Reflection # 12

This week, really opened up my eyes tot he reality of teaching and how close it is in my future. We learned about the salaries that teachers make and they really aren't as bad as I thought. It is possible for some one to raise a family on teachers salary. We each got to explore some different state salaries, which was a lot of fun. I have no idea where I'm going to live in a couple of years, but this really help narrow my possibilities. In California, the teacher benefits are much better then in Utah. In California, they cover all medical and dental expenses and you also get 10-15 days of sick leave. Also, with technology classes, you get a good budget and then on top of that, you can charge a small lab fee and put that towards any thing for your class. 

Since this is my last reflection, I wanted to express my gratification for this class and how much it has helped me become a better teacher and in turn become a better person. Some of the hard things for me this semester was one waking up for 8 o'clock class (which i need to get used to for next semester), also I compared myself to every one in the class, because every one is such a good teacher and they are going to be amazing. However, I realized that I can be just as good and I am excited to grow as a person and a teacher. Our Savior is the ultimate example and that is who I aspire to be like. What better job then to exemplify the Savior .

Reflection # 11

This week we went to teach 6th Graders at an elementary school. It was so much fun and I had a blast with the kids. Of course, it helped a ton that there were 6 of us teaching. I think it would have been a lot harder if it were just me teaching 30 something students. As a group, we had our strengths and our weaknesses. We had a good anticipatory set and Jenny did an awesome job at explaining things. However, I think we underestimated these kids abilities to understand things and we probably didn't need to focus so much on some things, like the taste testing. I loved that we each had a station teaching a certain design element. That really helped me as a teacher since we taught the same thing over and over again. I noticed that I got better each time I taught. I noticed that it really was effective when we got down to the kids level and got on our knees to talk to them. I feel like the kids learned a lot, but may have already known a lot of the things we taught, but understood them better after we pointed out consumer marketing. Some weaknesses I had, was when I was trying to get the whole class to listen to me and it was difficult because all of the kids were busy working on their projects. It was a good thing to experience because I learned that there is a better way to get their attention and it is harder than it seems. Every thing that we have learned so far this semester in 276 has all come together-- from the purpose of teaching to the principles and methods of teaching. I realized that I love teaching and that I love kids. The purpose of teaching is more than just having a job, but to be around these young kids every day. That is such an incredible opportunity. I have an impact on their future and on their learning process. The principles that I learned were reiterated in this more hands on experience then teaching in our 276 class. Proximity is really a huge factor and really is a good teaching method. Also, scaffolding and building upon their answers is a must.

reflection # 10

I don't know if it was this week that we learned about this, but in the Marizano book we learned about what affects student learning. There was a pie chart and a very small portion of the circle (about 10%) was teachers. A bigger portion of the circle was social and the largest portion of the circle was the children's culture. I know this to be for the most part true since I grew up in an inner city where only a small percentage was white. This made me think as a future teacher and I realized that I won't be able to break through a lot of the kids, since their culture is such a huge part in their life. As a result of knowing this, I'm not going to slack off at all as a teacher and think that I will never be able to have an impact on their life, but I will try my hardest to accept every students and be willing to work with them and to make a difference in some of their lives.. 

This week we also started our lesson plan for our 6th grade lesson. My group is a lot of fun to work with and I have high hopes for our group. It will be a lot of fun! We chose to teach the students on marketing techniques and design elements. We chose this because we feel that people should be informed members of society and recognize pricing of name brands versus generic brands. Also for the students to know what goes into a good design.

Reflection # 9

I really enjoyed the discussion we had on effort and achievement.  It really got me thinking on how I want to grade my students.  In Marizano's book we learn that people generally attribute success at any given task to 4 things: Ability, effort, other people, luck.  If someone believes that effort is the most important factor in achievement, then they have a motivational tool that can apply to any situation.  There are 2 generalizations form the research on effort.  The first one is that not all students realize the importance of believing in effort.  The second one is that students can learn to change their beliefs to an emphasis on effort.  They can do this by demonstrating added effort and tat will in turn pay off in the long run.  I learned that even though the students may at first not realize the importance of effort, but they they can be taught this importance.  This is something that I want to stress in my classroom.  I am not going to give some one a bad grade if their work looks terrible, instead I will grade them on their effort and neatness.  By doing this, I am demonstrating the relationship between effort and achievement.  As long as my students are improving to the best of their abilities then that to me is worth an A.  I can also start of my classroom by asking them for some examples of times that they succeeded basically because they did not give up.

