Sabrina Spilman

Elementary Education

October 6, 2017

Submission II
Introduction:

As I reflect on my time spent here at Pittsburg State University, I notice all the impactful

teaching skills I have developed throughout the process. Whenever I first began my journey as an

Education major, I did not know one thing about how to run a classroom. After being in the

College of Education at Pittsburg State University, I feel that I am rich in the knowledge of how

to run an elementary classroom. The professors at Pittsburg State University are in sync with one

another, and they make learning hands-on so that we can learn exactly how and when to do

certain things within our own classroom. The professors have made my learning experience a fun

and inviting one, and I am so very proud to say that I chose Pittsburg State University to educate

me on how to be an effective teacher. I feel confident in a multitude of areas in The Professional

Knowledge Base, but I am also aware that there are a few areas that need attention in order to

strengthen my teaching capabilities. As a future teacher, I realize that there is always going to be

something new to learn and I am willing to self-evaluate so I am able to improve my teaching

ability.

The Learner and Learning:

While reviewing The Learner and Learning portion of The Professional Knowledge Base,

I am confident in myself in a handful of these indicators. One strength that I possess is that I

understand students with exceptional needs and I know how to use strategies and resources to

meet the needs of those students. During Overview of Special Education Birth through Sixth

Grade with Dr. York, we had to do a diversity project that focused on an exceptional student. For
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this project, we spent ten hours with a select student that had exceptional needs and kept a

journal about everything we did within our time together. Overview of Special Education also

taught me the importance of differentiating instruction to fit the needs of each child within the

classroom. We were given ideas on how to help students that struggle with paying attention or

working with others. While I was in this course, I was able to work one-on-one with an

exceptional student that had autism. He latched on to me immediately and he taught me so many

things I never knew about students with special needs. I am thankful for this experience and I

know that I am stronger in this category because of Overview of Special Education.

Another strength I have within The Learner and Learning is that I understand the

processes needed to foster a respectful learning community. During Early Childhood

Foundations and Curriculum with Mrs. Bartlow, we discussed different educational theorists.

One theorist we focused on was Abraham Maslow, who is the creator of Maslow’s Hierarchy of

Needs. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs explains that in order for students to learn, their basic

needs must be met before they are able to focus within the classroom. This project helped me to

discover what is needed to have a respectful learning community and what it is that students need

to be their best. Thanks to that course, I now know that if a student is hungry, tired, scared or has

a lack of a relationship at home, that child will have a harder time focusing on school work. It is

my job as an educator to not only teach my students, but also to be a support system for them if

something is wrong. I am strong in this section of The Professional Knowledge Base because I

am able to recognize when a child has not had his or her basic needs met and I will do my best to

help that child.

A final strong aspect in The Learner and Learning that I have is the ability to know how

to design experiences using strategies that enhance learner motivation and engagement. During
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my time in Elementary School Science with Dr. Fincher, we did a hands-on science project that

allowed us to show students an experiment using the inquiry method. The inquiry method is a

method in which facts are not given at the beginning of the experiment, rather they are meant to

be figured out as the experiment plays out. Students had the opportunity to discover why and

how a solid and a base explode when mixed together, and they figured it all out on their own

with a little nudge from my partner and I. This project helped me to develop the knowledge that

is needed to enhance learner motivation because by using the inquiry method, the students were

so intrigued by the experiment that they kept coming back for more.

Although I am strong in many portions of The Learner and Learning, I realize that I do

have some areas to improve upon. An indicator I would like to work on is the ability to

understand and identify differences in approaches to learning. This is a weakness of mine

because I have yet to teach a class for a consistent amount of time, so I am not sure how well I

will do when it comes to approaching learning differently. I am most afraid that I will get

comfortable teaching a certain way and not realize that I need to identify the difference between

my students and how they learn. My plan to improve this is to watch how my cooperating

teacher approaches different learning styles and discuss with her what she believes is the best

way to know if you need to teach something differently. I will also ask my cooperating teacher to

tell me if my lessons approach different learning styles and if not, how I can make them to where

they are.

Content:

When it comes to the Content section of The Professional Knowledge Base, I am

relatively familiar with the overall idea. I am particularly strong in keeping abreast new ideas and

best practices within the field. During my time in Clinical Experience, I was given the
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opportunity to go out into the field and observe a third-grade class. While observing this class, I

realized that the cooperating teacher I was working with always had a new way of doing things

for the class. She kept things up to date and always had a way to keep the students entertained

and on task. She told me that most of these ideas come with time and experience, but that will be

something that I will be good at in the beginning of my career because I have gotten to see first-

hand how important it is to keep things fresh within the classroom. Another strength that I have

within the Content section is the fact that I know how to use supplementary resources and

technologies effectively to ensure accessibility and relevance to all. I am strong in the

technological aspect because of my time spent in Technology for the Classroom. During this

course, I was able to learn about lesson planning online, interesting websites kids would like, and

fun technological tools that would help students to learn. My experience with this class includes

a formal lesson in front of the class using two new technological tools that I had not used or

heard of before. This project really resonated with me because of the fact that I got to research

strategies that help students learn the best they can while using technology. This class really

prepared me with the best strategies to use technology within the classroom.

