Week 12 Reflection

I am happy that I got to participate in our last twitter session. I was surprised that it was even our last one! Reality set in and I am excited that I have made it through this class. Research and writing were big fears of mine and I am glad that I overcame them and persevered to the end. I am grateful to all of the peer support out there! My PLN has been awesome. You all have given me the feedback I needed when I was doubtful about my research.

Stephanie commented on my post. She said, “Taking students various learning styles into consideration is so much easier said than done!” 26 different learning styles (this year) is definitely a lot to consider. She got me to think about this a little bit. Our teaching should be so varied that we won’t have to wonder if we are reaching the different learning styles. We should just use every technique and strategy that we can to make sure each of our students is being reached. I got in a routine that became boring and my students were bored. Routine is good, I know, but change it up by adding different strategies to keep students engaged.

Conclusions and Recommendations

Conclusion and Recommendation

This study, this classroom research class, has taught me to be more aware of my students and of my teaching style. It has forced me to reflect on what engagement strategies work and what does not.   I began this study looking at my students and wondering why they were not learning. I finished the study looking at myself and focusing on things that I can do to reach each child differently. Some children do well with oral directions, some do better with seeing the directions, other do well with seeing a demonstration.  I knew about differentiating my lessons, but this research helped me to focus on it.

I believe that my Administrator, along with substitute teachers, would greatly benefit from this study. Because substitutes often come in and just read the sub plans and do not do more than that.   Not all substitute teachers have an educational background and sometimes I wrongly assume that they would automatically just do the steps that I have written. But I am reminded that substitute teachers are not always able to get the training to work with children. So, I am going to make sure that I list every step for my substitute and leave tips for them so that they will have a successful day.

The next thing I will do is to share this with my principal. He and I can share the techniques or strategies during substitute teacher orientation in the beginning of the year or add it to the orientation packets.

Week 12 blog

How can others apply what I learned to their classrooms? What needs to be considered now? What will I do next?

I think that whoever reads my research would see that I learned to use different methods for teaching a specific skill. Some children do well with oral directions, some do better with seeing the directions, other do well with seeing a demonstration. I knew this all along, that as a teacher, I am responsible for differentiating my teaching methods. But, when I did my data collection, I noticed that I was only doing one or two strategies and wasn’t engaging some of my students. Doing the research has helped me to become more aware of my teaching to all learning styles.

I strongly feel that substitute teachers would greatly benefit from know this. Because substitutes often come in and just read the sub plans and don’t do more than that. I wrongly assume that they would automatically just do the steps, but I am reminded that substitute teachers are not always able to get the training to work with children. So, I am going to make sure that I list every step for my substitute and leave tips for them so that they will have a successful day.

The next thing I will do is to share this with my principal and share with him that the techniques or strategies can be shared during substitute teacher orientation in the beginning of the year.

Week 11 reflection

Well, I didn’t get to interact with my peers this past week. I am finally catching up after a weekend of illness, Easter, and then parent/teacher conferences. I was able to read over the blogs of my peers and see how they put their discussion pieces together. I am an example of a visual learner and can get a better understanding of what is expected after I have seen other examples. So, Thanks, everyone, for letting me see your Discussion pieces! 🙂

How will I apply what I learned from my data to teaching and learning in my classroom? How can others apply what I learned to their classrooms?

I can apply my findings by making sure I use different engagement strategies while teaching to all my students. I thought I had been using different strategies, but I found myself using the same techniques and expecting different results. So, I made conscious efforts to change things up to keep my students engaged.

I can share my results with my peers, and my principal. I can also share with the Substitute Teacher Orientation committee. They have put together some great information for substitutes and I think they would appreciate the information.

Discussion Piece

Hi everyone. I’m catching up finally… Here is my Discussion section. I’m a little nervous about this piece and not sure if what I included is correct. Please feel free to give me any corrections or pointer. Thanks!

Discussion