Overall Reflection - ED 710

I am nearing the end of my first year of teaching. In some ways I can't believe it is over and in other ways, the end can't come soon enough! It has been a real balancing act this year; balancing family, grad school, and work. At some points, I was ready to throw in the towel and tap out. Whenever I felt like I couldn't take on one more thing, I turned to others, especially my cohort members, and was able to get a better grip on the situation. When I was at my most hopeless, my cohort and family members were always there to lift me back up.

I cannot believe how much I have grown this year. I was chatting with my STAT teacher a few months ago and commenting about how my consulting teacher observations have really shifted. At the beginning of the year, I was always in the developing area and now I've reached proficiency with her. I said that I didn't feel like I had changed and my STAT teacher pointed out that he has seen a lot of growth in me, specifically my confidence level. I sat back later on and reflected on his statement. And I couldn't agree more. At the beginning of the year, I was not confident in my abilities. Yes, there were moments that I knew I had it but they were fleeting. When I walked into a room, I didn't always take charge of the room. I worried about what my students thought about me and what their perception of me was. While these things are important, especially for relationship building, it is also important to push my students. Their opinion of me means less than my relationships with them. How they perceive me doesn't get them to participate. Knowing they are not judged and all efforts are important is what gets the work done. I used to get upset if a student was mad at me and now I let it be. Sometimes they just need someone to be upset with and it is not always personal.

I also feel more confident in the classroom. I've become comfortable with failure and understand that failure is part of growth. When a lesson flops, it is OK! These downs are important for growth and learning. I feel more capable of handling situations. I've also added new techniques into my teaching. This has increased my confidence as well. I understand better that success is not always what a student is able to write down. Instead, I can make better judgments on student understanding that go beyond pencil and paper. One suggestion my CT just provided me this week is to use checklists. Next year, I want to create a checklist of the specific standards for a unit. Each students name will be on the checklist. This would serve as my formative assessment of students and can be used as progress towards mastery grades. Instead of collecting a hundred worksheets, I can simply check off if they understand the concepts. Hopefully, the only collectibles will be concept checks, quizzes, and tests. This is something I want to look into creating this summer and would alleviate a lot of unnecessary grading. My observations of my students are better indicators of ability than what they can write down. I need to continue to trust in my abilities and I know I will continue to grow as an educator.

Frustrations in the Classroom - ED 710

I honestly feel like I go above and beyond for my students. Chemistry is a subject that can be very dry and difficult for students. Often times, there is not a lot of varied interaction with the curriculum. The topics are delivered as notes combined with worksheets of book work. Instead, I attempt to provide my students with varied ways of interaction. I work in group work, matching, sorting, labs, demonstrations, videos, and stations so that my students have multiple opportunities to learn the material and different learning types are reached.

It is really frustrating when we have been chugging along on a topic, students have multiple opportunities for practice and feedback, and they push back when an assessment is given. Or they choose to waste time during instruction and then expect additional help when taking an assessment. I am trying to get my students to advocate for themselves and to be in charge of their learning. Instilling in them that it is their personal responsibility to come for extra help and to obtain missing assignments and complete the work.

This all stems from our balancing equations unit. We have been working on this unit for about 2 weeks, that's approximately 5 class periods for each class. We have completed notes, POGIL activities, matching, graphic organizers, and plenty of practice. I provided my students with a packet of problems, worked through several with them, and allowed them to work in groups to complete packets. I stressed to them that the quiz questions will be taken directly from the packet and I allow them to use the packet on the quiz. I provided opportunities to check their work with an answer key, and yet, students still chose to not put in the work or effort. Before the assessment, I provided them with an opportunity to ask questions and review balancing equations. Instead, they chose to not participate and then panic when the quiz is given. I am just frustrated with the lack of engagement and their lack of ability to take responsibility for their learning.

