Module 5

We made it!  Module 5 was the culmination of so much we have learned during this five week class.  This last week was stress as I was balancing this class, another Trinity class and my full-time job demanded overtime this past week, which was a first in a very long while.  I have learned so much regarding assessments.  I will admit I am intimidated to writing test questions and reading the various approaches and following Bloom's Taxonomy did help reduce my anxiety.  Once I was able to write my first two or three assessment questions, I found I was able to get in the right mind set to address the topic I wanted to test.  I tried to be creative and think of questions or scenarios that would test the students knowledge by applying, understanding or evaluating the material. 

As a future educator, I am excited to work with the students.  When I inform friends that I am changing careers, many observe my enthusiasm, knowledge and caring for the subject matter.  In some cases, the subject matter that I plan to teach high school students I am already teaching Scouts within local Troops for their Personal Management or Personal Fitness merit badges.  These are Eagle Rank required merit badges due to the value they have a life skill.  Personal Management aligns well with the Personal Finance high school course required by the state of Illinois for graduation.  My enthusiasm seems to rub off on the Scouts because they are more open to ask questions and we try to come up with fun scenarios to explain the topic of budgeting, spending and saving.  As noted by Woolfolk on page 553 in Chapter 14, "Research has found that ratings of teachers' enthusiasm are correlated with student achievement gains and are also related to student interest in the subject."  This is my biggest hope!  While I may be changing careers, I am passionate about accounting, business, personal finance, business law and technology.  I want to demonstrate to students that I can leverage my degree in two ways and enjoy two different careers and be successful on my terms. 

For assessments within my content area of business, personal finance and technology, I see creative assessments and not just taking standard multiple choice or essay/short answer assessments.  I want to students to work with their parents on developing personal budgets and tracking their spending habits and understanding the importance of saving.  This is one of many assessments.  If I am teaching a technology class, I want students to feel engaged as I remember taking Excel, Word and PowerPoint classes early in my corporate career being bored out of my mind.  I understood the concept the first time so I want to find ways to reach not only the students who struggle but the students that excel.  This will be my greatest challenge, keeping students motivated despite the varied learning levels.  I am excited to become a teacher and pass along my knowledge and I hope to find additional ways to work with students through sports, clubs or other activities.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Module 5

Chapters 12, 14 and 15 is what I read this week! Chapter twelve was about motivation in learning and teaching. It seemed very informational and I did my research unit on this chapter. It was descriptive of different students and how their behavior is but a symptom of what is really happening inside to motivate, reinforce positively or negatively. Intrinsic and extrinsic motivation is explained and it seems to shed light into how both types of motivation can be useful but intrinsic is longlasting and will allow the person to overcome obstacles and hardships more than rewards which are temporary immediate and elusive. I was interested to see ow the Maslow's hierarchy of needs explain how certain needs are more pressing than others at certain times. I had learned about Maslow's theory and thought it was sequential. Physiological come before safely, love and belonging, esteem, cognitive, aesthetic and finally self-actualization (466). It is interesting to learn that these needs do...
Read more

Module 5 !

This last week of reading and blogging covers chapters 12, 14 and 15.  Chapter twelve talks about motivations and since I just wrote my paper about his topic I have a lot to say about motivation in the classroom.  This chapter also talks about goals and self-worth which are also very important in the classroom and they all go hand in hand.  As a physical education teacher, getting the students to change their ways of thinking to have that growth mindset (p. 478).  Getting the students motivated to get active and to start accomplishing small. smart goals will help increase their self-esteem and self-worth and hopefully get them to keep trying newer and bigger goals, as well as get them to understand that there is always something more to accomplish.  Moving onto chapter fourteen, this section of the book talks about what it talks to become an expert teacher and all the different approaches.  It also talks about adaptive teaching, which in physical education ...
Read more

Module 5

Chapter 12 discussed motivation in learning and teaching. The topics included Maslow's Hierarchy of needs, goals and goal orientation, attributions and beliefs about knowledge, ability, and self-worth, and topics about learning (interests, curiosity, emotions, and anxiety). There was one section that made me furrowed my eyebrows. It is on page 479 in Mindsets and Beliefs About Ability section. It was about the choir director who put the students who had the worst singing ability in the back rows while the ones that were the best, he put up front. I have heard of concepts like this before and it offends me. That should not be the way one organizes a choir, let alone a choir of students. The best way is to mix it up in terms of ability. Have a stronger singer stand next to a weaker singer. This helps the weaker singer with matching and builds their confidence. The stronger singer will also benefit by being able to balance their sound so they won't be as overpowering. This is how ...
Read more