Future Practice
There are numerous ways in which I could improve upon my inquiry, let alone the countless ways I could improve my practice as an educator. For instance, to I need to improve how I formatively assess students’ understanding of objectives in
real time. Some approaches I have tried
are exit tickets, getting the “temperature” of the room with students raising
their thumbs (up = good/confident, in the middle = needs more help/time, or
down = confused/lost), and asking more specific probing questions. For instance
changing; ‘Who is having trouble with balancing chemical equations?’ to, ‘By a
show of hands, who thinks they could balance a chemical equation by themselves
right now?’ As I move forward in my development as a teacher I will continue to
work on how to better formatively assess my students’ understanding of
objectives and ability to preform relevant skills. In addition I will continue
to improve my pacing and rhythm of teaching. I keep things constantly moving
and students have little to no down time during a lesson. This can be observed
in this lesson (Spring Video) as well as the lesson I recorded during my first
month of student teaching (Fall Video). By implementing strategic down time
where students can process what they are being asked and then implement that in
their own practice, such as doing homework and during class activities, will be
something I strive for as I continue to develop as a teacher. This will be
beneficial in two major ways; to keep students from getting lost during lesson
and to facilitate their ability to develop metacognition and self-regulate
their learning. This will give students the opportunity to ask themselves
questions such as; ‘What do I know about this topic?’, ‘What are the possible
ways to approach solving this problem?’, ‘Could I solve this without the help
of my peers or the teacher?’ or ‘Does the answer I found make sense?’.
There are many things I need to improve upon in my teaching practice. By improving my practice and success as a teacher I will be better equipped to support my students success. My inquiry journey truly was a process of continual growth in my development as both a teacher and a learner. My chemistry students and biology students taught me about myself and helped me grow and develop as a future teacher and person. They constantly pushed me to be reflective and strive to improve my practice. Looking forward, I have many years of teaching I have a head of me. This makes me excited because it will take years to really solidify how to promote student success in terms of developing metacognition and scientific literacy skills. These are not goals that are achieved in one year. These are goals that take years of intentional development and practice to really make significant impacts on many students' success. This inquiry portfolio assignment is the perfect stepping stone to begin this next journey.
There are many things I need to improve upon in my teaching practice. By improving my practice and success as a teacher I will be better equipped to support my students success. My inquiry journey truly was a process of continual growth in my development as both a teacher and a learner. My chemistry students and biology students taught me about myself and helped me grow and develop as a future teacher and person. They constantly pushed me to be reflective and strive to improve my practice. Looking forward, I have many years of teaching I have a head of me. This makes me excited because it will take years to really solidify how to promote student success in terms of developing metacognition and scientific literacy skills. These are not goals that are achieved in one year. These are goals that take years of intentional development and practice to really make significant impacts on many students' success. This inquiry portfolio assignment is the perfect stepping stone to begin this next journey.
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