Cynicism- ED 710

As an educator, I think cynicism comes with the territory. This is an unfortunate side effect from exhaustion, lack of support, long hours, and student behavior. I have been fortunate and not encountered a significant amount of cynicism at my school. There are a few students names that come up at lynch. Often, these students get brought up when someone has had a difficult encounter. My science peers do not openly discuss children which has been nice.
I think it is important to take what others say with a grain of salt, even about students. Their opinions are often marred with specific experiences. If I have learned one thing, student A can be a different student in every one of their classes. I try to take others opinions as just that and assume the best in the student until I see or experience otherwise.
If my break room ever got to the point that cynicism ran wild, I would seriously have to reconsider where I take lunch and breaks. I think it is very important to stay away from cynicism to ensure that your views are not shifted.
To avoid becoming a cynic, it is important to take time and recharge. I try to leave work at work so that I am able to get a break everyday. It is also important to have people that will listen to you and talk to you. If not for my husband listening to me, some situations I've encountered would weigh heavy on my heart. With him, I can discuss these situations and move on from them.

Grading - ED 710

Grading has been a real struggle for me this year. I am not sure if it is the fact that I've been busy with grad school or the changes in our grading policy, but I have struggled to really stay on top of grading. Our new grading policy is really good in some ways and really bad in other ways. Every quarter, we are allowed to assess students 9 times for a minor assessment and 3 times for a major assessment. Minor assessments are items that cover one topic while major assessments cover multiple topics. We are also supposed to have progress towards mastery grades. These are assignments that students do but that have no effect on their overall grade. This progress towards mastery group has been one of the major downfalls to the grading process. My students do a lot of practice and this should go in as Progress Towards Mastery grades. However, students are not motivated to complete these assignments because they do not effect their grade. Also, i give my students a lot of informal feedback.
The upside to the grading policy is that it is truly based on their mastery of a topic. They will not be successful if they do not understand the content. I believe that this grading system really looks at student content knowledge versus their compliance to completing assignments. I think as students get more accustomed to this grading system, they will understand the importance of the Progress Towards Mastery section and will be more willing to complete those assignments.

Observation Blunders - ED 710

On 4/24, I had my final school observation. I went into my pre observation conference confident. I had carefully researched and selected activities that I thought would help my students understand classifying reactions. I had pieced together resources I had found online and those from the other Chemistry teacher. I made appropriate changes to the resources so that they would reflect my own teaching style. Additionally, I had included timing, assuming the activities would take approximately 95 minutes in a 90 minute block. All was good!

Or so I thought...

As I began teaching, I was super excited. The students were engaged and there was a nice mix of activities. Students were working at lab stations, desks, together, and independently. As the students were transitioning to their final independent assignment, I looked at the time and there was about 40 minutes left in class. There was about 5 to 10 minutes left of planned activities and then I was at a loss. However, being the quick thinking individual, I did not panic. Instead, I pulled up the activities for the next class and we worked through some balancing equations problems. The students never knew what happened and the remainder of the class flowed seamlessly.

At my post observation, my AP noted that had he not had a copy of my lesson plan, he would have never known that I made such a huge adjustment. Both my AP and Department Chair commended me for my flexibility and were pleased to see that I handled it professionally and never missed a beat. They also thought that I did a great job making a dry topic accessible to my students. 

I have now learned to plan double, even if it is not written in the lesson plan. Essentially, I need to ensure that I have copies made for the next class so that I have resources available to give to my students. 

SPARKS Conference - ED 710

On 4/21 , I had the opportunity to attend a conference called SPARKS. This conference is designed for teachers with zero to six years of experience. I was selected to attend by our union rep and I was thrilled to have the opportunity to network with people outside of my school. This conference is sponsored by our union, TABCO, and allows new teachers to better understand the roles of our union. We discussed topics like certification, retirements, member benefits, and legal. I learned a lot of important and new information.

A conference like this is really important for me to grow as an educator. I often find it difficult to network with teachers outside of my department, let alone outside my school, and this provided a fantastic platform. I have become very comfortable interacting with my students, public speaking and the like, but I still have a great deal of shyness when it comes to interacting with others that I do not know. This conference pushed me out of my comfort zone and had me interacting with teachers from all grade levels and different schools. In fact, it was an overnight conference so I was roomed with someone I did not know. My roomie was actually from my school and it helped forge a friendship that probably would not have formed on its own. Now I have friends outside my department and someone I can talk freely with when needed. 

Beyond the conference, they provided us with team building activities. They sent us in groups on a scavenger hunt through Annapolis followed by dinner. This was really awesome because I made more connections with people while we competed to win the hunt! I look forward to attending conferences in the future and have already signed up for a three day summer conference in July.

