Catherine Keeter

25 August 2015
What Great Teachers Do Differently
One of the first things Dr. Newton said in her seminar was that teachers are what
make the difference in a students education. There are multitudes of teachers out there
and I dont want to just be a good teacher, I want to be great. Dr. Newtons study looked
into five things that great teachers did, and these are things I will take to heart as I
continue pursuing my teaching career.
The first thing great teachers do is ensure everyone understands what it takes to
get better. This would mean telling students clear learning goals and letting them know
what they are supposed to learn form the activity they are doing. I think this is a great
goal to follow because children always want to know why they are doing something. This
would also be beneficial for parents to more clearly know what is going on inside the
classroom. This first tip is one of the most important to me because its not something I
thought about doing before, but I now know I definitely want to incorporate clear
learning guidelines in my classroom. The second thing great teachers do is culture
redemption. This means teaching and re-teaching to fix prior knowledge until all learning
goals are met. An important factor that plays into this that Ill want to remember is that
this may not happen on the time frame that the teacher schedules but it has to happen. I
may want to teach an objective in a week, but it may take my class longer to grasp the
concept so I will have to readjust to make sure the objective is still learned. The third
thing great teachers do is plan constantly. I know this will be great to keep in mind
because things dont always go as planned, and as a teacher I may have to completely
change the way I am teaching a lesson plan in order to ensure my students are learning.

The fourth thing great teachers do is question their students effectively and teach their
students to ask though provoking questions. I know this is something I will need to learn
how to do so Im glad I now know to look out for this when I am observing in
classrooms. The fifth thing great teachers do is create a climax of high expectations
coupled with strong relationships. What I took to be important from this is that the
teacher and the students must work together to accomplish their goals. I want to make
sure my students know I will never give up until the lesson is learned.
I enjoyed listening to Dr. Newtons seminar because she laid out five key things I
can do in my future as a teacher to ensure my students have successful futures. I hope I
am able to learn from the five things that set apart a good and a great teacher and apply
the great qualities to my own classroom someday.
27 August 2015
Classroom Management Seminar
The classroom management videos we watched were more than just tips on how
to make sure students behave, they were strategies and plans for making sure students are
engaged in the lesson and stay on task. I am very interested in classroom management
because I think it is something I may struggle with as a first year teacher. I think it will be
hard to find the balance between being strict on the rules and remaining kind, caring, and
loving, so I definitely found these videos helpful when it comes to things I can do in my
own classroom someday.
I think engaging students in learning may be one of the most important
ways to maintain a controlled classroom environment. If students are genuinely interested
in the lesson being presented, then they will not have the opportunity to misbehave

because their focus will be elsewhere. The video mentioned some ways to engage
students in learning and the strategies focused mainly on using physical movement, and
appealing to student interest. Physical movement is definitely something Ive thought of
before because I feel like students are more prone to be off task if they are sitting idle at
their desks, but I had never thought of appealing to student interest before. If I pay
attention to my students and know about the things they love and enjoy I can integrate
those things into my lesson plans to make even a lecture more engaging.
Another key component in maintaining classroom control is
establishing and maintaining classroom rules and procedures. From my experience
working with children as a camp counselor, I know how important this is. Ive learned
that if you give children a rule you need to make sure it is followed every single time.
Rules are not something teachers should be lenient on; they should be followed exactly as
they are laid out. A strategy for rules that the video laid out was to have the students in
your class create the rules for the classroom. I think this would work with older students
because if they are creating the rules they are suggesting that they are capable of
following them. I also think that rules and consequences for breaking the rules should be
laid out clearly from day one.
The remainder of the video discussed establishing effective relationships with
students, acknowledging students adherence for the rules, and communicating high
expectations for all students. While I know these are important factors I did not find them
to be as important or detrimental as engaging students in the lesson and maintaining
classroom rules. But, the video did mention some more strategies that I had not
previously thought of such as using humor in the classroom and identifying expectation

levels for all students.

