Artifacts and Characteristics of the Novice Teacher #6

Artifacts and Characteristics of the Novice Teacher #7

The artifact I chose to use for this blog involves a unit I have created for this semester. My teacher had asked me to do a novel with my students in a resource room. Although they are all fifth graders, they all have IEP's and varied levels of ability. She chose the novel, Number the Stars, by Lois Lowry. This book is set during World War II and the Holocaust. It is about a young girl who is friends with a Jewish girl, and who helps her hide from the Nazi's. Since I knew the students were probably not very familiar with the Holocaust, I decided it was necessary for me to give them some background. Although I have read online that fifth grade is usually when students should be introduced to the Holocaust, I was very careful about how I approached the subject with them. I began the first day with a K-W-L chart just to see if any of them had heard of the Holocaust before, or if they knew anything about WWII. Just as a had thought, no one knew anything. I also had the students list some questions they might have about the Holocaust. They used the five "W's" for their questions (i.e. Who What When Where Why). I then began by introducing the word "tolerance" to the students, and letting them know that they will be learning about an event that occured during WWII called the Holocaust. I showed the students two short videos from the Brainpop website; one was titled The Holocaust and the other was titled Adolf Hilter. The videos are in cartoon form and created for children, so they were appropriate to show. We then discussed the video and tolerance once again. Right now, I am reading a trade book with them that is titled, A Safe Haven. This book has given the students additional background, and it is on their level. To my surprise, these students have been very interested in the content about the Holocaust. They are continuously asked questions during and after readings, and they have given me their full attention during the reading period, which can sometimes be a struggle for students with disabilities. I am very excited to start reading the novel with them, because I have many ideas planned for activities. I also received a lot of picture books and stories from Dr. Hayes that I plan to tie in while reading the novel. I believe that this artifact falls under characteristic #7, which is integrated pedagogy and content, because I had to be careful about how I introduced the Holocaust, and I had to know the history because the students had so many questions about what happened. I also had to be sure to leave some events out of our discussion about the Holocaust because they are not at an age where some of those things are appropriate and may be difficult for them to understand. So far, I have had a lot of fun with this unit, and will hopefully be able to use my plans in the future.

Artifacts and Characteristics of the Novice Teacher #4

My artifact for this week is my implementation of different spelling strategies in hopes to increase my students' spelling grades. The students are supposed to study their words at home, but their grades are lacking in spelling. I decided to try to go over the words for about 10 to 15 minutes daily using different hands-on strategies and activities, such as spelling words in shaving cream on their desks or playing a game to see who can spell the letters out of notecards the fastest. I also just started having the students take home a "worksheet" with several different options on how they can study their spelling words; for example, "Write this weeks spelling words alphabetically" or "Type this weeks spelling words 3 times each." So far, I have only made them pick 3 things on the list to do, and they have to turn in their work on Friday (test day). I also have the students taking pre-tests on Wednesdays so they can practice the words they are having difficulty with for Friday.

Since I am in a resource room for special education this semester, these techniques will hopefully work because it gives the students extra practice they don't receive at home. Since hands-on activities typically cause students to become active in the learning process, I think the results will increase over time. My hope is that these students find strategies that work for them and stick with them to succeed in the future.

I think that this artifact falls under characteristic number 4, which is that a novice teacher should be a facilitator of learning for all students. Every student in this classroom has his or her own way of practicing and learning. By giving the students several choices along with extra practice in the classroom, I am hopefully building onto their spelling fundamentals. By appealing to all learning types, I am hopefully reaching each student and giving him or her a push in the right direction as far as spelling strategies.

Artifacts and Characteristics of the Novice Teacher #5

This fourth artifact I chose to discuss is a remedial fraction unit I have implemented into my fifth grade math class. They have been working on fractions for quite some time now; however, they have no idea what they are doing. I think the students did not understand fractions when the concept was first taught, and then all the build up of more information added to the confusion. This unit I have implemented is called the Rational Number Project. "The Rational Number Project (RNP) advocates teaching fractions using a model that emphasizes multiple representations and connections among different representations (Cramer, K., Behr, M., Post T., & Lesh, R., 2009.)" I think this unit ties in with characteristic #5, which states that the novice teacher should have in-depth knowledge of pedagogy. Since I am teaching this unit to students in a special education class, I have to be well aware of every step I have to explain so the students can follow along. I also had to look back at some simple fraction concepts that I have forgotten since my days in elementary school. Also, the RNP supplies various instructional models and teaching strategies to use during instruction, so the students can practice using different kinds of manipulatives and find strategies that work for them. So far, the students are responding well with the lessons, and seem to be catching on to what fractions actually represent. I am anxious to see how they will do when we get to adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing fractions, as these tend to be more difficult tasks for students.

Artifacts and Characteristics of the Novice Teacher #