Reflective Summary
Overview
The development of this portfolio was comparable to the putting together of a jigsaw puzzle. The right pieces had to be chosen and placed into the appropriate place to truly paint a picture representative of my experiences. As the final pieces of this jigsaw puzzle called the DipEd programme were being placed in their correct positions I felt a level of accomplishment as the overall picture was evident - a teacher who has more tools available to her to continue to sharpen her skills so that she could be more effective as an educator.
Evaluation of new learnings
At the start of the programme there were many different pieces namely sociology, psychology, philosophy and language - the foundation courses which were core pieces of the puzzle. These courses were instrumental in helping me to understand myself as a learner and how this influenced my philosophy of teaching. It gave me a better understanding of the classroom environment and the different strategies that I should implement to create a more collaborative atmosphere and a more inclusive classroom. Since I was schooled in a traditional classroom as a student and received no formal training before re-entering the classroom as a teacher I automatically adopted a very teacher-centered approach to learning. Since a measure of success was achieved I made no attempts to make any changes. However since having been introduced to a more constructivist classroom and experiencing the benefits of it I have made significant growth in changing my approach to become more student-centered.
I was reminded of how it felt to be a student again and this helped me to empathize more with the students entrusted to me. I was challenged to look beyond the surface of a problem and to penetrate to the root of the matter in the determination of why an abundance of fruit was not being evidenced in the lives of my students. I was compelled to think critically. The significant role of parents and the influence of society in both the lives of the students and in education was reinforced through the lectures. Language, academic writing and research were essential in helping me to become a better communicator both orally and in writing.
Other pieces of the puzzle included Professional skills and HFLE which provided ample literature to deal with anger management, conflict resolution and learning disabilities. Although I realized that most of my lessons in the past would incorporate HFLE, now that I have a greater appreciation of the importance of it I have made it a priority for the intentional inclusion of it in my lessons rather than the casual mention of it. Technology integration was very interesting and responsible for my choice of Weebly as the tool for the portfolio. It also provided me with the practical competency to develop photo stories and podcasts. The Arts in Action group shared a number of practical ways to introduce games and drama into the curriculum and it was well received by my students . I realized that it was a great avenue for me to allow them to display their creativity. Another area which was severely stifled by my lack of implementation of student centered instructional strategies. The elective area reminded me of the importance of the holistic development of students. It also motivated me to go on to an advanced course in cooking.
Assessment was a major piece of the puzzle. Our culture is one that is predominantly exam oriented. Students are judged based on their performances in examination. However now I realize that many of the examinations are not appropriately constructed to give a true reflection of the majority of the student's abilities. I also realized that the assessment tool used to evaluate students' performances is very important and must be appropriate for the objectives that are being assessed. I also realized that since formative assessments were not always given it was often too late to address students' misconceptions when identified in summative assessments at the End of the Term. The administration of continuous assessments is an area that I need to explore further.
The Curriculum study constituted the majority of pieces for the completion of the puzzle. As I perused my journal entries I realized that in my very first reflection the issue of developing critical thinkers was of concern to me. However the choice of strategy to utilized to achieve this posed a challenge. After a critical analysis of the literature problem-based learning was selected and it proved to be effective in developing the students' higher order thinking skills. This is fundamentally important to me as and educator since students should be problem solvers, able to work as part of a team, creative and intrinsically motivated to learn. I thoroughly enjoyed the lessons taught in the Unit of Program Implementation. The study has acted as a catalyst for me to continue to engage in action research which I look forward to do with my upcoming form four class.
A myriad of teaching nuggets were obtained from field days. Each person's strengths was seen and I took away some techniques used by the others and the success that I saw from them has been translated to my students as well. The use of colour coding groups for easier monitoring is one such technique and the formulation of group exercises that require each student to participate for the success of the group is another such technique.
Future Projections
As I come to the end of the DipEd journey and have a much clearer picture of what being a teacher means I realized that I have to continue to work on this jigsaw puzzle that is no longer a flat two dimensional puzzle but has evolved into a three dimensional one. I see myself as an ongoing action researcher who would be continuing to improve my skills so that I can assist my students in developing their's. I look forward to continue my journey of learning by availing myself to ongoing training provided by both my school and the Ministry of Education. It is my desire to go on to pursing the Masters in Education so that even greater insights can be gained in this ever evolving journey of education.