reflection #8

This week we started reading Robert Marzano's Book called "Classroom Instruction that Works."  I found it really useful on how to summarize effectively.  The main points were to delete some information, substitute some information, and keep some information.  These things come naturally to us.  It was helpful when we did this together as a class and I believe that it is a good teaching strategy to use in any class, even a technology class.  This is because we should be able to double teach as technology teachers.  To really understand a passage, we need to find the key points and get rid of unnecessary and redundant information.  We should not just teach our students how to summarize but we need to teach them why being a good summarizer and note taker is beneficial.  I thought it was interesting when Marizano says that verbatim note taking is, perhaps, the least effective way to take notes.  There are so many different ways to taking notes and it just depends on the individual and what the best way for them to remember things is.

reflection #7

This week, me, Braden, Tara, and Tahna went to observe at Wasatch High School and it was a lot of fun going with every one.  I really like this school and I think I would enjoy teaching here.  It's more diverse than Lone Peak.  Also,  they get a pretty big budget for all of the multimedi classes.  There were so many multimedia classes to choose from and I wish I had these kind of classes to attend in high school.  The first classroom we went to, the teacher was teaching Flash.  The set up was great!  This was definitely an ideal classroom for learning Flash.  The teacher was able to se all of the computers and see exactly what each kid was doing.  He also had a program to teach the students flash by hooking up what he was doing on his monitor and having it be on each of the kids monitor so they can see what the teacher was doing.  The kids knew what they were supposed to be doing and have all of their animations done at the end of the class for the whole class to watch them.  I noticed that most of the kids' videos were kinda gory even though the teacher made it explicit for there to be no blood.  We then went to observe the video class and it was so much fun.  There was really nice equipment and computers.  The kids knew exactly what they were supposed to do as well.  There was a count down for when the school news would come on since they were in charge of it.  Every student had a role in the production of it.  At the beginning of the class, we watch some of the kids commercials that they made, and they were actually really good.  The teacher gave some feed back, but not much of it was positive.  Another thing that the teacher did was that he gave the students positions that they didn't want to have, for example the kids that didn't want to be the news anchors got that position.  I don't know if that was a good or bad thing, but it looked like each student became really good at their job.

Reflection #6

Today was such a good class!  The email that Geoff showed us during class was from a frustrated technology teacher.  What is the point of teaching technology?  Is it worth it?  What will the student get out of it and does a student who is not going to go into that career field need to learn it?  These are all questions that this person asked and they are questions I have asked myself and have been pondering a lot, especially this semester while being in TEE 276.  Every one needs to ask themselves the question, what is the point of teaching technology?  We should all come up with our own answers.  To me, teaching technology is vital in a child's life because they become better problem solvers and gain character development.  We need to be careful not to get so caught up in the how to do things, but in the why are we learning this.  Geoff made the point that you can give the processes and hope that the students tease out the principles that you are really trying to show them.  This is why we have to teach the why.

We then read the first chapter in the book, "Bonds That Make Us Free."  I was immediately captivated when I read the first couple of pages.  This book answers why we get so caught up in ourselves and why we are so ready to take offense at what others do?  I don't hear about this topic very often, because I think people really don't want to admit that they are having agitated feelings or are unhappy.  It gives comfort knowing that every one has those feelings.  Reading this was perfect timing since yesterday in my mission prep class we talked about why we don't have the spirit with us all the time.  I think these two topics correlate-  being agitated/unhappy and not having the spirit with us.  Brother Bott said that when we are not feeling the spirit, then we need to stop and ask ourselves,  "what am I doing wrong now that I wasn't doing an hour ago?"  We can't blame our unhappiness on any one else.  Someone said that life is 10% of what happens to you and 90% of how you handle it.  Sometimes when I get frustrated with people, I think it's them that need to change, but I have got to realize that it is actually me that needs to change.  "The feelings that we blame on others, and that seem to ruin everything, rudely refuse to be evicted once they take up residence in us."  Frustration can contaminate every project we undertake.  It is difficult to overestimate the corrosive power of agitated feelings.  "Those times when we feel most miserable, offended, or angry are invariably the occasions when we're also most absorbed in ourselves and most anxious or suspicious, or fearful, or in some other way concerned about ourselves."  This is ironic that we learned about this today, not only because It goes along with not feeling the spirit, but because I have been studying the topic of meekness.  I learned that meekness is a christ-like attribute that is essential for those who want to stay on the path of righteousness.  In fact, Moroni warned "none is acceptable before God, save the meek and lowly in heart."  If we are meek, then we do not get offended by others or take offense.  If we are meek, then we do not get agitated easily because we are not absorbed in ourselves.  Instead, we are thinking of others and loving our neighbors as God sees them instead of as objects.