Cultural Diversity - ED 710

In my classroom, I have a mix of students that come from a different ethnic backgrounds. This was a bit of a culture shock to me when I entered the classroom. My school has approximately 1460 students enrolled. About 880 of those students are Caucasian, 340 are African-American, and the remainder identify as either two or more races, Hispanic, Asian, or Native American. Growing up in Harford County and attending a private high school, there were approximately 800 students in my school with the vast majority of the students identified as Caucasian. Even where I live now, and where my children attend school, there is not a diverse population.  Coming into a classroom with such diversity and coming from a very non-diverse background has left some space for growing and learning. Things that might be normal to my upbringing can be very different than other cultural upbringings. I have found this year a learning experience on this front. To help close this gap, I have spent time learning about different cultures in the hopes to understand my students and their lives better. It has been an interesting and enlightening experience that I will continue to explore while teaching.

We also have a large number of students that come from low socio-economic backgrounds. Currently, 55% of our student population qualify for free or reduced meals (FARM). This high percentage points to the fact that many of our students live in poverty or close to the poverty line. As a teacher, I have to remember to not assume. I have to remember and reflect on student lives and experiences when I construct my lessons, assignments, and expectations. For example, many of my students cannot always afford basic essentials. Therefore, I do not have established consequences for lack of preparation. I provide pencils, erasers, and paper so that my students can be successful in my classroom. I also have to be mindful about homework assignments. We had students work on a project where they constructed a mole and then completed math problems. The school provided basic supplies for the creation of the mole to ensure that all students could complete the assignment. When I assign homework, I ensure that internet is not required as not all of my students have access to internet or computers at home.

Students walk into my classroom from a variety of backgrounds. My ultimate goal is to ensure that all students are successful in learning Chemistry regardless of their background.

Parking Lot Discussion - ED 690

 Here is my baseline thoughts on the importance of STEM education created with a colleague.

How has your "parking lot speech" changed?  How has it been reinforced through your research and conversations?  Are you ready to deliver it?

I think my parking lot has changed to incorporate new to me facets of STEM. One thing I would add is focusing on minorities and women in STEM. Perhaps this is personal to me being a former female STEM career member but it is also personal because of the students I interact with on a daily basis. I want them to have brighter futures with unlimited possibilities knowing that they can do things they thought were impossible. STEM allows that to happen! I have a number of female chemistry students that came in with the idea that chemistry is hard and that they would not do well. These thoughts were reinforced by their parents. These students now come to my class excited to learn because they have had a positive interaction with chemistry. Everyday, I tell my students that they are learning important skills that can be used outside the chemistry classroom and teach them how to use these skills in their daily interactions with the world. One area that I am looking forward to researching more is STEAM. I think STEAM has great potential to close the gender gap in STEM career fields. As I learn and research more areas of STEM, I believe my parking lot speech will continue to shift and change. In fact, I do not think I will have a completely final speech but in the interim I will continue to share my beliefs and idea with others.

Action Research Project Final - 690

The following link is for the final version of my action research project.

Student Abilities - ED 710

I truly believe that all students have the ability to learn but that students should not be measured against each other. Also, that measuring student learning against a standard is not always the best option. Many students learn differently and in my classroom I attempt to point our small victories as much as bigger ones. By providing an appropriate environment for student learning, I think all learners can make advancements in knowledge. This sometimes means going beyond the written accommodations to ensure student success. One student I have is extremely bright but has difficulty getting it in writing. When available, I will scribe for him so that he has grades that are consistent with his true abilities and are not limited by his disabilities. Providing varied opportunities for students to demonstrate their knowledge is key in creating an environment where all students have equal opportunities to learn.

By providing the right environment for student learning, it is safe to say that showing learning would need to be done in a variety of ways. While accommodating and shifting things to work for one student, that student should be able to display their knowledge in a way that fits in their environment. While one student is able to provide written evidence another student might need to provide verbal evidence. Both types show a student learning while varying in delivery to accommodating the individual needs of the learner.

An initiative my school is doing for third quarter is to highlight students that are late bloomers and not focus on honor roll students. They have asked us to nominate students that perhaps had a rocky start but have really pulled it together and have made important changes. I think this is a fantastic idea because the students that qualify for this initiative would generally not be recognized in school. It provides these lower achieving students with an initiative to continue on a positive path and make leaps in their learning.