The development of this portfolio was comparable to the putting together of a jigsaw puzzle. The right pieces had to be chosen and placed into the appropriate place to truly paint a picture representative of my experiences. As the final pieces of this jigsaw puzzle called the DipEd programme were being placed in their correct positions I felt a level of accomplishment as the overall picture was evident - a teacher who has more tools available to her to continue to sharpen her skills so that she could be more effective as an educator.
Evaluation of new learnings
At the start of the programme there were many different pieces namely sociology, psychology, philosophy and language - the foundation courses which were core pieces of the puzzle. These courses were instrumental in helping me to understand myself as a learner and how this influenced my philosophy of teaching. It gave me a better understanding of the classroom environment and the different strategies that I should implement to create a more collaborative atmosphere and a more inclusive classroom. Since I was schooled in a traditional classroom as a student and received no formal training before re-entering the classroom as a teacher I automatically adopted a very teacher-centered approach to learning. Since a measure of success was achieved I made no attempts to make any changes. However since having been introduced to a more constructivist classroom and experiencing the benefits of it I have made significant growth in changing my approach to become more student-centered.
I was reminded of how it felt to be a student again and this helped me to empathize more with the students entrusted to me. I was challenged to look beyond the surface of a problem and to penetrate to the root of the matter in the determination of why an abundance of fruit was not being evidenced in the lives of my students. I was compelled to think critically. The significant role of parents and the influence of society in both the lives of the students and in education was reinforced through the lectures. Language, academic writing and research were essential in helping me to become a better communicator both orally and in writing.
Other pieces of the puzzle included Professional skills and HFLE which provided ample literature to deal with anger management, conflict resolution and learning disabilities. Although I realized that most of my lessons in the past would incorporate HFLE, now that I have a greater appreciation of the importance of it I have made it a priority for the intentional inclusion of it in my lessons rather than the casual mention of it. Technology integration was very interesting and responsible for my choice of Weebly as the tool for the portfolio. It also provided me with the practical competency to develop photo stories and podcasts. The Arts in Action group shared a number of practical ways to introduce games and drama into the curriculum and it was well received by my students . I realized that it was a great avenue for me to allow them to display their creativity. Another area which was severely stifled by my lack of implementation of student centered instructional strategies. The elective area reminded me of the importance of the holistic development of students. It also motivated me to go on to an advanced course in cooking.
Assessment was a major piece of the puzzle. Our culture is one that is predominantly exam oriented. Students are judged based on their performances in examination. However now I realize that many of the examinations are not appropriately constructed to give a true reflection of the majority of the student's abilities. I also realized that the assessment tool used to evaluate students' performances is very important and must be appropriate for the objectives that are being assessed. I also realized that since formative assessments were not always given it was often too late to address students' misconceptions when identified in summative assessments at the End of the Term. The administration of continuous assessments is an area that I need to explore further.
The Curriculum study constituted the majority of pieces for the completion of the puzzle. As I perused my journal entries I realized that in my very first reflection the issue of developing critical thinkers was of concern to me. However the choice of strategy to utilized to achieve this posed a challenge. After a critical analysis of the literature problem-based learning was selected and it proved to be effective in developing the students' higher order thinking skills. This is fundamentally important to me as and educator since students should be problem solvers, able to work as part of a team, creative and intrinsically motivated to learn. I thoroughly enjoyed the lessons taught in the Unit of Program Implementation. The study has acted as a catalyst for me to continue to engage in action research which I look forward to do with my upcoming form four class.
A myriad of teaching nuggets were obtained from field days. Each person's strengths was seen and I took away some techniques used by the others and the success that I saw from them has been translated to my students as well. The use of colour coding groups for easier monitoring is one such technique and the formulation of group exercises that require each student to participate for the success of the group is another such technique.
Future Projections
As I come to the end of the DipEd journey and have a much clearer picture of what being a teacher means I realized that I have to continue to work on this jigsaw puzzle that is no longer a flat two dimensional puzzle but has evolved into a three dimensional one. I see myself as an ongoing action researcher who would be continuing to improve my skills so that I can assist my students in developing their's. I look forward to continue my journey of learning by availing myself to ongoing training provided by both my school and the Ministry of Education. It is my desire to go on to pursing the Masters in Education so that even greater insights can be gained in this ever evolving journey of education.