Wrapping up requirements

If you read through the "About" page on this blog you know this blog was started as a requirement for my capstone in my master's degree.  You also know that it is my hope to continue to use this blog as a place of reflection for me and a way to connect with other educators around the world.  I don't know how often I will be posting, but I have a goal of once a week until Christmas break.  (That's only 20 weeks away for those of you that are counting!)

I pray what you have read in my blog so far has helped you reflect on the topics I have blogged about and I pray it has inspired to you want to step out of your comfort zone in you career.  If I have learned one thing through my attempts in meeting people and expanding my personal learning community, it would be that we share a common goal...we all want to do what is best for our students.  We all want to keep up to date on the latest educational practices and we are always looking for ways to improve current practices we are doing in our classroom.  

Please feel free to connect with me via Twitter or Google+.  I would love to connect with each and every one of you!

Tona

HE>I

Teaching Philosophy

Throughout my master's program, I had to write and alter my teaching philosophy. I am ashamed to admit that, previous to be required to write a teaching philosophy, I never had one written. The overall idea and foundation were in my head, but as I have shared multiple times in this blog, I am learning that writing and reflecting on happenings in my career is essential to growing as an educator. Writing down my teaching philosophy and having someone else read it, forces me to live out my philosophy. Below is my final teaching philosophy I turned in for my master's program.

I believe a teacher’s role in the classroom is to act as an advisor and guide the students through the learning process. A teacher should deliver lessons that contain state standards while teaching students how those standards apply to their daily lives and their future. Teachers must center their lessons around student achievement and provide classrooms that are safe and allow for personal development.  

At Mount Olive Lutheran School, I have the privilege to serve students in those realms, but I also have the responsibility and blessing of doing so in a family setting where God’s love and forgiveness are taught each day. Within the congregation I get to serve in a variety of ways such as VBS or children’s messages and as a role model for the students. Another key role of a teacher or administrator is community building.  Building a positive rapport with the surrounding community is vital to growth in a school. Without support from the community, a school will surely die. The ability to market a school depends on the reputation within the surrounding community, and the reputation of the school stems from the word of mouth of current and past families. A school must also serve the community. If the school was gone tomorrow, it should leave some void in the community as the school is serving that community. An educator must be in the community building those relationships consistently to know the clientele of the school district and to promote the school in a personal way.

As an educator, I assess my student's ability and learning styles, to analyze their findings, and to teach to each individual’s needs.  I believe in an approach where teachers focus on students as individuals and strive to create more one-on-one, or small group opportunities give teachers the ability to get to know their students.  I believe that an effective teacher must be able to diagnose the student's ability, differentiate to teach them at their level, and continuously challenge and support them throughout the learning process.  While I agree that everyone should be given the opportunity to learn the same information, I believe teachers need to recognize that not everyone takes in the information in the same manner, which is why using multiple teaching methods and differentiating is so important. To do this, a teacher must use a variety of delivery methods for their lessons to account for the students who learn auditorily, visually, and kinesthetically while incorporating technology to enhance lessons. Teachers must recognize that we live in a world that is constantly changing, and new technology is being developed daily.  Teachers need to provide opportunities for students to experience and work with the subject matter.

I believe teachers need to teach to the whole child, ensuring every child is provided with a safe, effective, and challenging learning environment.  As a Lutheran educator, I am not bound to as strict of guidelines and can provide each student with meeting them where they are academically, socially, emotionally and spiritually.  Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs states that biological and physiological needs come first. As an educator, I need to provide these basic needs for those students who do not receive them at home. I have to bond with my students so that I know exactly what needs I need to provide for my students so that they are all ready to effectively learn.

       Working in a Lutheran School makes creating our long-term vision easier because we believe not only in education but also in Jesus Christ as our Savior and his command to “Go and make disciples”  (Matthew 28:19). In creating a Christ-centered classroom, the focus on of my classroom management system is respect, respect for the teacher and peers. My classrooms rules and consequences reflect this respect relationship between teacher and student. Helping students develop respect for themselves as learners, fosters a safe and positive learning environment within the classroom.  

As a teacher, I motivate students by creating a learning environment that is positive and safe while creating bonds with the students by showing them respect and interest in their activities. This type of environment should be evident in every classroom.  I believe teacher’s job to continually build students up and provide that positive reinforcement. As a junior high teacher, I believe it is my role to begin to show students the importance of education, to help develop their intrinsic motivation and desire to achieve, which will serve them for a lifetime.

