Do I try new teaching methods?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\nYou get the idea. It’s funny, as I typed out the questions I asked my students, I struggled with the teacher-centered aspect of the questions asked, but then reminded myself, that the students were asked to “grade” me.\u00a0\u00a0(Even before we get into the results, I take pride in the fact that my classroom is not teacher-centered.\u00a0 It should never be about me. It should always be about the students and what they are learning.)<\/p>\n
With that having been said, here are some of the results that I am proud of:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n- \u00a0 In my first hour\u00a0Honors Language Arts 4 class, 96.4% of students marked that I\u00a0seemed to enjoy teaching. I will be the first to admit that I am not a morning person, but I thoroughly LOVE my job, and *gasp* my students! I’m glad that I was able to shake off the dredges of the early morning blahs to create an engaging environment for my students.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
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<\/em><\/p>\nOf course, it helps immensely that my students are awesome and such good sports.\u00a0 Some of our favorite first hour memories center around our\u00a0Hamlet unit:\u00a0when Adam sang roles in Act Three, or when Abbass would perform such masterful readings as King Claudius or Hamlet, or Hannah’s chillingly accurate portrayal of the Queen.\u00a0 Shakespeare would have been proud.\u00a0 I know I was.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n\n- In my second hour HLA 4 class, 100% of students marked that I\u00a0encourage different\u00a0opinions.\u00a0 I was never one of those teachers who claimed to know everything.\u00a0 With that having been said, despite my best efforts, I struggle when being challenged, and boy, did some of my second hour students really push me when it came to asking questions.\u00a0 For this reason, I am really proud of this particular data.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
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The question\u00a0WHY? is one of the most important questions a student can ask.\u00a0 Many students in my second hour definitely did not accept the status quo; one student, in particular, really pushed me.\u00a0 And while it was uncomfortable and often inconvenient, I have to give a special shout-out to Jaafer.\u00a0 I wasn’t always patient, and I am sorry for that, but looking back, I can appreciate how his questions made me reflect on so many aspects of my teaching practice.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n\n- In my third hour HLA 4 class, 96.8% of students marked that I graded fairly.\u00a0 Considering that almost 88% of the class ended the semester with an A (or A-),\u00a0 of course the data for this element would be favorable.\u00a0 Granted, this class was comprised of extraordinarily bright and self-motivated students (and I do consider myself a “fair” grader), the way the education system is set up, grading is not nearly as objective as it should be.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
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After attending Rick Wormeli’s\u00a0Standards Based Grading seminar, I am anxious for an overhaul of our grading practices.\u00a0 I hate the subjective nature of grades and grading.\u00a0 I am eager for standards based grading because I believe that it will focus more on student mastery – what did students LEARN and how can or did they DEMONSTRATE that knowledge? I take pride in the fact that students are walking out of my classroom sharing their learning experiences, rather than talking about grades or extra credit (*gasp*Kleenex boxes*gasp*).<\/em><\/p>\n\n- In my ELL 3B class, 78.9% of students shared that I try new teaching methods.\u00a0 I am proud of this data because comprehensible input\u00a0<\/strong>is especially important for\u00a0English Language Learners.\u00a0 By being open to trying new teaching methods, I am differentiating and scaffolding in such a way as to maximize student learning for my ELLs.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
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Of course, trying new things did not come without some extraordinary failures.\u00a0 I remember one time when I tried to incorporate\u00a0the SIOP strategy\u00a0Running Dictations while using Google Docs.\u00a0 Long story short, my instructions and expectations were wildly unclear, and god love my students, they tried to indulge me in understanding what I was asking them to do, but it was a hot mess.\u00a0 I remember sharing with my students that sometimes ideas fall short or fall flat, and that the most important thing was to learn from mistakes made.\u00a0 As a result, one my worst instructional days was one of the most important lessons I ever taught my students.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\nComments from students on how this class can be improved:\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n- use Nearpod more often<\/li>\n
- Air conditioning!!! But really, there isn’t much that could be improved because this class was truly one of the best classes I’ve taken.<\/li>\n
- more clarity on due dates for assignments<\/li>\n
- getting the class more involved in bell-work<\/li>\n
- This class can be improve by giving lessons or teaching students methods to answer PSAT like questions.<\/li>\n
- Maybe getting done with bell-work sooner so we can learn more.<\/li>\n
- Deeper discussions, on current events and other things.<\/li>\n
- I think you should not by too kind to the students because some of them don’t really deserve it.<\/li>\n
- Sharing our work with each other.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
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Definitely a lot to think about.\u00a0 It sounds like I need to adjust my bell-work practices, and to be more explicit with due dates and expectations during assignments (RUBRICS!).\u00a0 Also, I have to work on modeling and streamlining the collaborative process. I appreciate the feedback, and will definitely reflect on how to use the information shared on these surveys to improve my practice.<\/em><\/p>\nComments from students about what they liked BEST about this class<\/strong>:<\/p>\n\n- The relationships you created between each student made this class very comfortable, and it made me look forward to seeing you everyday. (1st hr)<\/li>\n
- The group work and all the discussions and gallery walks we had. I enjoyed strolling around the class celebrating other students’ work.(1st hr)<\/li>\n
- I like when we have class discussions and debates. (2nd hr)<\/li>\n
- I love to write, and this class teaches us how to be a better writer and reader. (2nd hr)<\/li>\n
- The whole feel to the class is inspiring, calming, and challenging – helping me as a student to work efficiently. (2nd hr)<\/li>\n
- It’s a free open classroom to learn and grow. (3rd hr)<\/li>\n
- This class was interesting and allowed me to express my creative side. I was able to take my ideas and transform them into something that I was proud of as a means of completing my assignments. (3rd hr)<\/li>\n
- The teacher really works hard on making us understand the lesson and that she treats us like her kids. (4th hr)<\/li>\n
- All the teamwork and collaboration! (4th hr)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
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When I went into teaching, I thought I would\u00a0<\/em>be one of those strict, no-nonsense teachers – you know, the ones who don’t smile until after Christmas. Shortly after my first year of teaching, I realized that I was not that kind of teacher (nothing against those kinds of teachers; as a student, I always had so much respect for those teachers.)\u00a0 A couple of years ago, one of my colleagues said that I was a no-nonsense teacher, but in a compassionate way. As I reflect on my tenth year teaching, I have a greater appreciation for the kind of teacher I am, the kind of classroom environment we create together, and the impact being exactly who I am, has on my students.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\nThank you for making the 2017-2018 school year one of the most significant\u00a0years of my teaching career.<\/p>\n
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Continue reading#Reflecting on Year Ten #WhyITeach<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1798,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-786","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blogs","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/iblog.dearbornschools.org\/sabbaghela\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/786","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/iblog.dearbornschools.org\/sabbaghela\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/iblog.dearbornschools.org\/sabbaghela\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iblog.dearbornschools.org\/sabbaghela\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1798"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iblog.dearbornschools.org\/sabbaghela\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=786"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/iblog.dearbornschools.org\/sabbaghela\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/786\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/iblog.dearbornschools.org\/sabbaghela\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=786"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iblog.dearbornschools.org\/sabbaghela\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=786"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iblog.dearbornschools.org\/sabbaghela\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=786"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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My teaching mantra for the 2017-2018 school year was William Butler’s quote “Education is not the filling of a pail but the lighting of a fire.”\u00a0 I’ve used this mantra to guide me during one of the most challenging and rewarding school years of my career.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/iblog.dearbornschools.org\/sabbaghela\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2079\/2018\/06\/Untitled-presentation-2.jpg\")
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