All in all I learned a lot from the videos but I still think I have much more
to learn. Im glad I have new strategies to think about before I start observations at Trace
Crossings. I will be looking out for the management strategies I have learned about while
simultaneously looking for new ones strategies that will be helpful in my future
classroom.
3 September 2015
Assessment Matters
Before starting in education classes last year, I didnt realize that
there are more ways to assess students then to just give them a test or
quiz. I thought the whole point of tests were for teachers to figure out
how well students understood the content so they could move on to
other subjects. I now realize that assessments can be summative and
formative so they take place every day and assessments are used so
teachers ensure that students genuinely know and learn the
information being presented to them.
When I look back on my elementary education experience I now
realize that formative assessments were used by my teachers as well
as summative assessments. My teachers used formative assessments
daily, whether it was just asking the class to give a thumbs up or down,
having us write a summary of a story, or work together with a group to
present information based on what we learned that day, I was
constantly assessed without even realizing it. Formative assessments

are extremely important because they allow a teacher to know how

well a concept is being perceived by the class. From there teachers can
adjust the way they are teaching or activities to ensure students are
able to learn the content.

I loved hearing about

all of the changes that Alabama has put in place when it comes to
assessments over the past couple of years. It seems that paying for
every 11th grader to take the ACT test has already made a big
difference in many school districts. The one thing that hasnt changed
in the past couple of years though is the importance of getting to know
your students. When teachers know theyre students well they are able
to figure out the means of assessment that each student will benefit
from. It also makes a difference when students know teachers care
about them individually, so knowing your students is one of the
greatest assessments you can do.
9 September 2015
Gifted and Talented Speaker Reflection
Dr. Patti Wood
It is no doubt to me that I will have students that are on a variety
of different learning levels in my classroom. I have mainly thought
about how I will help students who are on a lower level than the rest of
the class, but I now realize that it is just as important to also help the
students on a higher level to achieve as much as they can too.
Something that I did not know before todays seminar was that

there is a difference between a high achiever and a gifted learner. High

achievers are responsible, motivated, and preform well on
assessments, while gifted learners are curious, have unexpected ideas,
and dont care about the grades they receive. I think it is important to
know as a teacher if your student is either a high achiever or gifted
learner because you will approach assisting each type of student in
different ways.
One of the methods for structuring curriculum and instruction
that I know Ill want to remember is that gifted students should not be
given more work of a similar nature in order to complete work at the
same time as the rest of the class. Gifted students should instead be
given the same amount of problems at a more difficult level. If the
gifted students were just given more of the easier problems they may
realize they are getting more work and then could decide to not
preform as well to keep themselves from getting more work. I want to
ensure that all of my students stay motivated and I think this is a great
way to do that.
It was great to be reminded that differentiation is the key to
meeting the needs of all learners. I know I definitely cannot teach my
entire class in one way and expect them all to understand it. Or when it
comes to gifted students I know I cant just teach to the middle
learning level of the classroom or they will get bored. I think in the
future I will pre-test my students frequently before introducing a new

topic so I know where each student stands and can then plan
accordingly.
11 October 2015
Dr. Underbakke Reflection
One thing was explicitly clear to me after listening to Dr.
Underbakkes talk on chapter book read alouds, teacher passion for
reading and literature greatly encourages a childs will to want to read.
The enthusiastic way Dr. Underbakke discussed literature made me
want to read books from my childhood again, even books I didnt enjoy
as a child. He reminded me that teacher attitude has a huge impact on
the mood and feelings of a student.
Dr. Underbakke highlighted the importance of daily read
alouds and stressed the importance of adding read alouds to our daily
routines. He also gave great tips for picking the literature used for read
alouds. Books that teacher read to students need to be books that
students would not find on their own. Teachers need to find texts that
students will find exciting, and books that students havent already
hear or read so they will be engaged in the read alouds. It is also
important for teachers to be extremely familiar with the books they are
reading aloud to their class. Teachers should read the books they are
planning to read aloud completely before reading them to the class.
This ensures that teachers wont encounter any inappropriate text in
the middle of reading a sentence.