One of the students I have chosen was one that had a very difficult start to the year. Bordering between failing and barley passing, this student has been quite un-engaged in learning. Recently, she has really made a flip and has made some very mature decisions. She is recognizing her downfalls and is adjusting herself to make changes. She will leave her phone charging by my desk and has selected a seat away from friends so that she can perform better. I have gotten in the habit of pointing out these mature decisions and rewarding her with high fives and positive home contacts. While this student may not be top of her class, she has clearly made huge leaps in achievement and her true abilities are shining through.

Research Project 690 - Part 2

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Cw3yUIeMjXiZFVZdeHkzTi7FQMWpYL9YLNMQdP4-P_s/edit

Above is the link to my updated planning sheet. In order to complete the sheet, I need to focus on the research behind the issue. I have a good idea of timeline, implementation, and stakeholders already.

Research Project 690

Here is the link to my research project. I am looking at Society and STEM, focusing on women and minorities in STEM fields and how to connect this with my students.

ED 710 - Formative Assessment Reflection

I think that formative assessment is my ultimate favorite assessment type. I enjoy using formative assessments because often times my students have no idea they are being assessed. I have found that formative assessments can reveal a great deal more to me than summative assessments. Often times, my students bomb summative assessments because they know they are being graded. I use my formative assessments effectively because I am able to make better decisions about what my students know beyond the grade they earn on a summative assessment. I use this information to ensure that the grade in my grade book authentically reflects an individual students knowledge of the curriculum.

I have used a variety of techniques within my classroom. In a given class period, I generally formatively assess my students a minimum of three times. Some of the things I use is worksheets, whiteboards, exit tickets, and questioning. Questioning is a very powerful formative assessment and can allow me to make on the spot decisions about how to proceed with my lesson. For example, during a formal observation with my assistant principal, I had carved out about 5-10 minutes to review a topic before jumping into the activities planned for the day. As we were reviewing, it became clear that there were quite a few misunderstandings and confusion among my students. So instead of moving full steam ahead, which is very tempting to do when being observed, I made the decision to take a few steps backwards and spend additional time helping my students gain a better grasp on the topic. I knew at that moment that I would not get close to completing all the activities I had planned but I also knew they needed a strong background knowledge in order to be successful in the planned activities. So a ten minute review morphed into a 25 minute review but in the end my students were successful in the following activities. Straying that far off from my carefully planned lesson had me nervous walking into my post observation conference. However, those nerves were unnecessary as my AP commended me for adjusting my plans to ensure my students were ready. He thought it was simply fantastic that I did not push ahead when I knew that my students were not ready to do so.

Formative assessment is something I feel fairly confident in and has really allowed me to meet the needs of my individual students. It has allowed me to build meaningful groups and helped students reach the same level of understanding as their peers. I have been able to create groups that have worked independently while I have sat with a small group of students. Those students I was able to work on a more personal and individual level, have come up to me and thanked me for helping the understand topics better. I hope to continue using formative assessments to not only help my students but to improve and develop my teaching.

ED 690 - Issues and Trends in STEM education

The issue and trend that interests me the most is society and STEM. One of my goals, and a main driver behind my teaching philosophy, is the lack of females in STEM career fields. As a former Chemist, I think it is really important to ensure that my students, especially female, minority, and persons with disabilities, are exposed to STEM careers. One way that I currently do this is to provide my students with real life examples from my days in the lab. While there are few role models for students falling in these categories, I hope that my experiences can provide them with a role model for the STEM fields. As teachers, we place a lot of our students at a disservice if we do not attempt to bridge the gap between how society views STEM and where STEM needs to go.

For Black History Month, our department created a lesson that focused on minorities in STEM. When creating the lesson, we attempted to find a variety of STEM contributors. We included contributors from long ago and from more current day. We also tried to include people that had similar upbringings to our student population; contributors that lived in poverty and low-income situations. While teaching the lesson, it was interesting to hear feedback from students. They enjoyed the variety of contributors and found interesting facts that they could connect to. This is so important, this personal connection, when attempting to bridge gaps in STEM careers.