I guess it all comes down to what we want.  Do we want happiness or do we want to be miserable?  We can be happy by simply not letting ourselves get frustrated and by developing our relationships with others and focusing on the now and not focusing so much on ourselves.

Reflection #5

This week we talked about different kinds of teaching styles that are used by the different philosophers.  It's really hard to choose one method in particular, so I think a mixed method is best.  It is good to mix up your teaching styles or else it would get really boring.  Some things I want to focus on when I start teaching is to know the content well, focus on the growth of the students, have an engaging environment, to have trust in the students while maintaining good classroom management, and to assess the student's knowledge to make suret they are understanding it.  Also, you have to have high expectations in order to get a lot back from the students.  I really like the quote, "don't cover information, uncover it."  This is crucial because you will lose their interests very fast if you just read off the information.

This next scripture is one that we talked about in class and goes along with the concept of exponential growth:

D&C 58 27-28

Men should be anxiously engaged in a good cause and do many things of their own free will and to bring to pass much righteousness.  For the power is in them, wherein they are agents unto themselves.  And inasmuch as men do good they shall in nowise lose their reward.

If we are anxiously engaged in a good cause and bringing to pass righteousness then there is no digressing in our path of righteousness-- no standing still.  We should be wanting to do good in this world and to make it a better place and to become the best we can be.  It is selfish of us to not apply our skills and talents into retaining as much knowledge as we can.

Reflection #4

This week me and Jenny went to observe a Junior High School technology class in Pleasant Grove.  Mr. Frey was so nice and and gave great advice.  He was a great example in that he had really good classroom management.  I was very impressed how the students came into the class and knew exactly what they were supposed to be doing even after Mr. Frey was gone the whole week due to an illness.  The students got out their projects and were sitting at their tables.  The teacher went to the front of the classroom and went over the objectives of that day's lesson.  He was really personable with the students as well and was continuously praising them and encouraging them that they could do better.  For example, the object of that day's lesson was to construct a bridge on a software program using a maximum of $230,000.  It was easier for some and they finished a lot earlier then every one else.  Instead of just signing them off, Mr. Frey gave them a new goal of getting under $210,000.  It was harder for others to get it under that amount of price, but they eventually got it because they played around with it.  Because of his high expectations, Mr. Frey didn't give away much on how to make a cheaper bridge.  Instead, he gave them some direction and praise, and he let them loose.  Sometimes that is the best way to learn.  The kids were on task the whole time and you could just tell they were having so much fun with it.  I learned so much that day.  Teaching became a reality to me and it hit me hard.  These are real life human beings and they are going to be put into my hands.  It is up to me how I am going to mold their minds and to make sure they are learning-- not just learning it, but also to be able to teach it back to a peer or to their parent.  

I also finished the Gong book and I have to agree with Geoff that it is life-changing.  I think the exponential growth section really hit me hard.  No more just doing the bare minimum to pass by through life.  If we do that then there is no meaning to our purpose here on earth.  We need to reach that point where we want to learn more and have that desire to be constantly improving our minds as well as our hearts.  I really liked the story when a daughter told her mother that she didn't think her church was true.  Instead of getting upset with her, the mother told her daughter to go out and explore other churches and when she finds the true church then they will both join it.  I like the quote that the daughter gave: "It was the first time I realized that it was up to me to seek out the truth in my life-- that my parents had been generous sharing their belief with me, but that they were willing to recognize my questions... that they wanted me to find out the answers to my questions."  Basically, it is up to us to find the truth and not depend on others to find it.  

