Chessa Chrisman

Elementary Education

10/1/17

Submission II Reflection

Introduction

Throughout my time at Pittsburg State University, the College of Education has spent

ample amount of time preparing me to reach my full potential as an educator. I whole-heartedly

believe that I have been taught by some of the most qualified professionals and know I have

received the proper tools to become an effective educator. These individuals have helped me

establish a solid foundation of knowledge but also helped me realize that there is always room to

make further improvements. Within the areas of the Professional Knowledge Base, I feel as if I

have quite a few strengths but I’m also aware of some of the areas that would be beneficial to

expand in. Part of being a teacher is establishing a growth-mindset and knowing how to how to

become the best version of yourself. In doing that, not only for your own personal benefit but

ultimately for the general well-being of your students. I’m still striving towards becoming the

best educator I can possibly be and the following is my plan to accomplish that.

The Learner and Learning

The Learner and Learning section is an area I feel that I display a multitude of strengths

in. My strongest area is working with students who have exceptional needs and knowing what to

incorporate to meet their individual needs. My knowledge of this relates to content I attained

from my Overview of Special Education course. I learned about how to work with students who

had high incident disabilities, low incident disabilities and are gifted. I was taught to go above

and beyond to differentiate when needed and how to directly apply those strategies to students
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with specific types of needs. Then I directly applied them during my time at Winfield Scott

Elementary, when working with two of my first graders for my Diversity Project. I had a student

who was an ESL and then the other was academically below a kindergarten level. They both

proved to be a struggle at first but I was quickly able to figure out which strategies worked for

each. My ESL student performed better with visuals representations and structured guidance.

Then my student who academically low, also had behavioral issues. I found out that Mnemonics

worked best for him and just simply giving him positive attention. Doing these various things has

helped me understand that no two students needs are the same. In my future classroom, I will

have to be willing to adapt and keep an open-mindset.

Another area I feel I’m strong in is knowing how to access information about the values

of diverse cultures and communities and how to incorporate their characteristics into my

teaching. I obtained my knowledge of this through my Diversity in the Classroom course. I

learned that as a teacher, you must do research on the background of your students and be aware

of their lifestyle but never single them out because of their culture. Furthermore, making me

realize that I should include a variety of cultural teachings and expose my students to all walks of

life. By doing that, I can help them become more well-rounded. This class also taught me about

the importance of having a sense of community and how students become more empathetic if

they can make meaningful connections to other cultures and values. This won’t just help them

academically but prepare them for their adult life as well.

Fostering a respectful learning community is a must for maintaining an effective learning

environment. I have learned from Classroom Management how important it is to establish these

guidelines and expectations on the first day of every school year. If students aren’t aware of class

rules, where to lineup, turn in papers or their daily schedule, you are setting them up for failure.
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By going over rules and procedure, a student’s behavior tends to be more desirable. If these

aren’t addressed as soon as possible, you will most likely struggle to maintain your class for the

rest of the year. I have witnessed in my Internship what my cooperating teachers first day

procedures. She has yet to have very many issues regarding her students and things are generally

orderly. I now feel I have a strong example to model from for my own classroom and will be

able to apply it to a variety of grade levels.

An area that I feel I could improve upon would be coordinating the resources of time and

space. I’ve seen many teachers arrange the seating in their rooms but I have yet to decide on the

one that I feel would be most effective. I also lack experience in knowing the most time efficient

strategies to make the most of student learning. I’ve heard many of my professors stress the

importance of implementing these proficiently and I know I could personally use some work. My

plan to improve would include observing some of the different methods of seating arrangement

that are being implemented in my cooperating school and then researching the best methods of

time management across the grade levels.

Content

One of the things that has been consistent in almost all my classes is how beneficial it is

to stay up to date on resources and technology. I’m confident that Pitt State University has

helped me maintain that. Technology for the Classroom has served as a great reference because it

introduced me to resources I had never used such as Haiku Deck and Padlet. Another class that

has aided me in this is Elementary Social Studies. I have been given an excessive number of

websites that can help expand students content knowledge. For example, she gave us the

websites for students to go on virtue field trips to learn about unsung heroes, the Little Rock

Nine and many other past historic events. Not only did my professor share them but also showed
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us how to use them. Making it to where I can now competently incorporate them into my lessons

and supply students with an exciting alternative to the traditional methods of learning.

A skill I also excel in is being able to understand that learners have diverse perspectives

when it comes analyzing, questioning and understanding content. Early Childhood Foundations

and Curriculum helped me establish the appropriate knowledge for this. We did an assignment

that split the class into different grades and then had us try to step into that grades mindset. Since

every grade was presented to our class, it helped me gain a better understanding of the range of

thought processes and how to mold the content appropriately. This will allow me to think outside

the box and be prepared to supply my students with the needed content to help them thrive at

their skill level.

