Core Values Reflection

Core Values Reflection Sarah Nitti

The purpose of the Connecticut Common Core of Learning is to provide examples of skills, knowledge, and effective teaching practices Connecticut teachers should demonstrate in their classrooms. The teacher expectations werenot derived from general opinion but were generated and supported by scientific research. It is also the expectation that teachers will improve and develop more effective teaching practices over time and seek opportunities for professional development. The document outlined two phases of teaching which include the induction phase, where the teacher is still relatively new to teaching, and the continuous professional growth phase. Here a command of the subject matter and passion for students to succeed are emphasized. Many of the standards in the Language Arts section focus on student thinking. Teachers should help students consider the elements of the writing process and also expand their knowledge of the world. Teachers are also expected to be knowledgeable about the background of their students. Teachers should be more cognizant of what is influencing their students ideas, learning habits, and decisions. Other standards focus on skills such as implementation of the writing process, utilizing language effectively, and effective reading strategies.

In the Language Arts section Statement three concerning reading and literature, emphasizesthe study of literature in order to expand self and worldly knowledge. This ideal is particularly important because it addresses the students in the context of the world. This is why almost every American teenager has to read stories about coming of age. Texts with this theme are more relevant to students because coming of age and forming identity is a big part of adolescent life. The purpose of English is to contemplate relationships and what it means to be human. It is within this practice of reading and evaluation that we come to know ourselves and formulate a basis for our personal values and judgments. English is unique in that it allows one to accomplish this formulation without physically experiencing the situation. Instead the experience is internalized through the imagination and higher order thinking. In my student teaching I will push students to view the works read in relation to themselves and their values. I will do this by creating projects and activities which invite comparison of student experiences with themes in the selected work. Section two of the Common Core pertains to writing and the elements which influence a writing process. In is necessary for these elements to be emphasized. A good understanding of the process a writer goes through and what he or she thinks about during composition can help students better interpret the work as a whole.

Investigating an author’s process helps students expand their reading of work outside the direct and literal meanings of the text within the work. Thinking about certain elements of the author’s process such as intended audience and modern conventions of the enables the student to formulate an interpretation that encompasses a more global/historical perspective. Evaluation of the writing process needs to extend to student writing as well. Students need to be able move back and forth through the compositional process in order to create, critique and evaluate their own writing. During my student teaching I will try to foster the larger view of a particular work by placing an emphasis on what goes into a novel and how it fits into a larger picture. I will accomplish this by collecting or assigning students to collect historical information about the work and its time period. I will also give background information about authors and encourage students to incorporate this information in their interpretations of the text. I also believe that it is important for teachers to gather as much information about their students, preferences, background, learning styles etc… as possible. Some thing as simple as gathering information about the preferred learning styles of students can go a long way in terms of curriculum design and developing teaching methods which reachout to as any learning types as possible. Knowing your students also allows you to create a curriculum based on subjects

the students find emotionally engaging and personally relevant. Goodman (2008) asserts, “students will learn more when they become both cognately and emotionally involved in classroom subject matter” (p.108). Students will be more intrinsically motivated to learn something they actually are about, this is why it is so important to engage with students in conversation about their likes and dislikes. I plan go give my students a short quiz which will determine their preferred learning style. I will then use the information to formulate varied class activities that address the different learning styles of the class as a whole. For example if I am explaining a difficult topic I will utilize a power point presentation with pictures to reach out to the visual learners, I will be lecturing so that will aid the aural learners and I will then formulate a hands on activity where the idea is explored by the students themselves for those who learn better by performing the task.