learned. She also keeps current instructions prominently placed to keep students on task.
3. There is a place on the door for the student of the day, so that all students have the opportunity to be recognized for following the classroom guidelines.
4. Think, Pair, Share is a often used strategy in her classroom. Students were taught early in the school year the meaning of this phrase. Now, when Mrs. Wheatley, uses uses it, they know what is expected of them and they are able to collaborate together.
5. Finally, Mrs. Wheatley focuses on each student as an individual. She knows the strengths of students and knows how to bring those out without focusing on their struggles. I think this is best shown when she is teaching a new math concept. After instructing the students, she gives them a practice question. Once they think they know the answer, they raise their hand and she checks their work. If they are right, they get to become a helper and they go around offering to help classmates who are still working.

I enjoy seeing how the students really light up when they see Mrs. Wheatley for the first time that day. They know she cares about them and they care about coming to learn because of it.

Important Laws that affect Education

At Cascade Elementary, I've seen evidence of some of the most historical laws in the nation. The first of these laws in Brown v. Board of Education. In this law from 1954, schools were required to integrate with white and colored students. At Cascade, there is very little variety in the skin color as most of the students have parents with European decent. However, there are a few students with darker skin and even some who could be described as African-American. It has been 62 years since Brown v. Board of Education and at Cascade, the students have no idea that many years ago they wouldn't have been friends, let alone classmates.

Another law that I see evidence of at Cascade is the Individuals withe Disabilities Education Act. This law, more commonly known as I.D.E.A., provides accommodations and acceptance for students with disabilities. It states that children should be taught in the least restrictive environment and should receive appropriate accommodations. While working in the Resource Room, I see students with IEPs (Individual Education Plans) receiving special instruction to help them either catch up or stay up with their peers. While working in the classroom, I see where the teacher makes accommodations for students with special needs. One student struggles to stay on task and to stay in his seat. His teacher has placed his desk on an outside edge of the room, so that he will not disturb his classmates when he gets out of his seat. She also works with him one-on-one to get his homework and other assignments completed.

As implied above, there are not many students who are non-native English speakers at Cascade. But, according to Lau v. Nichols, all students who are non-native English speakers will be helped to learn English. This is accomplished through ELL activities within the classroom and students can also be sent to Resource Room for special instruction. Students should be helped to learn English at school so that they will be able to participate fully in a regular education classroom.

Engaged Learning Concept Map

Engaged Learning

Mrs. Wheatley's students are engaged in learning in her classroom. While still covering the basics of what needs to be taught in fourth grade, Mrs. Wheatley uses a variety of ideas to engage her students and help them on the path to learning to enjoy learning and learning to think for themselves. Here are some examples from her classroom:

While working on a new math concept, Mrs. Wheatley first explains the idea on the projector. As she is doing that, the students are copying what she writes into their math notebooks. She has a jar with students names on sticks that she uses to randomly ask what the next step is in solving the more complicated problem. She then gives the class a new problem to try on their own. As soon as a student thinks the have it figured out, they raise their hand; Mrs. Wheatley comes and checks their work. If they do have it right, then they walk around the classroom helping their fellow classmates. Soon more students were available to help than were still working on the problem. This engaged learning activity helped keep students on their toes - they never knew when they would be called on, and it helped them stay on task by giving them a special privilege once they were done.

Another effective way that Mrs. Wheatley keeps her students engaged is by presenting relevant and interesting topics. In order for students to recognize general themes, supporting information, and what myths are, she gave them a handout titled, "Myth Busters of the Animal Kingdom." As soon as the students saw the title, they were interested because of the popularity of the TV show with the same title. Mrs. Wheatley then had the class tell her what a myth was, which in turn made them want to know what myth they were going to bust. Sometimes children are interested in things that adults find off-putting, so today's myth was about toads and whether or not they cause warts. This kept the students interested and engaged all the way until the lesson was over.

Sometimes being engaged does not have to be with the whole class, as Mrs. Wheatley showed when the students worked on their fluency passages. Students were paired into teams with someone who was on the same fluency level as them. They then got to take turns timing each other to make certain that they both met the goal. The students learned to be honest with each other and if they did not meet the goal this time, they reflected it on their page. They also practiced empathy by not gloating or putting down those who were at lower fluency speeds. They supported each other, which helped the community engaged learners and the classroom as a whole.

Going over the previous days math homework was not a particularly engaging activity for most of the students. Mrs. Wheatley had students trade homework with others at their table (of those who actually did their homework) and then she told the answers and had them shown on the projector. A couple of things  from this lesson could have made this a more effective time in class. One would have been to have an assignment that was required for those who did not bring back their homework, so they were not just sitting there. Another would have been to ask various students what the answers were, then show them as they were answered, rather than just going down the page and telling all the answers. In order to make it more engaging, it would have taken longer, so perhaps that is why Mrs. Wheatley chose to do it as she did.