Reading books aloud is a great way to build community in the

classroom. The teacher and students bond from their shared
engagement in an exciting novel. A teachers passion is easily shared
during read alouds and encourages students. Students also benefit
from read alouds because they are able to understand more difficult
texts when theyre read aloud. Choosing appropriate and quality
literature is key to successful read alouds and I cant wait to share my
love for reading with my own classroom someday.
28 October 2015
Dr. Cheshire Reflection
One of the most valuable things I think Dr. Cheshire said today
was that a teachers focus isnt on assigning a grade; its on making
sure that students learn. One of the main focuses of her presentation
was the conflict between learning and grades. She asked us whether or
not we thought these two academic aspects could coexist peacefully.
After listening to Dr. Cheshires presentation, I think they can and that
they coexist very well when a teacher fully understands how to go
about assessments.
I think grades do serve as a good indication of a students
learning if assessments are being used wisely. Assessments need to
always serve the purpose of checking to see where a students
progress is. This does not mean that everything needs to be a grade
though. Dr. Cheshire opened a discussion with us about whether or not

homework should be graded. Id previously thought that homework

should be graded from time to time but after today by opinion is
starting to shift. When students take their work home and bring it back
the next day, their homework ends up reflecting more of their parents
work then their own. Homework is also an area for students to practice
and see if they firmly know the information they were taught. Dr.
Cheshire suggested having a homework quiz at the end of the week.
The quiz would be a combination of different homework problems that
were given throughout the week. This would be a good assessment to
have for a grade because it assess if the students actually did their
homework and because it is at the end of the week, students that did
do their homework have had time to ask questions and gain
understanding.
This is one of the best examples of effective assessments
that we discussed today. Grades and assessments would be used
efficiently through a graded assessment like a homework quiz. I know
there are a ton of assessments out there that I havent even ever
thought about, so I want to expand my knowledge of finding
assessments that can be graded to accurately display how a student is
progressing.
November 4th Speaker Reflection
Ms. Barber did a wonderful job of explaining how each staff
member of Trace Crossings works together to keep things running

smoothly. She described it with a circle metaphor, explaining that all of

the staff members are in a circle with equal but different
responsibilities and the students are inside the circle. If one staff
member doesnt do their job, the circle doesnt turn and students dont
excel. Ms. Barbers job is to make her staffs jobs as easy as possible
and to keep the circle turning. She supports instruction in the
classroom and impacts student achievement by giving all staff
members what they need to help their students.
Another staff member who has a behind the scenes type of job is
Debby Drake the bookkeeper. Her primary job is to ensure that
teachers are in financial compliance. She makes sure teachers follow
monetary rules and that they handle he funds they are given
responsibly. Her job involves a lot of paper work, and she is very
knowledgeable about the exact rules that teachers and staff members
at Trace Crossings are required to follow. Her job supports instruction in
the classroom and impacts student achievement because her job
ensures teachers are able to buy the materials they need to promote
student growth.

The music and

art teacher came to talk to us on be half of the entire specials team,

which also includes the librarian and pe teacher. One of the points that
they most emphasized in their talks is that while they are here to run
their own specials classes they are also here to support the classroom
teacher. They help teachers by letting them borrow their supplies and

by helping them integrate specials into their lesson plans. The art
teacher told us about a resource she uses called deep space sparkle. I
looked at this website and it had great ideas on art projects for all ages
and included ways that teachers can integrate art into their classroom.
This website would be a great resource to use in the future for
whatever grade I teach. Their jobs support instruction in the classroom
by supporting teachers with materials and ideas that help them to
meet standards and they impact student achievement by giving
students different outlets to express themselves which is a necessary
part of child development.
Ms. Ida, the lunchroom manager gave one of my
favorite speeches of the day. She was so passionate about her job and
about her love for the students. Her job is to make sure everything in
the lunchroom runs smoothly. She ensures that each student has
something to eat and even provides extra food to students who dont
have much to eat at home. Her job supports instruction in the
classroom and student achievement by ensuring that students are full
and nourished so they can pay attention in class.
David Pitts, the ELL teachers
at Trace Crossings, has a job that involves managing a lot of student
data. He goes through data and frequently tests ELL students in order
to give the students the help they need. He also equips teachers with
resources they can use to assist their students in the classroom and he

