teaching inquiry

Teacher Inquiry Paper Through experiences this class has given me the opportunity to endure, I have learned many things that significant to becoming a teacher. Prior to this class I hadn’t thought much about the things that are important and the work it takes to become a teacher. One thing that really came to surface for me was that patience is absolutely key in teaching to special education students. Patience is important because all students learn at different paces. Other important virtues to go along with being patient are being flexible and open-minded. This is important because while you may plan a day out to the second, more often than not, something goes wrong. In a time where something doesn’t go as expected, teachers need to stay calm and be open-minded to changes in their. Being flexible is just as important because if your students do not understand the lesson or if you are having an off day with a student or multiple students, you need to adjust the schedule accordingly. The COEHS that stood out the most was Personal Philosophy. This states “the CSU teacher education student articulate a personal philosophy of teaching and learning that is grounded in theory and practice.” This is important to me because as a teacher, it is important to be consistent with your beliefs and philosophies. Learning in this class has provided me with experiences that I can use in the future when I become a teacher. This class has taught me how to be professional and the importance of becoming a teacher. Having to create a lesson plan and actually teach it to the class was an extremely helpful experience. Other projects, discussions, papers, and in class learning has taught me lots of information that is beneficial to students working to become a teacher. Creating a lesson plan was stressful and time consuming. Taking the time creating a lesson for young students with special needs, you need to take account for the students different learning paces. For my lesson, we focused on a 3rd to 4th grade special education social studies. We went over cardinal directions and how to apply them to a map. We included a catchy song that would assist children in memorizing the cardinal directions. We also had some activities that let the students practice using the directions. One activity was a worksheet with objects and the students had to participate and say what geological relevance one had to another. The other activity was a map of Ohio and its surrounding states, the students had to decide what states were North, South, East, or West neighbors of Ohio.
We used different strategies when it came to our lesson plan. We made sure that we knew and understood the content we were teaching. Teaching as a professional, you should know the information you are teaching to your children. Teachers can be wrong sometimes, it is normal. Teachers should also know the material incase of any questions that a student could ask. Another strategy we used was to look and research online. The song we used was found on YouTube. We talked to a well known special education teacher in Northeast Ohio. She helped us by critiquing our lesson to her previous plans and any additions that would make our lesson stronger. Our main resource was the Internet. The Internet is such an important source to be familiar with because it can be extremely helpful when it comes to teaching.
Teaching the lesson was an great experience to get under my belt. I am never nervous about talking to an audience thought this was very different. It is important to be interactive with your audience and make sure you have their attention during the entire lesson. One major challenge I faced with teaching and preparing this lesson was to make sure we were taking every type of learning style and incorporating that into our lesson. It is important to include the different learning styles so that each student can learn the material to the best of their ability. We were successful with teaching our material to the class. Students got hands on experience which is beneficial and an easy way to learn. I think we could of improved in more area, we could have been more energetic. Being nervous is normal but practice makes perfect.
The lesson could have been different if it were in a classroom in front of children. I think that if it were in front of children, it would have lasted longer and been a whole different experience. College students know cardinal directions and maps, it is basic knowledge. Younger children who are shown directions for the first time would not grasp the concept as fast. It would take more time for the children to answer the questions. Being in front of younger students would be a lot less stressful and you would have more confidence in yourself. Sometimes it is difficult presenting in front of your peers who judge you and are aware of every mistake you make. Overall, preparing and teaching this material to someone who will listen and critique you have been a good learning experience. This class activity made me realize the extra work a teacher puts in throughout the year at home. Creating a lesson plan takes pride and extra effort but it helps students learn basic skills they will need. I personally have been in a school system and taught younger students basic material throughout at six week period. This past years I had nine students. They ranged from the 3-5 grade, and all the students had some form of autism. This group of students were very high functioning and very smart. They were proficient readers for their age, were good in math, and had very good verbal skills. Some of the students would cause disruptions and act down to other students if they weren’t receiving the right amount of attention from staff. It was a great experience and I’m glad I have field experience so I will be ready come time to get a full time job. My school observation was also a great learning experience. I took notes and some things were ver obvious to me. When I got into the classroom I noticed that there was not one male staff, but only three female workers. The classroom had five male boys that ranged from 17-22. With no male staff members a restraint would be a difficult thing to do with adult men who are far stronger than the female workers. These boys would end their schooling at age 22 and go on to live in group homes, or with family. The boys in this class consisted of four boys who were very low functioning and had no verbal skills and one high functioning boy who was well aware of his classmates and was the bully of the group. These boys were in the pre-vocational classroom which meant they would work on life skills such as cleaning, counting money, and hygiene. These boys had a job stocking shelves at a local food market. To keep busy during the day these students would do enrichment activities which would help them get their brain started. They did things like match colors, patterns, and some writing. They would also review manners and etiquette. Observing this class was a great experience because I got to view from a teachers respective on how a smooth day would go and the things they would have in place to establish that. I also saw that they needed to be patient and flexible in case things didn’t go as scheduled. Teachers are very important people in this world that we rely on to teach us from childhood to adolescence. Teachers create the lawyers of the world, they create the presidents of the world, and the create the people we grow up to be. Teachers need to do a lot of things to learn. Teachers should continue their education throughout their lifetime to attain more information and better themselves so they can better the students they teach. Teachers should learn more about what they teach so they can expand their education to more extent lengths. They should also further their education in things that they don’t teach. It ultimately will make them smarter and give them a bigger window to assist students in things they need help on regardless of which subject. Teachers need to do a lot of things to plan. Teachers need to have a good planned schedule to assist them through the day. These schedules don’t need to be straight down to the second but they should have a good estimate on how long each concept should take them. Teachers need to be flexible though and be ready for the unexpected. Lastly, teachers need to do a lot to teach their content effectively. Teachers need practice just like students do to master a concept. Teachers need to further their education and get more practice in teaching their material to people other than just their students. Arguably, teachers could be considered the most important people in the world.