EDUC 435// Blog 4

November 27, 2018

     I absolutely cannot believe how fast this semester has gone by. I also cannot believe how fast this whole experience has gone by-- we are about to start student teaching, y'all!

     References to Learning Experiences:
This month, I completed my clinical experience checklist. My C.E. was so helpful in letting me interview her for various parts of the checklist, and introducing me to the staff. She is great! I have been talking to her about what she wants me to teach for my real Task 1, and she has officially chosen the topic she wants me to teach. Now, all I have to do is start writing it! I am a little stressed and overwhelmed, but also really happy and thankful.

     References to Outside Learning/Research:
This month, I researched a lot of theories and things that I can include in my lessons for student teaching. There are so many things out there! I specifically researched Piaget's Theory of Cognitive Development, because I have been seeing this a lot in my placement... especially in math. This theory states that children cannot grasp the abstract until they are first introduced to the concrete. For example, this means that children could have a hard time understanding the different values of money until we give them play money, real money, or money paper cut outs that they can feel and see. Feeling and seeing the concrete examples would help them understand the abstract idea that a penny does not equal a quarter, and so on. This is a great theory, and I have started including it in my instruction a lot.
APA citation:
Mcleod, S. (2018, June 06). Jean Piaget's Theory of Cognitive Development. Retrieved September 26, 2018, from https://www.simplypsychology.org/piaget.html

     Connections to NCTCS:

This month, we have been pretty much exemplifying a lot of the Standards. Every day in my placement is a new opportunity to demonstrate aspects of the NCTCS. The Clinical Experience Checklist has things on it like "Discuss long term and short term planning with C.E." This is directly related to Standard 4b, "Teachers plan instruction appropriate for their students." These are related because this is exactly what we are doing-- planning instruction that is appropriate for our students! Our C.E.'s help guide us and make sure that what we are planning is appropriate for our students. Another part of the Clinical Experience Checklist was "Introduce yourself to clerical staff." My C.E. has introduced me to just about everybody at the school! She is awesome! By putting ourselves out there and introducing ourselves to everyone, we are demonstrating Standard 1b, "Teachers demonstrate leadership in the school." When we do this, we are demonstrating leadership in the school by getting out there and meeting people, and just getting involved! I think that good teacher leaders get involved as much as possible.

     Future Classroom Connections:

In my future classroom, I will encourage my students to be friendly to everyone and be student leaders to their peers. Since communication is a 21st century skill, I think it is important that I encourage my students to be friendly, communicate and collaborate with others, and apply themselves in everything they do. Communication and collaboration is a lost art that I plan to bring back in my classroom.