A Productive Learning Environment

Mrs. Wheatley teaches fourth grade at Cascade Elementary. She is a great teacher and has definitely worked to create a classroom community within her class. To make her students feel loved and safe, Mrs. Wheatley began the day by meeting them at the door with a high five. It was obvious that this was not new and that the students loved it. There were some who were silly and fist bumped her high five or did a high one with her instead. There were some who were not interested and shook their head no at her. Either way, the students knew what to expect from this morning routine and the predictability of it created a safe, caring environment.

After arriving in the classroom, Mrs. Wheatley set the students to work right away. With a few simple instructions they knew what needed to be done. She already had listed their morning routine on the easel with which choices they would be having today. As the class moved into reading time, the students had a clear guideline of what they should be working on before and after their guided reading group was called back. Having this system in place helped produce a more productive learning environment because it took away the question, "What do I do now?" This allowed the students to be more productive and get their work done and Mrs. Wheatley to more efficiently work with her guided reading groups.

There were many times that Mrs. Wheatley allowed the students the freedom to choose how to get something accomplished. The two most obvious times were right before the students left for specialties, when they got ready to listen to a book. The students were told to sit where ever they wanted. And they did. There were some who chose chairs, some who chose the floor, some who chose desks, and some who even chose to lie down under the desks. Later in the day, the students were working hard on understanding a new math concept. Mrs. Wheatley noticed that some were quickly grasping the concept and getting bored with the review and some were needing it explained over and over; overall the students were getting restless. She told them that if they worked hard for 5 more minutes they would get a "brain break". At the appointed time, the students all put down their work and started to gather in the front of the room. This was obviously something they had done before. Mrs. Wheatley then pulled up a dance video and most of the students chose to join in the dancing. Some chose to just watch. All the students seemed to enjoy this special break that came when they really needed it.

Classroom Community

Learning Needs

Learning Theories

My Service Learning time, so far, has been spent in an Elementary School Resource Room. Mrs. Hatch, the teacher, has demonstrated all three major learning theories to help the students best learn the required materials and to help them develop and grow as they should.

Not surprisingly, the one that she used the most is Behaviorism. For example, one student who was in the classroom almost the entire time that I was there is Dylan. He is not only behind his peers in his knowledge, but he also is more active than usual. Almost like clockwork, Dylan needed to move around and/or change activities every 15-20 minutes. Mrs. Hatch was prepared for this need of his and would ask that he stay working consistently for 15, then have a 30 second stretching time, then work for another 15 minutes. She also had many lessons ready for him, so that every 30 minutes, at the most, he was changing what he was working on. By planning ahead for Dylan's behavior, she was able to keep the classroom in order, not disturb other students, and help Dylan learn as best he could.

Mrs. Hatch also used Constructivism with several students, specifically when they were working on Math concepts. She has blocks that the students were able to arrange into various groups to better understand place-values of different numbers. When Dylan started working on his math, he not only used the place-value blocks, but he also used the dry-erase board to write down his problems.

Mrs. Hatch was able to adjust her teaching style to adapt to her students' needs. Since she works specifically with children who need special assistance, she needs to be more flexible more than another teacher in her teaching styles. Watching Mrs. Hatch with her students has given me a clear insight as to what is expected of teachers when working with special needs students.

Service Learning at Cascade Elementary School

Cascade Elementary School is a K-6 school in a well-established area of Orem, UT. The school building is older and should probably be torn-down and rebuilt (rebuildingcascade.tumblr.com). The neighborhood surrounding the school consists of mostly single-family homes with some duplexes and some basement apartments. The school is adjacent to a city park, which lends to a quiet environment on the East, but is bordered on the West (the front of the school) by one of Orem's busier streets. Cascade has a very unique floorplan in which the main building consists of hexagons. There are three classrooms to each hexagon. Because the school is so old, there are also several portable classrooms.

Most families with students at Cascade are home-owners rather than renters. I will be working with students in Mrs. Steven's and Mr. Abbott's first grade Chinese Immersion class. Mrs. Stevens has each class of students for half the day and Mr. Abbott has them the other half. I am choosing to work with Mrs. Stevens for a couple reasons. First, none of my kids have her this year. Second, she is an amazing teacher and I give her all the credit for my children developing the love of reading that they have. The students in the class are taught only in Chinese during the half of the day when they are not with Mrs. Stevens, so they have a little more wiggle than the average first graders. Although, from my own experience, most of these students have very involved parents and receive more support than the average first grader, also.

Service Learning is an important part of fully understanding what you are doing. One way to think of it is as hands on training. When you are learning a new job, you will learn more efficiently and more deeply if you are doing and not just hearing what is being taught. But this is only one part of Service Learning. The other, more valuable part, is that you are helping your community. For me, this is especially valuable because I am well established in my community and with Cascade. My children either have had or will have Mrs. Stevens as a teacher. So, by serving her now, I hope to have made enough of a difference that it will also affect my younger children's education. The benefits of Service Learning are as limitless as your commitment to making a difference in whichever classroom you are in - whether your own or the one in which you are volunteering.