Another way I account for this issue in my classroom is asking students what they want to do when they graduate. Even if their plans are not STEM related, I attempt to make connections between the skills they are learning in my classroom to their future plans. Often times, my students will remark that they hadn't thought about it that way and they get a better understanding of the importance of Chemistry class in their overall life plan.

I will continue to provide my personal experiences and will attempt to incorporate those scientists that are considered underrepresented in STEM fields.

ED 710 Reflection Post for Week 1/30/17

Small victory for this week! My consulting teacher (CT) from Baltimore County  came in for a structured visit. These structured visits are always super stressful to me. I know when the debriefing will occur but I never know when the actual visit will occur. In fact, I don't even know what day the visit will happen. So leading up to these visits, I spend a ton of time stressing. These visits are also nerve wracking to me because I tend to not do as well on them as I do on my formal observations. Between my university mentor and admin observations, I have always been rated proficient/distinguished but with my CT teacher, I am always rated developing. The feedback I have received from my CT is not always the most helpful and the focus tends to be on things that I have little control over. About 3 weeks ago, my CT came in for an announced visit and she was extremely pleased with my performance. However, announced visits are formative and do not effect my ratings. Well, she was so pleased with my most recent announced visit that she has canceled my remaining unannounced visits for the rest of the year. She will still come into my classroom formatively to provide feedback but as of right now I will be rated proficient for the remainder of the year. This has relieved a lot of stress for me and makes me feel more confident in my teaching. It was like getting my final approval and validation for my teaching abilities.

Baseline STEM Thoughts

STEM Thoughts Baseline

Reflective Blog 1 - ED 690

Without research or significant preparation, respond to these questions in your Blog...


1) How would you describe STEM education to a friend or family member in informal conversation? 


STEM education is focused on science, math, engineering, and technology. It provides students with core education in these areas while encouraging larger skills like problem solving and critical thinking. Within STEM education, the topics are not taught independently and can be found weaved together to provide students with a more comprehensive educational experience. 


2) Why do you think STEM education is (or is not) important? 


STEM education is important for preparing students for life after graduation. Whether a student is heading to college or joining the workforce, STEM education provides students with marketable skills that are sought after in the real world. Students become proficient problem solvers, think critically about problems, and can generate solutions. They are taught ways to design and redesign and how to persevere until an acceptable solution is obtained. They learn to question ideas and how to work collaboratively. These skills are so important because they are skills that employers want individuals to have.


3) What is the value of incorporating or enhancing STEM in public education. 


While STEM focuses on science, technology, engineering, and math, the critical skills learned are applicable in all areas of education. Students become better writers when they can imagine various solutions to problems and are able to articulate these ideas to others. Additionally, STEM education is often taught in a more hands on approach. This style of learning is more appealing to students and is better aligned with real world approaches to problems. 

Return to your original blog and add additional thoughts. In addition to reviewing the resources provided in the LiveBinder, I used Twitter to research the topic. I really like using Twitter to find information on STEM education because there are tons of current sources available. The resources I found on Twitter echoed those from the LiveBinder.

1) How were your initial thoughts reinforced by the resources you explored? 

The wired.com article by Stephen DeAngelis reinforced my thoughts on the importance of STEM education. DeAngelis points out that STEM education promotes problem solving and critical thinking and that these skills are essential to life after school. What he points out that I did not originally touch on, is that while employers are seeking these skills they are also critical in navigating life. When students understand how to think critically and effectively solve problems, they are more capable to deal with life problems. 

2) What are some additional reasons to incorporate STEM education into your planning and instructions?

Randal Mason (2015) points out the importance that STEM education plays in developing solutions for global problems. I think this is key to STEM education; encouraging students to look at bigger picture problems and having them develop solutions. This, to me, is the true basis of STEM education.

Something that stuck out to me after completing some research was the importance of diversity in STEM fields. The article by Karen D. Purcell (2015) discussed ways to encourage female participation in STEM fields. This is really important to me, being a former female Chemist. In my classroom, I use any opportunity I can to bring my prior experience into the classroom. This makes the content more personal but also provides an example that women do have a place in STEM education. In fact, my school competed in a robotics tournament recently. Our full female team took top place and it was awesome to see females successful in an area that is predominately viewed as a male field.