As
I continue to work towards my masters degree at Walden, one of the
most important pieces that has stuck out to me is the importance of
reflection. Not only the importance of teacher reflection, but the
importance of student reflection. This led me to developing my GAME
plan with a focus on student reflection and personal reflection.
Each
week I continue to dive deeper into my GAME plan and each week I feel
that I am becoming a better reflective teacher. This week I have
changed up my lesson plan style. At the bottom of each day I have
added a reflection section where I can quickly sit down and jot down
notes about what went well and where I need to improve. I also have
been jotting down student names that seemed to struggle and the
approach I would take with them. I would say that this process has
averaged about an extra five minutes a day, but has been worth it. I
feel like I have been better at going back the next day and reviewing
material that did not go well in new ways and better at pulling
struggling students back to re-teach. The process seems to be working
well, but I am always looking for suggestions on better ways to
reflect as a teacher.
The
area that I still continue to improve on is my goal for having my
students reflect. I mentioned last week that I had placed the
students on the website My Big Campus and had them reflect. The
process went ok, but I was not overly happy with the final results.
This week I did an example reflection with my class and talked them
through the thinking process and what I was looking for in a good
reflection. My next step is to create a rubric or a checklist for the
kids. I feel with a rubric or checklist it will give the kids
something to help guide them and allow them to better understand my
expectations. I am currently discussing with fellow teachers and
walden colleagues what types of rubrics have been successful for them
and hope to have one completed soon.
At
this point I do not feel like I need to modify my action plan. As our
reading discusses reflection is extremely
complex and demanding process that requires a lifetime of dedication
(Cennamo, Ross, and Ertmer, 2009). I will continue to try new methods
and work with my students to create the best fit for our classroom.
It will take time and lots of work, but I truly believe the benefits
that will come from it are worth all of the work.
References:
Cennamo,
K., Ross, J. & Ertmer, P. (2009). Technology
integration for meaningful classroom use: A standards-based
approach. (Laureate Education, Inc.,
Custom ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning.
Eric, you make some wonderful points about a rubric. I feel as though rubrics hold students accountable for their effort and grades for a project or assignment. I have several rubrics I have created for my students that seem to work and help with students and their success in the classroom! Good luck!
ReplyDeleteNatalie
Eric,
ReplyDeleteI am also involving students with My Big Campus. Is the student group that you are working with a single group of students for the blogging? Is this a multiclass blog grouping? Are students responding with a single response to your prompt? Or can they also interact with each other and respond to each other’s prompts?
I am also curious as to why you were not happy with the results. Was this due to the quality or structure of the critical thinking response? Or is it due to the students understanding and following the procedures in use of the technology? I have run into problems in both areas. Re-teaching and review of the rubric lesson structure were also significant aspects of necessary restructuring involved with advancing students in the process.
Good Luck with implementation of your lesson.
Jim
Hello,
ReplyDeleteI am sorry things did not go quite as you had planned. However, it seems like you are using an effective process to reevaluate and take apppropriate action. I think you are right on track by implementing a rubric to reach your goals with the thinking process and overall student achievement.
Jeremy Dane