Reflecting on Teaching

1. What impact did my instruction have on student achievement?

Aside from what the data says above, I believe I had a high impact on my
students achievement. I held this class especially to very high expectations. This
is an above average honors class full of kids who have high expectations for
themselves. When I first took over as their teacher, we did a career project. This
project taught me a substantial amount about each and every student. I took this
information and differentiated my lessons in a way that could interest and relate to
each and every student in my class. Since I had such a small class, I felt that it
was my responsibility to ensure I had a very differentiated classroom. In the
future, I know I will not be in a class of only 10 students, so I took this as an
opportunity to experiment and test new and unique teaching strategies in order to
fill up my tool-box Luann is always reminding us about. By doing so, I was
able to adjust any assignment in a way that was flexible for both myself and the
students. It is proven that when we properly differentiate our lessons, our students
will succeed. I am very proud that the men and women in this class excelled and
met my expectations. Not every day was sunshine and roses; there was late work,
missing assignments, and even homework eaten by dogs. With these
expectations and with the amount of instructional differentiation in the classroom,
I feel I had a very high impact on student achievement.
2. How did this experience influence my feelings about teaching and learning?
I have never been more sure about becoming a teacher in my entire life. I have
known for year that this is my calling in life and after teaching these kids and
collaborating with my colleagues, I have obtained so many new skills and
techniques that I can take with me, in that tool-box of mine, in order to impact the

achievement levels of all the students I have in my future as a teacher. The one
main thing I will take way from this experience is time management. I had no
problem with lesson planning, grading, staying on top of my responsibilities, etc.
but what I did struggle with was teaching everything I wanted to teach within y
45-minute class period. I love to kayak as a teacher and let activities go in a
different direction if the class goes a way I did not anticipate, but trying to get
everything I want to get in was very hard. There were several days where the bell
rang with 20-minutes of instruction left to do. Also, I had planned on this unit
taking only 3-weeksHA! We spent 4 and one-half weeks on this unit. Factors
such as snow days, two-hour delays, alternate schedules, absences, etc. taught me
why most male teachers are baldbecause they pull their hair out! I used to love
school delays and I have grown to learn that they are horrible! I must say that my
flexibility skills have drastically improved since this unit. This experience has
taught me how to be flexible, why it is important, and how it also impacts student
achievement.
3. In what ways did I change or deepen my understanding of what it means to be a
reflective scholar, instructional leader and global citizen?
This student teaching experience gave me the opportunity to learn and to
grow as a professional educator. This opportunity took what it means to be a
reflective scholar, instructional leader, and global citizen to a whole new level.
There were so many obstacles, so many struggles, so many nights where I could
not fall asleep until I figured out how I was going to interest that one student that
was not at all interested in the book we were reading. Nights I woke up dreaming
about new strategies and activities to do in my classroom, and even nights where I

woke up at 3 a.m. with an idea for a lesson and rolled out of bed to see how I
could develop it into something one of my classes could learn from. I wish these
were just silly sayings, but this stuff really happened. I constantly, day and night,
reflected on how I could not only improve my planning, but increase the
engagement level and learning opportunities I set forth for my students. I was
blessed to have very small classes. Although I was unable to really test my
classroom management skills in a class full of thirty students, but I did this in
Indianapolis everyday at my job as a school outreach coordinator. Seton Catholic
presented me with a new opportunity. A chance to test out so many different
teaching strategies, instructional approaches, and procedures that I would not have
the flexibility to test out in a class plum full of students.
In regards to being an instructional leader, I can not stress enough
how important it is to have a very distinct presence not only in your classroom,
but throughout the entire school. Whether you are walking down the hall, getting
lunch, or standing at your door welcoming students, I had to be a leader. By now I
have 15 to 20 students high-fiving me as they walk by, stopping and chatting
about courses they are struggling with, or simply asking what I did over the
weekend. By setting forth this presence, it reiterates who I am as a teacher and as
a person to the entire student population. In the classroom, my kids know when it
is time to have fun and when it is time to buckle down and get to work. I did not
have to set procedures such as when to go to the bathroom, when to sharpen your
pencil, when they turned in their work, etc., because they knew by the way I
taught. They were shown respect from day one and I received they same respect
back within the first week. If I was teaching or we were doing an activity, then

they knew what task to be working on. If that was not happening yet, then they
knew to turn in their work or sharpen their pencil. Being an instructional leader
was so important to me because of my age. Being only 22 years old, there is not
much of an age difference between my seniors and I. They had to know that yes, I
was there to be a friend, but I was also their teacher and that had precedence. I
surprised many kids when I was hard on them and I also surprised many others
when they were told to see me after school for tutoring or to review an
assignment. Yes, I was there to give out those high fives in the classroom, but if
you did not meet my expectations, they knew I was there to find out why and to
make sure it did not happen again.
Being a Global Citizen never made much sense to me until now.
After completing my student teaching, it is vital that I am up to date on what is
going on in the world, competent in the cultural backgrounds of my students, and
aware of current issues. Not only is this important when addressing content and
connecting it to modern day events, it is crucial in the differentiated planning
process. We were reading the Great Gatsby and a big part of that book deals with
the power of money. Had I not been up-to-date on current ISIS issues, I would
have completely missed the opportunity to make my content relevant to my
students, therefore losing potential engagement. Most importantly, global
citizenship was the number one thing I stressed to my students. Yes, this goal is
important to me but it is also important for my students to know and practice. We
read The Five People You Meet in Heaven, which dealt with the meaning of life.
This book taught my kids that they can truly make a difference in the world every
single day, no matter how big or small. By teaching students to stand up for what

they believe is right, no matter what, they can have a real impact on our world in a
positive way. By teaching them to be global citizens and to be constant agents for
change, they have this opportunity. Maybe one day, due to my short time at Seton,
a student will make one single decision, because of reading that book and being
taught what I taught them, that could help another. Maybe one student will be a
teacher, a doctor, or even a humanitarianMr. Browns class will be in the back
of their head for the rest of their life and to me, that is the goal.