I think the last couple of pages summed every thing up.  In order for us to reach exponential growth we need to have that desire and that drive, but we also need to put our whole heart into it.  This ties into the three-person model and love.  Giving love in the context of learning is the key to the multidimensional growth of the three-person model.  Stephen Covey talked about the amazing reality that when people in a system are working well together, the results are greater than the sum of the parts. The book defined love as the emotions, desires, and goals that contribute to growth and well-being.  Love grows as it passes from person to person and nobody has to be thrifty love.  There is no such thing as too much love.  Love is a universal things.  It can be a love for your child like how my mom always tells us kids that she grew another heart for each kid she had.  It can be a love for your students if you are a teacher.  It can be a love for someone that bothers  or annoys you.  If we develop that love then any thing can be accomplished.  When a teacher has valuable knowledge and abilities, and when learners own their learning role, and when they understand that the teacher cares for them more then himself, learners will flock to the teacher to receive his knowledge and skill

Reflection #3

I have learned so much this week concerning teaching and how it is a two way process.  It is not enough to just stand in front of the classroom and lecture or even present.  Instead, we need to interactive with the students-- ask them questions, make sure they are understanding the material, ask for feedback, have them teach it back to you or to a peer.  I learned from Gong's book, Learning and Teaching for Exponential Growth, that in order for someone to learn we need to be teachers as well.  The power of  the number 3 was greatly emphasized in the first chapter, starting with the penny game.  He talked a lot about the three-person model and how if someone does something 3 times then that is when you understand it the best. Any model without all three components will be incomplete, which are the attributes of roles, knowledge, and experience.  The experiences which need to happen are to capture (between student and teacher), expand (the student independently), teach (between the student and others), and finally to evaluate (a process that underlies the whole series).  Nothing ever becomes real until it is experienced.

I loved when we talked about our exponential growth.  When we reach that point when all we want to do is gain more knowledge and be more like God, then that is when we reach exponential growth, instead of having linear growth and not progressing.  I liked the metaphor of a person growing by pushing outward on his own boundaries.  As the circumference of the circle grows, it increases exponentially.  I learned from this that I will and must reach that point in my life because that is when everything in our life comes together and it makes sense.  We came here to this earth to gain as much knowledge as we can and this is what I want to do.  I want to be passionate about what I teach and always be willing to learn new things. 

Reflection 2

This past week I have learned about different strategies and approaches to teaching through different philosophers through out the ages.  It was quite interesting to learn about all of the different philosophers and there contribution to the way we see the human mind.  I learned about the differences between behaviorism, cognitivism, and constructivism and I believe that they each build and rely off one another.  Behaviorism has to do with the reward system.  Cognitivism has to do with rational understanding and the logical approach.  Constructivism has to do with building upon prior knowledge.

From Wong's book I learned about the differences between rules and procedures.  A rule is a challenge for someone to break.  A procedure is just something that you should do.  We have to teach procedures by explaining them, then rehearsing them, and then reinforcing them.  I also learned that the ineffective teacher begins the first day of school trying  to teach a subject and rest of the school year chasing after them.  The effective teacher spends most of the first week teaching the student show to follow classroom procedures.  I think that it depends on what grade level you are teaching.  I think it is very important for elementary teachers to do this, however, for middle school and high schoolers may not be as important.

Reflection 1

I have learned so much in this class already.  I realized that teaching takes a whole lot more than just giving the children information.  You need to present the information in an engaging way.  I really like how the book describes the four stages of teaching.  The first stage is fantasy where the teacher thinks all they need to do is be a friend to the student and just have fun activities.  I know I will struggle with this stage wince I want the kids to like me and want the to have fun.  There should be a balance.  In this stage, they do not talk about standards, accountability, or student performance.  The second stage is survival where they only view teaching as only a job.  They whine about their work conditions and they give the students busy work and basically come in to baby sit.  As I read this, I realized that I had several teachers like this through out my school years.  I do not want to be one of those teachers who are not passionate about what they do.  If I learn one thing about this class it would be to have passion and to show that enthusiasm to my students.  The third stage is mastery where the teacher has learned to manage their class room.  They set high expectations and they reach to make a difference, but never fully arrives.  The fourth stage is impact where the teachers are effective and actually make a difference in the students' lives.  These are the teachers whose students come back years later and thank them for influencing their lives.  This is the stage we need to all aaim for.  It will take some time, but if we truly care about making a difference then we need to put in that effort and follow through.

The three characteristics of an effective teacher are:

1. need to have positive expectations for student success

2. are extremely good classroom managers

3. know how to design lessons for student mastery

The words please and thank you are vital for a well managed classroom and makes a huge difference in how the students' respond. 

Overall, I think I have a long way to go to becoming a good teacher and I am willing to do that no matter how discouraged I may get.