EDUG 856: Supervised Field Work/Seminar

Growth Statement/Final Reflection

Haidee Garcia
Professor Kosky
December 11, 2014

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Achieving professional development in the education field could be an intricate and challenging
process. Looking back on the experiences that I have had thus far in my educational career, it is
clear to me that I have made progress as a teacher. However, there is more for which I will
continue to strive for. Through my experiences with the course EDUG 856, Supervised
Fieldwork, namely the EDTPA instructional lesson planning, teacher observations and
presentations of the assignments. I have come to practice and apply all the techniques and
strategies I have acquired throughout the length of the program. Undeniably these experiences
have made me realize how important critical reflection is in developing my teaching strategy. I
view my experiences as an opportunity to deliberately focus on learning to develop areas of
strengths and reinforce areas of weakness.
Taking the course EDUG 856 has helped me to explore my teaching strategy which I
realize is powerfully based on Piagets social constructivist theory, which explains how
individuals might acquire knowledge and meaning from interactions between their experiences
and their ideas. A major goal I have established in my endeavor to become an effective teacher, is
to create a classroom environment in which the students are the focus and I am the facilitator
who encourages them with deep exploration and questions. The opportunity to write two EDTPA
lesson plans along with the rationale helped me to apply this strategy. As I was planning the
lessons I was meticulous at using activities that actively encouraged students to reflect and apply
their previous experiences to develop their autonomy as well as, their collaborative skills. In
planning both lessons I was heavily influenced by Abraham Maslows humanistic theory of
learning and with Lev Vygotsky views on how learning is socially constructed. The humanist
approach is rooted in the development of students autonomy and encourages students to become

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active participants in their own learning. With this course I realize that planning a lesson is a
complex task that involves a variety of components, all of which are valuable in creating
effective instruction. As a result of this course, I realize how strong of a supporter I am of
Vygotskys Zone of Proximal Development theory. An effective lesson encompasses the careful
consideration of the students individual needs and diversity. As an instructor it is my
responsibility to prepare materials that are not only well scaffold and differentiated by level and
ability, but that incorporate a combination of practical hands on activities that emphasize
collaborative group work.
In the education field especially with this course, I have learned how critical reflection
plays a vital role in becoming honestly aware of my actions and understanding my own feelings.
This feature was essential in composing the EDTPA lesson as a major part in constructing a
lesson was in reflecting why I selected a certain strategy or focused on specific academic
language function. Personally for me this plays an important role in transforming my experience
into knowledge as it forced me to apply what I knew about my lesson and apply it to what I had
not yet discovered, such as scientific research and theory.
As I reflect on the task of writing and presenting the EDTPA lesson plan I am cognizant
of the fact that the best approach to learning is through experience. My experience in writing the
EDTPA lesson plan was aided by the exposure I had on students in a classroom. The fieldwork
observation gave me the opportunity to witness what it would like to be a fifth grade bilingual
special education teacher as well as, a third grade ICT teacher. It was enlightening to see how
vastly different these two classrooms were. From the pacing, the management and the complete
instructional atmosphere, it was a great learning experience for me to see different classrooms,
students, and teachers. During my observations I was able to meet with the students for a full day

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and therefore I was able to be fully immersed in all aspects of the classroom. I was able to see
their morning routines, assess their homework and their progress and development. In addition, I
was able to see the varied strength and weakness the students had in each subject.
Through the fieldwork experience I was able to build a relationship with the teacher and
students and this was invaluable in helping me to determine my strengths and weakness and gain
insight on how to improve as an educator. One of the most important realizations I made with the
observations is that in establishing the classroom environment I want to reflect my own personal
teaching style. The honest portrayal of who I am as an educator transmit more to students than
being a perfect teacher with perfect lessons. In observing how the teachers demonstrated fairness
and firmness in their classroom management I am able to apply this to create a classroom
environment that students feel respected, appreciated, are encouraged to learn from their
mistakes and from each other and where they will ultimately try their best in everything they do.
The practice of critical reflection is a part of what I do as a teacher and it has been
significant in my training and development and in applying my experiences to create effective
instruction. Moreover, reflecting on the experiences of what I have learned throughout this
course and the program at Manhattan College has helped establish my pedagogy. After careful
research I am more knowledgeable in identifying what learning theory best fits my values and
goals in education. This useful tool has been valuable in generating my awareness of my
strengths and weakness and in gaining professional knowledge to apply to my future students.