Audrey Morrison

March 8, 2018

Signature Project

Part I: Discuss your reasons for entering the teaching profession.

When my kids were in elementary school, I started volunteering at their school

library. I enjoyed it so much that after a few years, I decided to go back to school and

get my Master's in Library and Information Science. My focus was on children and

young adult literature. As my son got older and went off to middle school, I discovered

that the school library wasn't the enticing place it was back in elementary school. That's

when I decided I wanted to work in middle schools to keep kids excited about reading

and to help them to learn to love it. I planned to work with the teachers in the middle

school to get the library more involved in the classroom. I wanted to be able to pull

books to match lessons and visit the English/Language Arts classrooms to do book

talks and get kids interested in reading.

After a sudden move to Arizona, I discovered that teaching in school libraries

required a teaching certificate. That wasn't a requirement back in Virginia, and I had

recently gotten my MLIS so going back to school wasn't very appealing. I tried getting a

library job, didn't have any luck, and fell into marketing instead. But after about a year

and a half, I found myself disheartened and reluctant to go to work each day. Then a

new friend said out of nowhere "you'd be a great teacher!" And I remembered that I had

that option! I could go back to school and get that teaching certificate and change my

stars. I've recently been hired to teach 6th grade ELA, and I couldn't be more thrilled. I

am passionate about getting and keeping kids interested in reading and writing. I cannot

wait to start this new adventure!

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Part II: Briefly describe each of the following AND a well-developed plan for

developing and refining skills in this area.

• Strategies for embracing student diversity in your classroom and a plan to

refine your knowledge in this area.

Building a community in the classroom starts by knowing your students and

understanding their cultural backgrounds. Doing interviews or 'about me' questionnaires

is an excellent first step. Once you know your students better, including that information

into the lessons is a great way to highlight differences in a positive way (Lynch, 2015).

It's also important to have a no tolerance policy for "name-calling, slurs, sexual

harassment, casual putdowns regarding race, ethnicity, gender, size, abilities, perceived

sexual orientation or gender identification" (Willoughby, n.d., p. 4). Pointing out that

those types of words hurt and anger a lot of people is essential to making the classroom

a place where everyone is included and respected. Finally, choosing a variety of

information resources that represent the diversity in the school makes it easier for all

students to discover and see themselves in literature and while learning.

Researching and learning about the diversity in your classroom is a great way to

show the students that you care and understand all of them. Reading current events

and new literature about diversity, especially regarding teaching, can keep you aware of

new information that can be applied directly to the classroom. Speaking with other

teachers about their methods to keep the curriculum diverse is another way to get ideas

for your classroom.

• Strategies for creating and maintaining a positive school culture and

climate and a plan to refine your knowledge in this area.

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At the beginning of a school year, taking the time to introduce the procedures,

rules, and expectations sets the stage for the school culture (personality) in the

classroom. When students know what is expected of them, they experience less stress

and anxiety and can work better with each other. Once these tools are in place, the

teacher can work on building relationships with the classroom and individual students.

Emphasizing cooperation, kindness, and respect helps students learn to interact

positively with each other which only adds to a positive culture in the classroom (Lynch,

2015). Since it's harder to change the culture of the classroom, starting with a positive

attitude, respect, and embracing diversity goes a long way to building a positive culture

from the beginning (Lynch, 2015; Grunert, 2008).

School climate (attitude) in the classroom is easier to maintain and setting the

stage with a positive culture will in turn influence the climate of the classroom. Hunt,

Carper, Lasley, and Raisch have suggested that school climate consists of four different

areas: physical safety, social relationships, emotional environment, and academic

support (2010). The teacher directly influences all four of these areas and making them

supportive, confident, and positive for each student will significantly improve the climate

of the classroom. School culture (personality) and climate (attitude) are fundamental

aspects of every classroom. Working from the start to make the culture strong and

supportive will set the tone for the climate.

Keeping on top of the culture and climate in the classroom starts with

understanding each one and how they affect each other. Remembering that the teacher

directly influences both the culture and climate and learning strategies to being positive

even when you're sick or tired, can help maintain these in the classroom when you

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aren't at your best. Reading new information about school culture and climate is another

way to keep this information fresh in your mind.

• Strategies for engaging learners in analyzing their own data and setting

their own learning goals and a plan to refine your knowledge in this area.

