Why is it important for teachers to study development?
To be completely honest, before this year I had never thought about how well teachers knew their students, and how extremely important that was. They always say you should “know your audience,” and that is no different with teaching. One thing that I have learned in the past couple of months is that each and every grade level of students is vastly different. They are able to do completely different things physically, cognitively and emotionally, and the lessons that are being taught to them should always reflect that. It is so important that the teacher of these students can recognize where their students are in the process for various reasons. First of all, a student in high school will not be challenged in any manner by work that is meant for a first grader. All of the work that you do in school is meant to give your brain a chance to practice things that it is newly able to handle, and if an educator does not know that, they will just be wasting your time by not challenging your brain. In addition to needing to be challenged, it is also necessary that a teacher has an understanding of the changes a child’s body may be going through during their time in school. A middle school teacher should be able to identify that a student going through puberty may be a bit tired and hungry during the day, just as an elementary school teacher shouldn’t grade too hard on the glue job of a kindergartener. It is just what is developmentally appropriate to know. It is essential that teachers know what developmental stage their kids are in so that not only lessons can be prepared for students to learn the most, but also so that the teacher can better understand their interactions with the kids.
How will you plan for students who differ in their approaches to learning?
One of the best things to do, in my opinion, is to start at the beginning, before you even teach the lesson, and ask yourself if it hits each of the three learning styles; visual, auditory, and kinesthetic. If you have to, you can even write it out, as well as any accommodations for the students who may need them during that year. For me, being able to look at it and see that all of those things are taken care of, is really going to help me as a teacher. I also think that it is important that you observe your students while you are teaching the lessons. Be able to characterize which parts of the lessons are what learning style, and see which students are succeeding the most during that time. Then, you know which style best fits each of your students and that could also be helpful in your lesson plan. I also feel like, if there are some common lesson types, such as direct instruction with a lecture at the board, I will always know that I should include a couple of diagrams, talk through the entire lesson and each step of it and also include some hands-on material that students can directly practice through. If I can find some of those common lesson types, I think that may help me plan my lessons ahead of time. In my opinion, it is just observing your students and your lessons, and reflected on what works well for your class.
How will you support the intellectual, social and personal development of all students?
As a teacher, supporting the intellectual, social and person development of your students is what you are there to do. Yes, you need to hit all of the standards, but you also need to be there to focus on them as individuals as well. In terms of intellectual support, I want to do my best to always have a challenge for them, whether that is content lower than expected, average or beyond what is expected of the student. I want to encourage them to do challenging things for themselves such as reading more difficult books, or trying a more difficult sheet of math problems. I want to reaffirm to them that whatever level they are at, that they are improving and ask that they are positive about their intellectual ability. I think that the more positive the learning experience is, the more they will be motivated to improve themselves as intellectuals. In terms of social development, I want to make sure that students are getting plenty of social time in the classroom that is also related back to learning. I was lucky enough this semester to be in a classroom that valued group work, and took advantage of it when possible. I want to ensure that my classroom is run in that same manner. I think being able to interact with peers during class time is a great way to make sure the students are developing socially. For example, in my middle school internship, I saw two girls, one new to the district, become very close in just a couple of months after the new one arrived, because of their ability to be social in Miss Noltie’s class. I think the last piece, supporting them personally, is something that I have not seen in a lot of classrooms that I have been in. But I think that it is important to give the kids some time to figure out who they are. This year, my senior composition class, or senior English class, is about finding out who you are and I think it has really helped me develop as a person in a really short span of time. I think that is something we should give kids more freedom to do in other points during their school life. We should let them focus an assignment or two around a topic that they actually find interesting, or give them a chance to be in a leadership position in the classroom to see if they fit that mold. I think so many of these things are shoved aside in lieu of content in the classroom, but I want to make sure the kids are getting this time in my class at least a couple of times during the school year, but hopefully more than that.
Middle School Development Paper Artifact:
Teaching Portfolio 