Throughout the areas of Professional Knowledge Base, having a deeper understanding of

the content standards is something I have struggled with. I have been exposed to them numerous

times throughout assignments but have yet to completely grasp them. I have constantly referred

to them when writing lesson plans but never had to think critically on them because they were

supplied. I plan on breaking the standards down and studying them because I know that

everything I teach will directly correlate to them. I’m also unsure sure of the learning

progressions but I assume they scaffold of off each other. Learning these will help me pinpoint

the exact areas in which my student need to improve and help me know what direction I need to

head in.

Instructional Practice

Analyzing assessment date is a skill that I just recently found out I’m good at. Every

week at my Internship, I give my fifth graders a spelling test. After I have given them the test, I

carefully grade them and write down the scores in my cooperating teachers grade book. This
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allows me to compare their weekly progress and see which parts of spelling they struggled with.

I then help my teacher decide whether to shorten a student’s upcoming list based off their

previous performance or give them the full amount of words. Even when a student’s list gets

shortened, they are still exposed to all the words because they study them on Quizlet. I also

include feedback when I grade their papers so they know what to correct and look out for when

spelling similar words. Helping my cooperating teacher partake in this has helped me gain

firsthand knowledge about what it takes to plan further instruction for specific students and to

know what to look for after administrating similar test.

In additional, I’m also certain about how to engage learners in the assessment process and

having them reflect upon their progress. In Foundations of Measurement and Evaluation, we did

an assignment where we had to look over a series of assessments and decide which one would

best fit our cooperating grade level. The one I chose ended up being an ideal choice because it

tapped into student’s reflection skills. Allowed them to see specifically what was wanted and

expected with the numbered checklist. It also made it to where students can rate themselves and

compare it to the teachers scoring opinion. Then the last column allowed communication to

discuss misconceptions or give feedback. I plan on using a similar format in my classes since it

allows students to personally engage in their learning and take responsibility for the areas they

need to advance in.

Understanding the importance of assessments is a key component in what I’ve learned

throughout my courses. Knowing how to construct one efficiently is still something I’m working

on. So far, in Foundations of Measurement we have talked about the several types and discussed

them but haven’t had the opportunity to create one. I think a plan to become more familiar with

the process would be to collaborate with my cooperating teacher when she is making her own
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assessments. This would allow me to see what goes into creating one and then I can tweak the

process to best fit what I’m trying to assess. Another way to improve my ability to construct

assessments in multiple ways would be to review to several types of assessments. After viewing,

I can then formulate how effective they are and where I could make necessary changes.

Professional Responsibility

Knowing the rights of a student and the responsibilities of a teacher is something I pride

myself in being familiar with. I became familiar with IDEA in my Overview of Special

Education class and it taught me that teachers can’t test IDEA protected students without

parental permission. It also made me aware of the fact that it’s primary purpose is to ensure that

all children with disabilities have free and appropriate education. Then I became educated about

FERPA during my first teacher in-service at Jayhawk Elementary. I had heard of FERPA before

viewing their PowerPoint but didn’t develop a complete understanding until they had finished. It

taught me about how it’s supposed to protect the privacy of student’s records. Furthermore, there

are many laws and regulations that teachers need to be aware of. Keeping up with and further

educating yourself should be a goal that every educator strives towards doing. I plan on staying

up to date with these and will continue to make sure that I have accurately followed through with

each.

Maintaining a code of ethics is significant in almost every profession, especially teaching.

As an educator, you are a leader not only in the school system but the public as well. Everything

you do reflects upon you in one way or another. During the Transitions course, we were taught

what was expected out of us as individuals. For example, how it was necessary to watch what we

posted on social media, how to dress as a professional and how to correctly communicate in

conversion between professionals. These are important life skills that not only benefit myself but
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can be transferred to student’s education as well. By teaching my students what the general code

of ethics is, I will have helped give them some tools to be successful and hopefully encouraged

them to be a positive role model in the lives of others.

Self-reflection is something that I could strive to be better at. I know the importance of it

but often it’s something I forget to do. Throughout the different experiences in and out of the

classroom, I look back and wish I would have wrote more notes about what happened. I’m good

at thinking about something right after it happens but frequently forget over an extended period.

A way I can improve on this would be by keeping a journal to go back and refer to. This would

also allow me to document situations and then reflect on what I could do better for the next time.

Several classes I’ve been in have required us to keep one but I never realized the true

significance until I started practicing in the field more during Practicum and Internship.

Conclusion

As I continue my path towards becoming an educator, I can clearly reflect upon all the

courses that have molded me into who I am and will become. Each class hasn’t only taught me

about how to be a successful teacher but a little about life itself. Now that I’m getting ready to

start student teaching, I can only imagine all the ways I will be able to apply the knowledge that

my professors at Pitt State University has generously supplied me. I will not only strive towards

helping my students become lifelong learners but plan to continue to be one myself. Looking

through the areas of Professional Knowledge Base, it has helped me determine specific areas that

still need to be worked on and what is expected out of me when I’m performing in the field. I

know I will need to work diligently to become an effective teacher but I’m certain I have been

given the resources to follow through.