Anna

Milotte EDUC 614 George Mason University

Portfolio Reflection Point 3

EDUC 614 has been a great extension to 613 where we talked a lot about how

students learn and 606 where we learned a lot about culture and how that can affect

how they learn. I am now able to help my students make their thinking and learning

visible. This class has helped me see what differentiation truly is and how it

encompasses much more than grouping students by their ability level. This class

has also helped me understand that being a 21st century learner means so much

more than just using technology.

The first big area I feel I grew in this semester was my understanding of 21st

century skills and learning. I used to think that 21st century skills or a 21st century

learner meant you used technology a lot. This class helped me see that 21st century

skills are those that our kids need to be successful in the real world. Wismath

(2013) explains various characteristics of a 21st century learner such as; risk taker,

collaborator, communicator, leader, and learner. Being technologically savvy was

only 1 of 10 skills a 21st century learner has. I believe our “Try-It’s” were a great

way to help me incorporate some of these 21st century skills. Using thinking

routines daily in your classroom is another way to incorporate those 21st century

skills and way to help our students see their thinking in front of them (Ritchhart,

Church, Morrison, 2011). I need to incorporate ALL of these 21st century

characteristics in my daily teaching and in my classroom because these are the skills

they need to be successful in the real world. The first ASTL learning outcome is

Student Learning and how teachers need to be committed to their students and

their learning process. I believe the “Try-It’s” are a great example of that because it
Anna Milotte EDUC 614 George Mason University

can be very difficult to step out of your comfort zone and try something new but if

we are committed that is something we must do. We can’t think that the same

things are going to work with every child either. In order for my students to be 21st

century learners I also need to be a 21st century teacher and part of that is being a

risk taker.

The other big area of growth for me was in regards to assessment. I used to

think that assessment was what I gave students at the end of a lesson or unit and I

really felt I used all of my assessments in the most appropriate ways and at the most

appropriate times. It was something my students put in the paper bin for me to put

a grade on. This class has helped me see that assessment is what I am doing

throughout my lesson to guide my instruction and evaluations are the things I give

students at the end of lessons or units (Dodman, 2016). Learning about authentic

assessments also helped me see that I need to be stopping and asking myself, “am I

asking them to demonstrate this in a real world context?” Sometimes of course they

need to take a paper and pencil, multiple-choice test, but they should also be asked

to demonstrate the skills taught in a way they would use it outside of school. Our

video analyses really helped me see how and when I use assessment and

evaluations. For example, I noticed that I asked the majority of the questions and

provided limited opportunities for my students to give each other feedback. I feel

the videos allowed me to demonstrate several of the ASTL learning outcomes. I was

able to demonstrate, Monitoring Student Learning, because I had to reflect on not

only what I was doing but, what my students were doing. I had to think about what

kinds of interactions were taking place and what that told me about their thinking
Anna Milotte EDUC 614 George Mason University

and learning. I also feel I was able to demonstrate that I was thinking systematically

about my practice and learning from experience since we had to video 2 lessons

throughout the semester. In my first lesson I noticed very limited types of

interactions and thinking. I also noticed that I was allowing too much time for my

students to discuss and because of that I had to spend time dealing with behaviors

instead of diving into some conversations. In my second lesson I feel I improved

upon that as I had more ways for them to interact with the content and an

appropriate amount of time for them to discuss. They also had very strict guidelines

on what to talk about as well as thinking stems which helped keep their thinking

focused. The other learning outcome that I was able to demonstrate through the

videos was my commitment to being a part of a learning community. Such an

important part of being a teacher is being able to ask others for help or feedback.

Easier said then done though. Opening your classroom to someone, especially a

stranger, is very scary. I believe our videos helped us open ourselves to feedback

and learn how to provide critique versus criticism (Dodman, 2016). Feedback is one

of the kinds of assessment we talked about this semester and something I know I

want to continue to work on. I need feedback from colleagues but my students also

need opportunities to give each other feedback. Most of the time feedback comes in

the form of teacher to student in my room. Being a part of a group that gave

feedback this semester helped me see how powerful that can be.

Anna Milotte EDUC 614 George Mason University

References

Ritchhart, R., Church, M., Morrison, K. (2011). Making Thinking Visible. San

Francisco, CA: Josey-Bass.

Wismath, S. L. (2013). Shifting the teacher-learner paradigm: Teaching for the 21st

century. College Teaching, 61(3), 88-89.