1. Five images (you can take them or they can come from the Internet [provide proper credit]). These images should reflect, in some way, what you imagine your classroom will look like once you are a teacher. Please annotate your images by providing a description of the image and how it relates to your future classroom.
I want my classroom to be engaging for the students. I want them involved in discussions and participate in the learning process. I think that teaching them as a group and having them come up close, sitting on a rug, is great for having students participate. If I want them to talk about a certain thing to their neighbor, they are sitting right there and can do it easily.
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f1/School-education-learning-1750587-h.jpg
I want my classroom desks set up in small groups so they make different tables. This will create a good collaborative environment where they can learn and talk with their peers in group activities.
http://media.cmgdigital.com/shared/lt/lt_cache/thumbnail/960/img/photos/2012/04/28/95/fc/ddn072111gzschnell_982313a.jpg
I want my classroom to be a happy place where children can feel good about themselves, no matter what race, gender, or background they come from.
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsDr8scr8cl9YqFjgw1AyJpKD4_glM_mkg1lElVfmOT9Ads1XzSN1J0V0IZBu8VwWKC4RNfvuT-EsW-6b6fGTf8Rm2x9iDmoEPQ8RQ4lfpiTsm45RTHIi1KGQLY2B271MutiaNEJivXpE/s1600/holland+giess.jpg
I want my classroom to be colorful and bright and fun.
http://www.tkcalifornia.org/assets/homepage-panels/teacher-reads-large-book.jpg
I want my classroom to have plenty of resources and ways my students can learn and be excited about learning. So by having arts and crafts, books, computers, and other materials, they can feel like they have what they need to be successful and learn.
http://go-neighborhoods.org/northside/files/2013/03/LAImage-181SMALL.jpg
2. Imagine the surrounding in your classroom. What does the room look like? What resources are available for students? How are the resources used during the lesson?
The room is set up with desks pushed together to make several small tables. There are lots of colorful posters and materials on the walls for the children to learn from and look at to be excited to learn. There will be sight words up on the board to remind the students of what they are learning about that week. There will be lots of books and arts and crafts materials. There will be blocks to help with math problems. There will be a few computers (if they can fit) for times that children are in rotations and use the computers for assignments. There is a overhead projector and white board for me to do my main whole group teaching on. There will also be a colorful rug for my students to all sit on as I read them stories or as we have certain focus lessons where I want them to participate and discuss things with their neighbor.
3. Describe the students in your classroom. What are their backgrounds? What are their interests? What are they doing during the lesson?
My students come from different cultural backgrounds. Some are Caucasian, some African American, some Hispanic. Some of the Hispanic students mainly speak Spanish and so they are English Language Learners. Some also come from different households where there parents are divorced, they live with a grandparent, they live in poverty, or some live with really wealthy parents and are spoiled. They are all interested in having fun and playing with their friends. They like playing sports and dancing and watching movies and TV. They are sometimes talking to their neighbors when they shouldn't during the lesson. But they know they will get called out for it, so they sometimes whisper. They try to pay attention though, and love sharing their own ideas and opinions when we have group discussions. During this particular lesson, they have their writing notebooks out and are sitting in their chairs looking up front at me for instruction.
4. Describe you classroom policies. What are you classroom rules? What is your discipline plan? What are your homework policies?
Students have to raise their hand if they want to speak when I am up front talking to them as a class. There is no name calling or bullying allowed. If they do something to hurt someone's feelings, they will have a talk with me outside of the classroom. If they keep doing it, I will call their parents. Also, if they do something to disrupt the class and the lesson, I will do the same discipline plan. If I have to I will have students trade seats with someone else. My homework policy is that if they turn it in late, they have to have their parents sign their paper and have them write down why it is late. If more than 4 homework assignments are late, they will start losing points.
5. Describe a typical lesson you will teach in your classroom. What will you teach? What is the topic? Why did you choose this topic? How will you teach it? What is the main thing you want students to learn during this lesson?
I'll teach a writing lesson on poetry and skills to use as students write poems. I specifically want them to learn to write poems that use descriptive imagery because I think it is important that they can explain themselves clearly and poetically. They can create images using new and interesting words to them. I will show them different examples of poems using descriptive imagery. Then I will ask the students to help me point out what some of the descriptive words were and why they made the poem more interesting. I will have students help me write a poem and then have them write their own individual poems using descriptive words. The main thing I want my students to learn is to understand why descriptive imagery in poems is important and how they can use it in their own writing to make a topic more interesting.
6. Imagine your work as a teacher during this lesson. What are you doing during the lesson?
I am showing examples of poems and reading to the class. I am asking the class questions and trying to get a discussion going about the topic. I am getting their input and brainstorming with them as I teach and write a poem with them as a class. I am letting them write on their own and then getting different students to share what they wrote. I am always being positive about what they say and write.
7. Imagine your students again, what are they doing during the lesson?
My students are sitting in their desks, listening to the examples. They are discovering certain words and sharing their answers about what made the poems descriptive and interesting. They are helping me brainstorm and think of ideas for our own class poem as I write it on the board. They are using what they just learned and are creating their own poem by writing it in their writing notebooks. They then are sharing their poems with the class and are proud of themselves that they accomplished something new.
8. Imagine how you will assess your students' learning and achievement. How will you know they have learned?
I will know that my students have learned by hearing their answers and ideas as they brainstormed with me. I will also know if they understood what I was teaching by letting them all create their own poems and hearing several in front of the whole class. I will also have them all turn in their poems so I can read them on my own and assess them.
