Continuous and Ongoing Learning
During Student Teaching
During Student Teaching
As every teacher goes through their career they must stay up-to-date on new research and pedagogy. To not do so would mean to stop improving yourself and allow your students to not learn in the best available way. To keep my learning ongoing I have continued to read books, blogs, articles and follow many teaching oriented groups on social media sites.
One of my best tools is being able to collaborate with teachers across the country. Making this possible are social media providers such as facebook and twitter. Twitter has proven particularly useful in my teaching career thus far. I have used it to ask for helping in finding activities and in connecting with local teachers who have shared their blogs and thoughts with me. One particularly useful finding this semester was plickers (bottom picture). I found it retweeted from a fellow GVSU student teacher and after reading about it, I now use it when necessary to vary my assessment methods with my students (InTASC 6). I also have a lesson that involves plickers and shows how they can be used within the classroom. I have also used twitter to ask for an opening activity for induction/deduction with my geometry classes. I quickly received a response and wrote a blog (top picture) about how the lesson went. Blogging is also a particularly useful tool to reflect on and evaluate my own teaching choices. You can reach my blog at ottena.wordpress.com. Through this living document I continually reflect on actions I've taken in teaching and what I have learned from them. This allows me to constantly reflect and improve myself while also allowing others to comment on my posts thus creating a forum of communication about teaching. Particularly useful has been my ability to reflect on the differences between my teacher assisting placement and student teaching placement of which the two environments have been very different. This blog allows me to look back at my thoughts during these times and remember the important and useful ideas I might have otherwise forgotten.
Feel free to check out my blog, and comeback frequently since I plan to update this throughout my teaching career. |
InTASC Standards Addressed
Standard #1: Learning Development
Standard #2: Learning Differences
Standard #6: Assessment
Standard #9: Professional Learning and Ethical Practice
Standard #10: Leadership and Collaboration
Standard #1: Learning Development
Standard #2: Learning Differences
Standard #6: Assessment
Standard #9: Professional Learning and Ethical Practice
Standard #10: Leadership and Collaboration