Throughout my experience in the Benedum Collaborative Program, I have created many lessons and attended many extracurricular activities to reach my goal of meeting all the characteristics of a novice teacher. In my last post I reflected on how I have been liberally educated and facilitated learning for all students. In this post, I will reflect on examples and artifacts of how I have in depth knowledge of content and am an effective communicator. These characteristics are very important for novice teachers and should be demonstrated with a variety of artifacts and examples, because they are characteristics that should be practiced often.
Having in depth knowledge of content is extremely important to be an effective instructor. If teachers are not sure of what they know, the students will be confused at the teacher's own second guessing and not give the teacher their full attention. A novice teacher should also be an expert of content so that incorrect information is not being taught to students and causing them future problems either later in the year or later in life. Additionally, when a novice teacher is well educated in a content area, they are able to teach that content in a variety of effective ways and are able to differentiate instruction to keep students' interest.
To show that I have in depth knowledge of content, I can include my English Unit Plan from 461, or my reading and writing mini-lesson plans for my C&I course. These lesson plan units are thorough and differentiated. They use a variety of strategies and show that I am confident and educated in English language instruction. These artifacts also show that I can create thorough lessons that cover the introduction of an understanding or skill, the further development, and conclusive instruction. Not only do I have in depth knowledge about content, I am also passionate about the content I will teach. I am excited to teach students the things I feel so passionately about and that will show in my instruction and included artifacts.
Additionally, novice teachers should be effective communicators in a variety of ways. Novice teachers should communicate well with their students, parents, school faculty, the community, their fellow grade cluster teachers, and anyone else connected to the classroom. Without good communication, there is a barrier between people and there is more likely to be confusion. When information is clearly communicated, the system functions properly and students are likely to be more successful. For example, when parents know what is expected of their students or what homework has been assigned, they are more likely to ensure their children complete and understand the work. Also, when teachers in the same grade communicate often, they are likely to reflect on each other's concerns and wonderings. They are also able to share ideas and lessons to gives students more varied instructional plans.
The artifacts I could use to show this characteristic of a novice teacher would be my parent letters I have written and received from parents of my current placement. This shows that I let the parents know about myself, my goals, and how I will be working with their children. I could also use the emails between myself and my mentor teacher. We communicate very regularly and share ideas. It helps to keep up on schedule and prepared for the days that I will be in my placement, because I am not there everyday. These artifacts show that I make an effort to keep in touch with people that are involved in the education of the students in my placement. It also shows that without communication, my lessons or expectations would certainly not go as planned and time would be wasted.
I chose to reflect on these two characteristics of a novice teacher, because I am certain that I meet these characteristics and I feel they are very valuable aspects of a novice teacher. This characteristics focus on the moral of the teacher and can show what kind of instruction could be implemented in the classroom. Without effective communication and in depth knowledge of content, the teacher would not reach the students in the best possible way and learning would be slowed or halted possibly.