Students are the driving force behind all of the aspects of education and every decision that is made. Educators want the students to feel safe and cared about each day they walk in the door, making them ready to learn. Once they are ready to learn, the educator attempts to put the best curriculum, lessons, classroom environment,  technology, and other resources to best increase student achievement. This love for education, but more important, the love of children is the driving force behind my hard work and dedication to my calling as an educator.

Tona

HE>I

Life is about the process...

Normally I am not one to talk about my accomplishments and this post is no different, but I do want to take a minute and reflect on the past two years of going through my master's degree and what it has meant to me and my profession.

I started out my master's program in pursuit of a degree in Educational Administration.  As I progressed through my first two classes and really took some time to think about where I wanted my career to go, I realized my passion was in educational technology and teaching other educators how to effectively use technology in their classroom.  

At first this frustrated me because I had taken two classes I didn't actually need, but the more I have gone through my classes the  more I realize that taking those to classes was part of the process of getting to the decision I did.  I am learning that is what life is about.  I realize that many times life is not about the end result but about the process of getting to the end result.  That may sound cliche'.  I have heard that before, but never truly understood it.  Not that I do, it helps this high anxiety teacher enjoy the process of whatever it is I am working through.  That may be a curriculum, a needy student, or even just how I am going to set up my Planbook for the upcoming year.  It is a process and eventually I get to where I want or need to be.  

Now to remember that as the stresses of the beginning of the school year start...

Tona

HE>I

A Life Long Learner

Image taken from Shutterstock

Becoming a life-long learner is essential in anyone’s professional development, despite the career path they are on.  As an educator, I believe it is important not only to continue to develop as a better teacher for myself, but also for the development of my students.

"If we want students to learn, the most critical element is the teacher. So professional development is the overall most important thing we can do to help students learn."  (Johnson, 2014, para. 4)

Education is in constant motion.  Best practices are often changing and keeping up with those changes is essential in providing the best education for the students we are entrusted with.  I define professional development as not only things that are formally called “professional development” like attending conferences or inservices, but also using tools such as Twitter, Google+, Pinterest or even collaboration with a coworker.    

This summer I have reached out and really starting looking for ways to build my personal learning community. I teach in a school where they is only one teacher per grade level or one teacher per subject in the junior high. This makes collaboration and bringing new ideas into my classroom a bit of a challenge. I have joined multiple groups on Facebook. Some of my favorite are:

MIDDLE SCHOOL MATH TEACHERS UNITE!!!

SURVIVING SIXTH, SEVENTH, AND EIGHTH GRADE MATH (FOR TEACHERS!)

BUILD MATH MINDS

TEACHERS USING GOOGLE CLASSROOM

Through discussions on these boards, I have found many new ideas I am bringing into my classroom. They range from classroom management to new technology tools to try. I am so excited about the resources other educators have shared with me.

Do you have groups that you belong to that inspire you to step up your game in your classroom? Please share in the comment section below!

Tona

HE>I

Reference Johnson, B. (2014). Why quality professional development for teachers matters. Retrieved from
     http://www.edutopia.org/blog/why-quality-professional-development-teachers-matters-ben-johnson

Radkov, I. (2011, July 07). KEY acronym - KEEP EDUCATING YOURSELF. Educational concept with different color sticky notes and white chalk handwriting
        on a blackboard. Retrieved from https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/key-acronym-keep-educating-yourself-educational-80589910

Leadership and Vision

I just came from a school board meeting where we took a look at our vision for the school:

PROVIDING AND EDUCATION FOR NOW AND ETERNITY 

We discussed ways we can make sure that our vision is present everyday, whether it be with our words or our actions. It was a positive and uplifting discussion as a teacher leader in my building. As I was driving home by myself...I point that out because that rarely happens. This is usually what my car looks like when I'm driving anywhere...

 Yep...me and four kids...don't let their cute smiles fool you...they are loud and very competitive with each other (and I wouldn't trade their personalities for anything! I am a blessed mama!)

Okay...back to leadership...so as I was driving home by myself from this discussion, I got to thinking what leadership has to do with vision. Why was it the role of the school board to discuss the vision, when it is the teacher's role to carry that vision out daily in our school?

Here is what I came up with:

I believe that leadership and vision go hand in hand; you can’t have one without the other. Good vision stems from good leadership. Even though leadership and vision can both consist of forward thinking, leadership takes place in the present, whereas vision sets the action for the future. Kouzes & Posner (2006) write, “You are the most important leader in your organization for the people who look to you" (p.11).   Leaders serve and sacrifice using the leadership aspirations of being forward looking yet willing to be a follower too in order to fulfill the vision. I would have to say that our current principal is an effective leader. He leads up towards the common goal of providing an education for now and eternity. With the principal leading us towards this goal, we have been able to create unity and action in our mission. When creating a vision, it is important for the leader to effectively communicate their vision to all key players. There it is...they why of my question. It is the role of the leader to communicate the vision to all the key players and to demonstrate what that looks like daily in our school.

