Kelsey Schmitt - Part A - Step 3

Step 3: What might these events mean?

·      To what extent were you were expected to follow a scripted curriculum, or add your own ideas to a curriculum that already exists, or create a unit that is entirely new?   

            I did have to teach narrative writing and I had an end rubric that I needed to use that aligns with the common core standards. Other than that I had freedom with the structure of my lessons. I used the rubric to develop different focuses for each day along the publishing process.

·      What was unproblematic and/or challenging about planning a unit in this context?

            Having never taught a writing lesson before, let alone an entire unit the task seemed daunting at first, especially since there is not set curriculum. However I think it was nice to have the freedom and I think that after a few years of teaching and trying different things eventually you could really have some solid material. It is nice to be able to have the freedom to change what isn’t working for your particular group of students.

·      What obstacles did you face? How did you overcome them?

           

            I found it hard to conference with each student. I underestimated the amount of time it would take to meet. I would try to do roving conferences and would be frustrated when I couldn’t make it all the way around the room. I also learned that students were not used to the norms of conferencing. Some students thought that they could wait to work until I came to them or that I was going to do their work for them. These students were sadly mistaken. I overcame by doing my best and adjusting as necessary. I tried my best to make sure the class knew what the expectations for the day were.

·      How did working on developing your ‘core practice’ influence the types of learning opportunities you were able to offer your students?

            My core practice of conferencing did influence the time I got to spend with each individual. I felt that I was able to positively affect my students’ learning opportunity by giving some much-needed one on one attention. Since my students were writing personal narrative about a topic of their choice, I also got to learn a lot about my students as individuals. I think by allowing my students to make a choice of what they wrote about provided a more meaningful learning experience since it was a topic of their choice/interest.

·      What dilemmas (if any) did you face and how did you manage them?  Consider issues that may relate to developing your professional identity, developing strong teacher- student relationships, constructing relevant curriculum, or assessing students in meaningful and productive ways.

            Aside from underestimating the conferencing timing, I also struggled with monitoring the entire classroom while conferencing at the same time. It was really hard to make sure that the entire room was on task and give each student I was meeting with my full attention. I could occasionally look up and try to praise good behavior but I found it very difficult. I also felt like that I needed to get through as many conferences as possible and I thought that the more I looked up the longer each conference took. I really need to develop the eyes in the back of my head and multi-tasking abilities.

·      What enabled you to be successful?

           

            I think that my mini lessons and flow of my unit were successful. My students were able to create a product to the best of their ability at this time in their learning progress. I could also say that last year’s third grade teachers allowed my unit to be successful in that many of students seemed to already know the material I was teaching, it just seems they need more practice one the execution.   

·      Did the unit proceed as you expected? Why or why not?

            Overall, it did proceed as I expected. My students were able to complete the task, however I was slightly disappointed when I was grading that I did not have more 3’s. I know it is the beginning of the year and they are still developing, but I after all of their hard work I wanted to think of them as more successful.

 

·      What surprises or “aha moments” did you experience?

            My main “aha moment” was realizing that the room was starting to fall apart in the middle of a conference with one of my students. It didn’t matter how great that one-on-one time was, there were a great deal of other students starting to get off task that I needed to reach.   

·      What do you still need to learn about teaching in this target area, about your developing your ‘core practice’ and about teaching literacy in general?

           

            I would like to develop a way to have conferences seem like more of a routine. I want to be able to go about making my conferencing even more effective. In general (not really related to my unit/practice) I want to learn more about taking more effective anecdotal records about my students on a regular basis, to show student growth.