Looking Back...

Although this semester was one of the busiest I have had in the classroom, it's been a blast and I've learned a lot. My mentor teacher and I have developed a close relationship, both personally and professionally. Through her observations, I have learned some of my strengths and weaknesses during teaching. Through her patience, I have had the opportunity to learn the best way-by doing. Not only do I feel that I have greatly benefitted from my time with and feedback from her, but I feel I have helped her, too. I can't help but feel that together, we have tackled problems by jumping in head-first in ways we may not have thought to do alone. We both do our best to find the time at least once a week to have a face-to-face conversation about our practices, and what our next steps include. Since I am entering her day-to-day world, I try to make sure I can help her in whatever way she needs, whether that may mean taking over a lesson impromptu, or grading a stack of last week's math problems. When I think back to everything we've put into this connection we share through our third graders, I could never thank her enough for welcoming me into her classroom with open arms.

Wikis as Learning Tools

I felt that I learned several things through the making of a wiki. First of all, I learned how easy it can be to create a page about nearly any topic desired. Using pbworks also meant that the audience and writing was limited by invitation only, and it was easy to access from any computer connected to the web. I learned how involved the process in making such a site really is. It takes a lot of effort and revisiting. It's never a "done deal."

Through this assignment, I also learned a lot about my PDS. First of all, I learned what it really takes to be classified as a professional development school and how that sets my placement apart from ordinary schools. In order to get a deeper understanding of my school, I also took a longer look at the goals set for the current school year. Now, I have an insight into the priorities and why they are ordered as so, along with a familiarity of the student body.

One of my favorite things about our wiki is the Bandit Bits. Not only is it easy to read, but I feel it's very informative for the reader. I also enjoyed the creating of the community history portion. It seems to give a lot of background behind the students that attend Blackshere and their families. Knowing the story behind your students is one of the most important parts of teaching and this gives that area a head start. Also, it helps make sense of things that are a part of the culture that I otherwise would not have known about. All-in-all, this site is quite beneficial to any reader interested in Blackshere as PDS.

Assessment Practices

Throughout my years, I have experienced many types of assessments. Through the point of view of both the teacher and the student, I feel I have gained quite a bit of knowledge as to the effectiveness of those various tools. I believe for smaller children, it is often the best thing for them to have a blank slate to fill with the information they have gained. For example, something as simple as a blank piece of paper offers a canvas for a drawing or some text to retell what was gained through a lesson. Something more complex, like a portfolio, still offers a place for them to use their own ways of relating information, but can allow for a longer time period and a more in-depth analysis.

For upper elementary students, I think it can be a little more difficult to choose the right assessment. It often seems easiest to use pre-made multiple choice tests or worksheets with word banks. While this is sometimes the best way, I think it would be too easy to stay on that path and avoid creativity. Fourth, fifth, and sixth grades are often good times to emphasize the importance of fact with general concepts. In these cases, those paper tests may still be the best way. However, I think it is so important to bring in other forms of questioning and assessing to balance that mixture. Since writing should also be emphasized at this age, I lean heavily toward the use of essay-style assessments. This allows students an opportunity to work on writing skills along with any other given subject.

My question for my peers is this: What factors influence your choice of assessment when teaching a lesson? Why those particular ones? What is your favorite assessment tool?

Pros and Cons of Technology

In today's changing times, it's often required that technology be incorporated into much of the school day. While this seems to have some benefits, there are often cases in which using such means of enhancement can be a problem. For example, a lesson having students work on computers to interact with a math program may be a fantastic learning tool, until you get them to the computer lab and six of the computers aren't working.

As teacher candidates, we encounter a lot of these problems in our PDS experiences. With different schools having different levels of technology and knowledge of using it, some of our lessons are nearly impossible. However, I can't help but feel we aren't alone; with the 21st Century CSOs in place, current teachers often experience the same problems. Not only can this be frustrating for the educator (teacher or tutor), but the students also can achieve a level of frustration from the problems with executing the lesson's instructions.

My question is this-is technology really always the best way to get our point across to students, professors, or other facilitators? After weighing the pros and cons of using technology as well as the equipment itself, I'm curious to know if others feel the same way I do. Do other students experience the same problems I do when it comes to using the equipment at a school we only attend part-time? Do other teachers or those who have taught in public school before teaching at WVU feel the same anxiety about technology-based learning?

Responsive Teaching

Throughout the past couple years, the courses taken have forced me to think of what a "good teacher" really does to deserve the title. It wasn't until we began to consider responsive teaching in Educ 400 this semester that I realized a "good" teacher could also be called a "responsive one." For the most part, the term "responsive teaching" tends to explain itself; however, as with anything, the fine print is what matters. Being a responsive teacher means just that-one responds to the surroundings to better the teaching methods and content delivery being used. Still, what to respond to matters most in any situation.

Just as assessment is an ongoing process, observation should be as well. Watching one's students on a daily basis should be the best guide for what's next to come. For example, if one student in the back seems to finish work early and disturb others, maybe he or she needs to be challenged more (the observation). Therefore, you, as the teacher, as that student to assist a struggling student in the classroom (the response). I observe my PDS teacher responding a lot by childrens' ability levels. They are grouped by ability when it comes to stations and she judges her planning and teaching around what their current needs are.

Responsive teaching isn't limited to behavior problems, though. Responsive teachers tend to teach with a learner- or student-centered approach rather than a cut and dry direct scheduled instruction. Students needs are rarely consistent; they may vary by day or by content area being taught. The teacher willing to go the extra mile and respond to whatever that need may be will most likely make the biggest impression. Honestly, it's a quality we should all desire to possess by the time we are in classrooms of our own.