Whenever I start something new, I think it’s important to
set goals to drive an experience and ultimately lead to growth. With that being
said I have three overarching goals for myself. The first one is to use clear
instructions to target all students. My next goal is to gain confidence working
with people who are different than me. The last goal is that I want to gain
experience in working with and accommodating for diverse students.
Now that the goals are set, I need to decide how I will work
to achieve my goals. The first idea I came up with was to get involved whenever
possible during my time in the classroom. This might seem like an obvious way
to gain experience working with diverse students, but I learn best through
hands on experiences. It’s like PDS right now, I feel like I am learning to
apply everything I have learned from my three years at ISU. Part of what I have
learned being in PDS so far is to see what needs to be done and do it without
being told. During our short time in the room or rooms at Brigham I hope to be
able to see what needs to happens and take charge. It’s important to note that
it can be hard being a guest teaching in someone else’s room, so it would not
be big changes like a seating chart. It should or could be something simple
like having the students in a variety of groups. I feel that it can take a few
times being in the room to know how and what is appropriate. My next action
step to help me gain confidence is to working with people different than me is
to simply work with them. There aren’t any classes that teach you how to do
this, it’s something that you learn through personal experiences. I will also
take the lead when possible in order to accommodate from diverse learners. For
example in the preschool room there are a few students who have a native
language of Spanish. I think it’s important to use clear statements and age appropriate
language. Visuals when possible are also
important.
This past week I went into the preschool room. We introduced
ourselves, did a picnic game where we had students tell us their name and then
name a food they would bring to the picnic, then we did a song and closed with
a book. Source
Our activities moved much faster than we had planned for and before we
knew it our lesson was done. There was a slight issue with that, the teachers’
classroom we were in had planned for us to be there for 30 mins. And we only
stayed 10 mins. It was hard to know exactly how long each activity would take.
We also didn’t get the book until a few minutes before entering the room which
didn’t allow time for us to read it over and see what types of extensions we
could come up with. Reflecting on things we did and things we could have done, I
brainstormed a few activities we could have added.
Have children illustrate a picture and label what parts go
with what sense. Source
We could have reviewed the song. Or do this one.
Gone through examples of the five senses. Source
Exceeds: I exceeded by including extension activities complete with images and a video.