is there to help with equipping tests to be more aimed at an ELL

students needs. He also helps ELL families with registering for school.
He supports instruction in the classroom and student achievement by
assisting ELL students and equipping students to teach them well.
The title one
teachers job is to run the federally funded program and to assist
students who preform just below grade level that normally wouldnt get
attention. A teachers main focus is typically on the students who are
greatly struggling, not on the students who are barley struggling. The
title one teachers take out small groups of students and work with
them to increase their skills so they are able to perform at or above
their grade level. The title one teachers support classroom instruction
and impact student achievement by assisting students that wouldnt
normally receive extra help and by ensuring these students meet the
standards.
The special education teacher spends about seventy percent of
her time with students and about thirty percent of her time on paper
work. She has a lot of paper work because of student IEPs and the
testing that goes with it. She gave us a copy of a document that
includes the data checklists she uses when testing students. When I
looked through the document I could tell how much work goes in to
assisting just one child with special needs and the special need teacher
has about fourteen students on her caseload. She supports classroom

instruction and student achievement by assisting special needs

students and equipping them with ways to achieve and meet the
standards.
My favorite thing about hearing all of the speakers on
Wednesday was listening to each speakers passion for their job. Every
staff member thought their job was the best and they were so happy to
be a part of the Trace Crossings Elementary team. I hope I feel a sense
of community like this at my future school home.
10 November 2015
Early Literary Assessment Reflection
As an elementary school teacher, I know Ill have a big responsibility to build
students literacy skills. Reading and language arts are my favorite subjects and I really
want to share my love for it with my future classroom. In order to do this I believe there
will need to be a lot of focus and assessment in this subject area.
Ive recently realized how important pre-assessment and formative assessments
are in any subject, but I think they are especially important when it comes to literacy. I
think its important to remember that assessments measure not just what a student cannot
do but what a student can do. A fluency test would tell me more than just the words a
student may stumble over, it tells me the words the student knows. I think remembering
this would help me realize what type of assessments are working in helping my students
become more literate.
Im excited to take some of what I learned about literacy assessment and apply to
my own classroom one day and to early intervention this semester. Im glad Dr. Bluiett

talked to us specifically about assessments at the intensive intervention level. I learned

its important to use diagnostic assessments for intervention students because the results
provide specific strength and needs of a particular area of literacy. I know this will help
me when Im at Trace Crosings this semester because I will be able to figure out the exact
area the student is struggling in and can plan accordingly from there.
Literacy truly is a very important subject to me. I want to ensure my future
students never get frustrated when learning how to read and that theyll eventually grow
to love reading and language arts too. Dr. Bluietts seminar gave me some great insight
and I now have a lot of ideas on what I can do in the future to assess literacy well.
Catherine Keeter
ELL Training Reflection
I was very excited to attend ELL training because my interest in
the topic has grown after interacting with ELL students in my class. I
feel as if Im able to walk away from the training with a better
understanding of how ELL students are taken car of in schools, and I
now know things I can do as a teacher to help any ELL students in my
future classroom grow.

On

the first day of ELL training we received a lot of background

information on what exactly it meant to be an ELL student and how ELL
students learn. One of the first things we discussed were the four
language domains, which are listening, speaking, reading and writing.
It is much easier for students to receive a language then produce it,
which is why ELL students are typically more advanced in their

listening skills than their writing skills. But, acquiring a new language is
a process and different students show different strengths in each
aspect of the language.