Although I feel as if I have strengths within this section, I do realize that I have some

areas to improve upon. An area that I would like to work on is the ability to have a deep

knowledge of student content standards and the progression in the discipline. I believe I have this

weakness because I am placed in a Missouri school and at Pittsburg State University we learn

about Kansas standards. I realize that the standards are very similar, but I want to be sure to

become familiar with the Missouri third-grade standards so that I can be a reliable source for

students and parents. To improve this limitation, I will ask my cooperating teacher to provide me

with a set of standards that their curriculum covers and discuss all of the third-grade standards as
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a whole. During my student teaching semester, I will become familiar with the Missouri

standards and be able to compare them with Kansas. By doing this I will have a better grasp on

what the students are learning and why it is important for them. I will also observe in my student

teaching how my cooperating teacher makes progressions towards discipline and how discipline

coincides with the standards.

Instructional Practice:

I am strong in the Instructional Practice portion of The Professional Knowledge Base. I

have a few strengths that will help build me into the effective teacher that I hope to become. The

first strength that I have adopted over the last few months is the ability to engage learners

actively in the assessment process and to develop each learner’s capacity to reflect on and

communicate about their individual progress. This semester I am in Foundations of Measurement

and Evaluation with Mrs. Bartlow. One assignment we had discussed the importance of

providing students with their own portfolios that hold their work so that they can look back and

see how much they have progressed since the first time they did the project. This is a very

effective approach for teachers to use if they want to teach students how to reflect on their work

and communicate with others what they have learned in the process. Another strength that I think

I have established is the ability to understand the positive impact of effective descriptive

feedback and I know a variety of strategies for communicating this feedback. During my time

thus far in Classroom Management with Mrs. Abbott, we have had many class discussions that

pertain to effective feedback. One project that we did was focused on giving students, “Powerful

Praise” which is where we praise a student for doing something good, but we praise them by

describing what it is that they did and why we liked it. This assignment helped me to realize the

importance of giving descriptive praise and feedback so that the students know what it is they are
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being praised for. Empty praise is nice and kids enjoy it, however, it does not stick with the

students and promote them to do this same action again. By giving students effective feedback, I

know that we made an impact on them and that they will go out of their way to get that effective

feedback again. Thanks to that assignment, I feel like I am an expert when it comes to effective

descriptive feedback and how to communicate with students.

After reviewing the Instructional Practice section, I realize that along with my strengths, I

also have some limitations. A limitation that I have in this section is understanding the theories

and processes of curriculum design. I think a big reason why I have a hard time understanding

curriculum design is because a lot of the schools I have observed in already have a set

curriculum that they were using before I started observing the school. I have had no hands-on

experience when it comes to creating my own curriculum from scratch, so this is why I have this

limitation. Whenever it comes to the theories of education I believe that I am strong in a select

few of the theories and theorists, however, there are some that I still don’t understand because of

the lack of time to study each theorist. As I progress into my student teaching semester I will be

sure to speak with my cooperating teacher as I create my lesson plans so that I can see if my

lesson plan coincides with the curriculum. I want my lessons to build on the learners learning

targets and I want to use appropriate sequencing within my lessons. I think by asking my

cooperating teacher to help me do these things in my lesson I will then become the effective

teacher that understands the process of curriculum design.

Professional Responsibility:

I feel that I am a very strong educator in the section of Professional Responsibility. I

believe this because Pittsburg State University’s College of Education has based their teaching

on this section. I think that every course I have taken in the College of Education has covered
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Professional Responsibility. One strength I have within the section is how to communicate

effectively with all members of the learning community. During my time in Explorations in

Education with Dr. Samuels, we spoke multiple times about the importance of being an involved

teacher. This means to help with anything in the community and be out and about so that parents

and students can see that you care for them even outside of school. Dr. Samuels was a perfect

display of communicating effectively with the learning community because of the fact that she

was a very involved instructor and was always doing things for the community. She taught us the

importance of communicating and she gave us specific examples of how to do so. Some

examples she gave was football games, school dances, graduation, church, and fundraisers for

the community. The second strength I have within this section is that I know how to use a variety

of self-assessments and problem-solving strategies. When I was in Children’s Literature with Dr.

Stuck, we did a project where we had to do a read aloud in front of a class, and we had to record

it. We also had to watch our video and find things that we liked about what we did and things we

did not like. We also had to point out if it followed our lesson plan or not. This activity helped

me to become a great self-evaluator because I realized to become an effective teacher, I must

also be able to analyze myself so that I can do even better the next time.

One flaw that I feel that I have within this section is how to use information and

technology ethically, legally and safely. There are so many new rules whenever it comes to

technology within the classroom that I want to be sure I don’t ever overstep any boundaries that

could risk my job. In order to better understand the technology rules for my school, I will

observe how my cooperating teacher uses the internet and different technological strategies.

During my student teaching semester, I will begin using technology in my lessons but before I go

through with each lesson, I will check with my cooperating teacher to make sure that all
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technology that is being used is legal, safe, and ethical. Asking my cooperating teacher for

advice and then carrying it out myself will give me the best experience so that I can become an

effective teacher with safe technological strategies that promote the learning environment.

Conclusion:

I feel so humbled to be able to say that I am about to become a student teacher at

Pittsburg State University. Everything I have learned throughout this program is falling into

place as I become more and more active with my Internship. I have things that I need to improve

on and I am excited that I have my student teaching semester to make any corrections that I need

in order to become the effective teacher that Pittsburg State University has prepared me to

become. I am aware that to become a great teacher, I must be able to make improvements on my

weaknesses and become the strong teacher that I have set out to be. I know that I will become an

effective teacher throughout my student teaching semester because of the materials and

encouragement I have received from The College of Education.