Reflection

It is important to be able to accurately reflect and evaluate on the effectiveness of your classroom practices, but one classroom is only a small part of an entire school. A discerning teacher needs to be able to evaluate not just the school's curriculum, but also the school culture. This artifact shows my in-depth knowledge of my school, and looks for realistic goals and ways to improve it. From this project, I have learned to reflect and evaluate my school and look objectively to find areas of improvement. Only by being honest and open can teachers and a school resolve issues.  Through my experience evaluating my school, Immaculate Conception Academy, using the Schools to Watch criteria, I have learned more about my school as a whole. I have found our school strengths and unearthed some weaknesses and areas that can be improved. One of our greatest strengths as a school is our rigorous curriculum and high standards of excellence and achievement. Another great strength is the feeling of camaraderie and our family community. Our principal, teachers, and parents have formed a caring community that works together to teach and support every child.  As a small Catholic school it is no surprise that one of our major issues is remediation resources. Through my in-depth look, I have formulated ways to help my school resolve these issues. No school is perfect. By utilizing a reform report, a good school can be made even better. A good teacher just needs to be willing to try. Utilizing the reform report shows that a teacher is realistic in realizing that every school can be improved. It also shows that a teacher is willing to make those improvements.

 This We Believe Report showcases the cutting edge documentation of the unique education of the middle level learner based on the students’ unique development and needs.  I have not only described key aspects of the “This We Believe” report, but have applied it to Middle School.  I have worked at several middle schools and it was interesting to see that some schools were more successful than others.  This report connected what I felt was good teaching with reasons why some schools succeed and others struggle. It also emphasized the important role of education for ages 11-15, which is much different than that of elementary or high school.  Active participation in learning, discovery of self, and relationship building are areas of education for this age that are essential for success.  How we teach and how we assess our students are the main aspects of how students learn and become successful in middle school. When teaching our students, the curriculum is what we base our teaching on and we throw in some interesting ways to get the students engaged such as technology and hands on activities. Another part of how we teach comes from formative assessment. Formative assessment is the assessment for learning not of what they have learned. With formative assessment we can quickly see how our students can perform on the tasks that are being taught. Finally, the summative assessment we use should have more application problems on them with fewer problems testing on skill. If a course is taught in this manner there is a higher rate of student retention and higher standardized test scores.

With a lot of stress being put on standardized tests, one of the most important pieces of teaching and learning min middle school is the curriculum. If teachers are not teaching the proper curriculum there is no way the students will ever be successful on the state tests. A standards based curriculum should have a standards based assessment to accompany it. Standards based assessment would be asking the students to explain what someone did wrong in a problem and how they could fix the problem. They might also be asked why they chose a certain method of solving a problem instead of just being asked to solve the problem. There are different levels of questions ranging from level 1, where the students are simply asked to show they can complete a skill up to level 4 questions, where students have to determine what process is the best to use in solving the problem and then solving it while explaining what and why they're doing what they're doing. The Common Core and Keystone exams will be leaning more towards level 3 and level 4 questions that require our students to do more in depth thinking and show their problem solving skills instead of just showing that they can complete a basic problem.

During my daily lessons, I never accept just an answer from a student. I always have them explain how they arrived at that answer and ask them if that answer makes sense. The first month of school the students aren't really sure how to answer my questions and it does stop some students from speaking up at first, but they eventually get used to it and open up. Students need to know that it's okay to make mistakes; it's how they respond to their mistakes that shows their character. More rigorous curriculum and assessments will be necessary for our students to keep up with the global demands that are being presented. We must challenge and push our students to do the best they can and get out of their comfort zone and try new ways of solving problems and move away from a traditional method of teaching. 

The curriculum of middle school, particularly in a Catholic school, is both challenging and rewarding.  This assignment allowed me to grow as both an educator and colleague.  I now see the importance of understanding of articulating goals and objectives to middle school students and providing various classroom strategies to best affect learning.  Student's are definitely more engaged in content when community is fostered and I provide valuable feedback to improve learning.