There are five phases that students

move through when acquiring a new language. They are

preproduction, early production, speech emergence, intermediate
fluency, and advanced fluency. Every ELL student goes through each
phase but they will take a different amount of time in each phrase. This
information has given me a better understanding of what is going on in
the first grade class rom Im currently observing in. There are many
ELL students in the class and some are preforming excellently and
would be at the advanced stage while some are still struggling with
their language barrier and would be at the intermediate or speech
emergence stage. Knowing that students develop their skills at
different times and being able to pinpoint what the exact stages are
will help me in assisting these students in the future.
On day two of ELL training
our focus was more on what teachers can do in their classrooms to
assist ELL students. One thing teachers can do is look through ELL
student testing data so they know exactly where the students are in
their language development. During training we learned how to
interpret WIDA assessments and forms. WIDA provides sheets of what
a student on each level of ELL should be able to do. This is very helpful
for teachers because theyll know exactly when students are making

improvement in their class based on these assessments and resources.

Using WIDA
resources will also be helpful when implementing the i+1 strategy into
the classroom. This strategy is based around the idea that should
instruct ELL students one level above their scores on the WIDA
assessments. If you teach students too many levels ahead they will
become lost and wont be able to comprehend. Teaching students just
one level above their understanding level will provide a small challenge
and will leave students able to grasp information.

All in

all, I feel like I have an overall better understanding of how ELL

students are handled and what is expected of them in Alabama. I also
picked up some great tips on things I can do in my future classroom to
make sure my ELL students succeed.
Catherine Keeter
ARA Conference Reflection
The ARA conference was packed with great speakers and an
abundance of information. I enjoyed the experience of being
surrounded by so many educators that shared a similar goal of wishing
to learn more to positively impact the world of education. I also
enjoyed being together with everyone for some sessions and getting to
pick from a variety of options for smaller sessions and spend time with
a smaller group of people.
I think my favorite session from day one was the

opening session, which featured Jeff Anderson. He spoke on

encouraging writers. I enjoyed this session because I feel like a lot of
the students in the first grade class Im currently observing in do not
enjoy writing. I picked up some great tips about encouraging students
to love to write such as to praise students because confidence keeps
them writing. Jeff also focused on the power of critique and mentioned
that feedback has the power build writers and to break them. I plan to
try some of these techniques out in the classroom soon.
My favorite
session from the second day of the ARA conference was Dr. tommy
Bices session entitled Beyond Measure. He focused on issues in
education and how some schools were making unconventional changes
such as choosing to get rid of a traditional summer schedule and move
to schedule that does school year round. It was a very interesting
session and I feel as if I learned a lot about the current hot topics of
education.

I really

enjoyed the ARA conference and cant wait to go to more conference

and events in the future! It was fun being surrounded by educators
who share a common goal of wishing to better the learning community.
Math and Technology
Mrs. Joyner
My favorite thing that Mrs. Joyner told us when she was giving
her presentation is that we should never use technology for the sake of
using technology. Teachers shouldnt build a lesson plan around

technology, rather they should use technology to increase the quality

of their lesson plans. I feel like technology is overused in some
elementary classrooms because teachers feel as if they have to use it.
Mrs. Joyner suggested finding what technology works for us as
teachers and implementing it into our lessons whenever it best
supports student growth.
Mrs. Joyner created a document for us
that has a variety of different links to online math sources that
teachers can use in the classroom. One that I think may be helpful is k5mathteachingresources.com. This website is chalk full of a variety of
math resources and varieties for elementary grade levels. I feel as if it
will be very helpful when I am looking for things to enhance my lesson
plans. I was also interested in the youcubed website that Mrs. Joyner
mentioned. It involves gaming in a mindcraft manner and encourages
students math growth and coding skills. I think coding is an extremely
interesting subject and I love that elementary students have the ability
to learn coding through the use of technology.
All and all, I want to strive to make sure that technology does not
take over my future classroom. I only want to incorporate technology
into my lesson plans if it will enhance the overall lesson. Mrs. Joyners
list of resources will be extremely helpful when searching for quality
online math resources.