What is leadership and vision to you in your school? I would love to hear how this topic plays out in your school!

Tona

HE>I

Reference
Kouzes, J. & Posner, B. (2006). A leader’s legacy. San Francisco. Jossey-Bass.

Student Control

In my last post, I wrote about blended learning and how I had to give up some control of my students' learning in order to truly allow blended learning to happen in my classroom.  

I wanted to provide another thing I did at the end of last year with my 6th grade students that I will definitely be repeating this upcoming year...and more than once! 

Every year I have my 6th-grade science students create an online book about plants.  Instead of me just handing out a rubric for the book project this time, I allowed the students to help me create the rubric.  Asking them what they think a good informational book should contain proved to be an excellent task for them to complete as a class.  I got this idea after reading A teacher’s guide to classroom assessment: Understanding and using assessment to improve student learning by the Butler and McMunn. They provide an example of a teacher allowing students to create a rubric for a presentation.  I have to say that I witnessed the same reaction from my students when I first told them they were going to help me create a rubric for the books.

“The students responded to this session with a good attitude but at the same time showed some hesitancy because they had never been asked to do this” (Butler & McMumm, 2006, p.xxvii).  

I saw an excitement in some students that I had not seen before when they heard they were going to be able to help me grade their plant book projects.  I also saw students more engaged in the research of their book because they had the freedom to design the book how they saw fit. Something I need to consider is making sure all students are getting a saw in what the rubric contains.  When I first asked the question “What should a good informational book contain?” many of my advanced students were the only ones contributing to the conversation. After some prodding, eventually everyone had said something, and all seem excited.

I won't be allowing my students to create a rubric for all the project we do in class, but I saw them take more ownership in their grade with this method.

Tona

HE>I

Reference Butler, S.M. & McMunn, N.D. (2006). A teacher’s guide to classroom assessment: Understanding and using assessment to improve student learning. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Giving up control...

I recently had a conversation with a college friend (who is also a middle school teacher).  Our conversation eventually led to what learning looks like in each of our classrooms.  I shared with her that our school went one-to-one with Chromebooks about 5 years ago and since then I have changed my role in the classroom.  Instead of being the teacher that lectures to students for their learning, I am the teacher that facilitates their learning.  Her first question to me was, "How can you give that much control to your students?"  Well, it wasn't easy, especially for this type A personality teacher.  I like to have a plan and I like things to go according to plan but when you hand over the reins to your students and let them lead the learning, well, things don't always go according to your plan.  

Image taken from His Work In Progress

What Giving Up Control Looked Like For Me

Three years ago I flipped my math classroom... meaning my students have homework every night that consists of watching a video on the concept that they are going to practice in class the next day. At first, this brought on a lot of anxiety because I felt like I was losing control of my classroom.  I didn’t know what each day would look like because I didn’t know how much help each of my students would need. After a few short weeks, I saw that the environment that I had created was much more student centered. Students could watch and rewatch the video as many times as they need to to grasp the concept being presented.  They are also given the opportunity to show me how they can apply the concept to the real world instead of always doing practice problems on a worksheet.

Blended Learning

Flipping my classroom wasn't just about giving up control and allowing my students to lead the learning, but it also meant that students were often times learning from more than just me. In my flipped classroom, sometimes I would make a video for my students to watch, but often times I would look for a video online that they could watch. When my students are working on practice problems for math or science and they don't understand, I often ask them if they have used all their resources before coming to me to ask the question. Those resources being: their textbook, their classmate, and their computer. Students today have everything they have every wanted to know right at their fingertips! Often times, I think they forget that. As a teacher in the 21st century, I believe it is my job to teach students how to use the resources they have available to them. Don't get me wrong, I also believe in knowing the process behind how to solve for x and y and understanding the stages of mitosis, but I also believe in teaching students how to advocate for themselves in their learning. Educators and parents need to understand that classrooms today look much different with the focus being the use of technology and the individual needs of each student. This is a mind shift for many teachers. Change can be difficult for anyone, but I think we stop making education about us and start making it about the kids.

Tona

HE>I

Reference
M. (2014). Your Plan vs Your Reality. Retrieved from http://hisworkinprogress2.com/plan-vs-reality/