Data analysis gives students the opportunity to identify their strengths,

weaknesses, and patterns and then they can analyze their data throughout the school

year. To establish and reach their goals, students must first be aware of their starting

point. Over time, students will begin to see improvement, and that will give them

ownership of their grades and progress. Tracking data shows them the relationship

between hard work and learning and proves to every student that they are improving

over time (Berger, Rugen, & Woodfin, 2017; Lynch, 2015). Using data binders with

student-friendly tracking sheets is a great way to show students where they started and

give them evidence that they are learning (Mulvahill, 2016). Tracking their data moves

conversations about progress from abstract goals (e.g., study more) to targeted goals

(e.g., ensure that 100 percent of my homework is completed and submitted) and

provides them with skills to track those goals.

Finding the best tracking system for you and your students may take some time

and energy. But having each student see their progress over time gives them

confidence moving forward. It also provides them valuable skills that they can use

during the rest of their lives. Researching and learning about new ways to track data,

especially using technology, helps you as a teacher to give your students the

confidence and helps students come up with their own goals with actual evidence

(Lynch, 2015).

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• Strategies for integrating technology into your instruction and a plan to

refine your skills in this area.

One of the 10 Rules of Engagement is to use technology in the classroom only

55% of the time. Using technology as supporting material in your lesson instead of the

main event is an excellent way not to get too dependent on media. On the other side,

there is a plethora of helpful technology out there. It can be overwhelming to find which

ones work best for you and your classroom and not to go overboard (G, 2013). Keeping

it simple yet being on the cutting edge is a delicate balance. Finding ways to use

technology in the classroom, makes your life easier and ensures that students are

exposed to various technologies. Jobs of all types require employees to be

technologically literate. Using technology in the classroom starts students on this road

to being tech literate (Lynch, 2015).

Staying on top of new developments in technology will help teachers to be

familiar with what students are using outside of the classroom. Using some of these

same apps or programs can help kids learn new things using technology in which they

are already familiar. Continually learning about or finding new ways to introduce

technology is essential for creating tech literate students. And as a teacher, having the

kids show you what new things they've discovered helps you learn new things and gives

the classroom a sense of community (Lynch, 2015).

• Strategies for developing lesson plans that maximize student engagement

in learning and a plan to refine your skills in this area.

Loosely following Madeline Hunter's format is an excellent start to getting lesson

plans organized. However, Hunter's model is quite involved, and it could be tricky to fit

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in everything in one 50 minute class. Although not ideal, there are a few steps in the

model that are essential to the progression of the lesson and help with student learning.

First, stating the objective at the beginning of class keeps students on track and assists

in student understanding. Modeling is another step that shouldn't be left out. Providing

examples to explain the concept demonstrates what students will be doing later on

(Moschetta, 2013). The 'think aloud' approach is a great way to show students how they

can think through what they're doing as a group before trying it themselves. Lastly,

spending a minute or two to summarize the objective and how they achieved it

demonstrates student learning and helps reiterate what was taught that day.

Lesson planning seems overwhelming. If you do a google search on any topic,

any grade, any approach, you get thousands of results. Discovering what works best for

you takes time. Starting simple and building from there can keep lesson planning seem

more manageable. Also, working with other teachers in the school, particularly as a new

teacher, can be incredibly helpful. Seeing and hearing about what has worked for others

can be a big part of your lesson planning starting out.

References

Berger, R., Rugen, L., & Woodfin, L. (2014). Making students partners in data-driven
approaches to learning. Retrieved from
[Link]
data-driven-approaches-to-learning/

G.S. (2013). District wide in-service program - 10 rules of student achievement.

Gruenert, S. (2008). School culture, school climate: They are not the same thing.
Principal, 56-59.

Hunt, T. C., Carper, J., Lasley, T. J., & Raisch, C. D. (2010). Encyclopedia of

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educational reform and dissent (vol. 2). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Lynch, M. (2015). The call to teach: An introduction to teaching. [BryteWave]. Retrieved

Moschetta, H. (2013). Student-centered learning with Madeline Hunter's model. [Video].

Mulvahill, E. (2016). 16 teacher hacks for making data collection a piece of cake.
Retrieved from
[Link]
piece-of-cake/

Parks, J. (2013). Education data: A powerful tool to help kids when they need it most.
Retrieved from [Link]
powerful-tool-to-help-kids-when-they-need-it-most/

Willoughby, B. (n.d.). Responding to hate and bias at school. Retrieved from