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Fourth Semester Goal:

xxxxxxMy Focus for this semester regards expanding my Spanish vocabulary. Being in a Bilingual Classroom, I want to be a better teacher by meeting the needs of my students. In doing so, I feel the need to become more comfortable in my conversational Spanish.

xxxxxBelow you will find four of the most important parts of my philosophy as well as an audio clip from a lesson I taught. Below there is also an analysis and evaluation of my audio clip and its relation to my focus and philosophy. Please click here to view a video clip of a lesson I taught that includes an analysis and evaluation of how that applies to my philosophy and my semester focus.

4 Main Points Points From My Teaching Philosophy:

1. I value and encourage communication between parents, teachers, faculty and staff.
2. I view myself as well as the students as learners in the classroom which includes learning through discovery or experimentation.
3. I plan to know my students and want to create a curriculum that engages them and involves their lives, interests, needs, etc.
4. I look forward to creating integrated lessons and utilizing differentiated instruction.

Transcription of the Audio Piece:

Analysis and Evaluation of my Audio Piece:

           Though this is just a clip of some guided reading with one of my students, it speaks volumes to me. The first thing I noticed as I listened to this tape is the number of times I said "muy bien."  In Spanish this means "very good."  I have realized that "very good" is not always the response I should be giving my students.  As I have been collecting notes and vocabulary throughout this experience, I have heard my cooperating teachers use the phrase, "buen trabajo" which, translated literally, means "good work."  I think it would be more valuable and more realistically applied to student effort if I used the phrase "buen trabajo" more often.  I also think that I could use a lesson in "positive reinforcement phrases" in Spanish to increase my vocabulary and would help in varying the way I say things.

            Another thing I noticed about this audio clip is the way in which I formulated questions.  As Giselle was reading this book to me, I tried to pose questions that tied penguins to Giselle's life and her own experiences.  Though it is not specifically shown in the 60 seconds I have shared, I often asked Giselle which type of penguin are her favorite or asked about where she's seen penguins or where penguins live (close to us?).  As more visible in this clip, I tried to pose questions that made Giselle more of a teacher than a learner.  I asked her to teach me about the "crestas" and asked her to show me where they are located on the penguin.  I think this made her more enthused and eager to teach me something that I "did not know."

            In addition, as I asked these questions, I was able to keep an interested and excited voice.  As you listen to the clip you can almost hear the smile on my face and the excitement in my voice as I was trying to get her to be more interested in the book.  I tried to show her that she was learning something exciting and this wasn't just another period of practicing reading; we were learning about penguins too!  One of my goals that floated over from earlier practicum experiences was showing more enthusiasm in my voice, questions, and face.  I think that this audio clip shows improvement of this goal in that I did have a smile on my face, I was excited for her to teach me, and I was truly engrossed in our conversations.

            This audio clip directly applies to my semester goal in that I am reflecting on my use of vocabulary as well as my knowledge of the vocabulary my cooperating teachers use.  I am also applying the idea of acting as a learner with my students in that Giselle is teaching me!  Finally, at the most basic level of interpretation, I am advancing my vocabulary in Spanish by learning words specific to penguins (i.e. "crestas" and "penacho").  As I transcribed this piece, I actually had to look up the English definition for "penacho" (which is "tuft" or "crest").

            Overall, I think it's obvious that this has helped me evaluate my teaching and see how well my daily activities in the classroom apply to both my educational philosophy and my semester goal.  So far, I think I'm doing a fairly good job of meeting these objectives!  To continue this improvement, I would like to continue collecting reinforcement vocabulary and continue to learn new information from both my students and my cooperating teachers.