Three essential characteristics

Competence

Performance

Conduct

Has a thorough knowledge of the discipline

Is able to access state-of-the-art resources

Is intelligent

All but the last factor can be accomplished through ongoing professional development.

Knows and can apply a broad range of effective strategies

Collects and analyzes appropriate data and modifies teaching in response to findings.

Adapts teaching to meet the needs of a diverse student population.

Again, professional development can contribute to achieving these capabilities.

Maintains the highest ethical standards in all interactions with students, colleagues, and parents.

Seeks justice and equity for all students.

Reflective teaching (discussed later in this presentation)

Ongoing professional development

◦ Take advantage of opportunities in your school, district, state, nationally, and internationally for professional development.

◦ Read professional journals

◦ Participate in professional conferences

Stay current in your discipline

Share with colleagues

Be aware of new instructional strategies and instructional resources

Stay informed in educational research

Have a forum for your own experiences and research

Have a voice (through the organization) in political actions that affect your discipline or education in general

Have legal protection for school-related issues (many organizations offer legal assistance).

National Science Teachers Association http://www.nsta.org/

American Association for the Advancement of Science http://www.aaas.org/

National Association for Research in Science Teaching http://www.narst.org/

Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development http://www.ascd.org/

Science Teachers Association of Texas http://www.statweb.org/index.php

Almost all national or state organizations publish one or more journals. Become familiar with these journals. The organization website will link you to information about the journals.

As you grow in confidence, submit articles for publication. As in reflective teaching, the process of writing for publication helps you clarify and refine your pedagagoicalknowledge and skills.

Attend conferences. As you grow in knowledge about the organizations, you will be able to select which conference(s) will provide the greatest professional development for you.

Volunteer to serve on local, state, or national committees. You will learn so much from the process and from your colleagues.

A teaching professional never stops learning. Your job is too important. You hold the future in your hands.

Teacher Reflection has been defined in a variety of ways. The following are necessary characteristics of self-reflection:◦ Deliberate

◦ Open minded

◦ Seeks change

◦ Assumes responsibility for educational decisions

◦ Sincere

◦ Involves critical inquiry

Reference: Cruickshank, D., Metcalf, K., & Bainer-Jenkins, D. (2008). The act of teaching. Boston, MA: McGraw-Hill.

Usually includes or is prompted by some level of uncertainty that needs to be resolved in the mind of the teacher

Is more than "just thinking hard about what you do." Reflection should pose a question, pose alternative answers, and seek deeper meaning about what you do.

What is the role of self-reflection in field experience?

Your field experience will be richer, deeper, and more valuable the more reflective you are about what happens.

A model that can help us understand what happens to us during the reflective process is CBAM, the Concerns Based Adoption Model, developed at the University of Texas as a result of research in teacher education.

Sweeney, B. (2003). CBAM: A model of the people-development process. Retrieved from the Internet on February 26, 2010, from http://www.mentoring-association.org/membersonly/CBAM.html

Stages of Concern defines human learning and development as going through 7 stages, during which a person's focus or concern shifts in rather predictable ways.

To understand this process, start at the bottom of the image with "awareness" and read up each step plus the statement(s) next to each step. Those statements are similar to what people may say when they are concerned about an innovation at that level of development.

The lower three stages are focused on oneself, a clue of which might be the use of "I" and "me", as in "I am frustrated".

In the field, a student at these lower levels focuses on what is happening; what experiences she/he is having.

The middle stage is focused on mastery of tasks. In the field, the student may focus on strategies the mentor is using, student behaviors, his or her own abilities in using different strategies.

The upper Stages of Concern are focused on the results and impact of the activity.

Example statements might include, "The students are really learning better since I started using that strategy." or “I think that modification helped … be more successful with the assigned task.

The CBAM model can help us identify where we are in the process of learning how to reflect.

The next question is, “How do we present that reflection for others to understand?”

The process of preparing a journal is similar in some ways to preparing a professional portfolio. For that reason, we will examine what researchers have said about this process.

Identify key events.

Analyze, evaluate, and reflect on how this event effected teaching and learning.

Note whether and how this event will change your teaching practice.

JournalingReflection

Five Steps Adapted from: Brown, G., & Irby, B. J. (2001). The principal portfolio (3rd ed.) Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.(pp. 29–30).

Step 1: Select.

The teacher must first select events that best represent the field experience.

Select

What should I report? What has the most “meaning” for my professional growth?

Step 2 Describe.

Include more information about the activity; for example, the context

Describe

ContextOther Relevant

Information

Step 3. Analyze.

This step involves "digging deeper." The "why" of the selection of the experience and the "how" of its relationship to teaching practice.

Analyze

Why this experience?

How does it relate to my professional growth?

Step 4. Appraise.

The actual self-assessment occurs in Step 4 as the teacher interprets the experience gained through the activity and evaluates the impact of the learning on his or her teaching.

Appraise

1. Interpret events2. Determine impact3. Determine

effectiveness 4. Determine

relationship to standards

Step 5. Transform.

This step holds the greatest opportunity for growth as the teacher uses insights gained from reflection in developing plans designed to improve and transform practice

Transform

How will my teaching be different as a result of this experience?

Five Steps Adapted from: Brown, G., & Irby, B. J. (2001). The principal portfolio (3rd ed.) Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.(pp. 29–30).

When selecting an experience for your journal, consider these questions:

◦ Why is this experience better than other experiences that I could choose?

◦ Does this experience provide evidence of my growth and success as a teacher?

◦ Can I rationalize the importance of this experience to those viewing it out of context?

◦ Is this experience a result of my professional growth and accomplishments? Have I grown as a result of the experience?

◦ How does this experience represent who I am, who I am becoming, as a teacher?

Adapted from Painter, B. (2001). Using teaching portfolios. Educational Leadership, 58 (5), pp. 31–34

Your written narrative, even more than the experience itself, tells the reader about your growth as a teacher.

Remember the importance of “metacognition” in human learning.

The reflection should basically indicate what you learned from doing/creating the experience.

What happened? (What did I or someone else do? What occurred?)

What was the context?

How did it effect the students?

How did it effect my thinking about teaching and learning?

How did it develop me professionally?

A reflective journal is designed to help you grow. Like most other experiences, the more you put into it, the more you will get out of it.

Allow this experience to help you grow and develop.