EDEL 630: Elementary Internship/Practicum

Spring 2018
Dr. Nadera AL Borno

Reflective Practice of Teaching

Name of Student:
Reham EL Sawaf
ID Number: 1607029511

Score:
EDEL 630: Elementary Internship/Practicum
Spring 2018
Dr. Nadera AL Borno

I believe that I don’t know everything, there is still a lot for me to learn, and I can and will grow. Such a
stance keeps my mind open to learning from my mentors, professors, colleagues, workshops, books, and
from students themselves. I am willing to hone my teaching skills and willing to learn from students and
about students. My practicum experience has been incredibly rewarding! I have been able to
apply much of what I have learned and develop effective and engaging teaching strategies.

The areas of success within my experience involve creating a safe and welcoming classroom
environment, and positive rapport with students. I believe that teachers whose classrooms reflect a safe
and challenging environment for student learning, have artfully combined challenge with support. They
know their students well enough to know when a student has “blown off” an assignment, or when, in
contrast, the student simply does not understand a concept well enough to complete high-quality work.
Throughout my experience, I sought to design lesson plans based on the individual needs of each of my
students. Moreover, accommodations for students who were advanced and those who were struggling
were always considered and employed within my lessons. I frequently speak with students one-on-
one, fostering a caring and welcoming environment while at the same time discovering individual
learning needs and styles. As a result, the students are comfortable approaching me as well as one
another for help and input, which I believe is an essential element to any successful learning
environment.

The use of engaging and rigorous content has been another element of success within my practicum
experience. I am convinced that hands-on activities should be differentiated to accommodate different
students’ backgrounds in understanding, language proficiency, and special needs. I think that it is
necessary to develop deep knowledge of content, including an understanding of the “big ideas” and how
they are related to other important concepts, both within the discipline and in other disciplines. I also
believe that in planning my lesson, I should be focused on the sequence of activities and the kind of
tasks that will lead to student understanding. It is not sufficient that an activity is chosen because it is
considered fun; it must also serve an important instructional goal.

I have been able to explore various methods of teaching and facilitating student learning, including
lecture, demonstration, skill and concept building, inquiry activities, and technology-based activities. I
have been able to practice incorporating many different strategies that cater to Danielson’s Framework
such as student, cooperative, and project-based activities. This student-centered approach allows
students to achieve a deeper level of understanding of the material and connect it to what was
previously learned. Cooperative group activities were included to allow students to take responsibility
for their own learning and learn from one another as well.

Furthermore, I learned that a fundamental requirement for any productive classroom is that it runs
smoothly. I believe, I must establish efficient procedures for the completion of routine tasks, guiding
transitions into work groups, distributing and collecting materials. These procedures which accomplish
EDEL 630: Elementary Internship/Practicum
Spring 2018
Dr. Nadera AL Borno

several essential purposes, should be applied with a minimal loss of instructional time, and provide the
security of familiar routines for students. It is essential that classroom management begin from day
one. Providing clear guidelines and expectations for behavior on the very first day is crucial in setting up
a successful and productive classroom environment. Moreover, enforcing those expectations on a
regular basis and following through with disciplinary action is just as important.

Being organized and planning appropriately are two things that I have learned more about during this
experience. Also in relation to organization, the classroom tends to function more smoothly when
materials and projects are given a place in the class. Not having to constantly answer questions about
where to find things should translate into more time for meaningful interaction with the students.

From what I have learned, I think I would do a few things differently. First, I would communicate more
frequently with staff and parents. To ensure that my students receive the best learning opportunities
possible, I would promote working as a team with individuals who also have the students' best interest
at heart. This includes classroom teachers, other staff members and of course, parents/guardians.
Classroom teachers see students learn, behave, and interact in a different environment than in their EAL
class. Consequently, I may have pertinent information concerning learning styles, behavior issues
and appropriate motivational techniques. By doing so, I could provide my students with a more well-
rounded education.

In addition, I would break down instruction into appropriately manageable, simplified parts. I would plan
and execute lessons in such a way that demonstrations and instruction are broken down into smaller,
more manageable parts. I found myself occasionally trying to accomplish more than was possible in a
given day for a particular lesson. In order to allow students time to process and retain information it is
important that I consider the cognitive abilities of the individual students of each classroom and allot
time to lecture or demonstrations accordingly.

Finally, I believe that I need to consider classroom management issues to develop an effective lesson
plan. For instance, if an activity includes students working together in a cooperative group, I need to
consider the student’s ability levels and possible clashing personalities. It is recommended that I put
students in-groups of mixed ability levels. However, it is more important that the students get along,
and are able to work together. The best lesson which I have learnt so far, is to review my lesson before I
implement it in the class, and think of possible inappropriate behavioral that might occur during the
lesson. With this in mind, I will always prepare for the worst, and think of possible solutions that will
rectify each of the behaviors prior to the lesson’s implementation.