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Personal Reflection Meggan Sandoval OTL- 502-1 Colorado State University Global- Campus Dr. Nella Anderson March 27, 2014

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The 12 Touchstones of Good Teaching by Goodwin & Hubbell, 2013, has brought many benefits to my teaching career. There are many aspects as a teacher we over look due to time conflict, curriculum, disruptions, budget, resources, and much more, but the 12 touchstones have provided important items that teachers can use every day to stay on top of things. The 12 touchstones hit high on expectations in the classroom, setting personal goals for students, creating exceptional performing students, measuring understanding, engaging students, finding students interest, creating meaningful content, giving great feedback, making every minute count, helping students develop a deeper meaning to learning, and coaching students for the real world. The first and foremost part I used from the 12 touchstones was items 2, 5, & 6. These items created a balance of how to get my students engaged, motivated, and curious to make the lesson meaningful. Ensuring the students set personal goals for each lesson, sets them up for succeeding. According to Goodwin and Hubbell (2013), research shows that we gain not only confidence but also satisfaction when we achieve our goals. As I sat down with my students to set goals, I realized most of the students needed guidance on what they were trying to achieve. A provided rubric helped the students aim for where they wanted to be on the rubric. After this step, the students and I were able to correlate their goals to standards and to the learning objective. Moving on to item 5 of the 12 touchstones, once my lesson had started, I had to get my class engaged with what I was teaching. I started my lesson off with showing a picture of an owl in the daytime, asking students, What is wrong with this picture? The students immediately became curious naturally. Throughout the introduction of my lesson I mixed thing up giving students a 15 minute break to converse and relax their thinking brains. As

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Hubbell and Goodwin (2013) state, students tend to check out after about 10 minutes of engagement in the same stimulus. The students were given partner time, and the lesson was mixed up to keep students engaged. The last touchstone, which really benefitted my lesson, was item 6; bringing meaning to the students. With poetry lessons, they are often full of emotion, expression, and thoughts. We were able to speak about emotions, the key concepts, and bring meaning to the poem The Owl. Students and I were able interact and practice the lesson for the formative assessment. Goodwin and Hubbell (2013) express, teacher-student interactions are more than just a feel-good issue, they are in fact critical to student academic success. Conclusion The 12 Touchstones of Good Teaching provided me with different lenses to teach this lesson. The book itself brought relevant points for everyday teaching. At times many of these simple touchstones get over looked, but consequently they are a crucial part of the teaching curriculum, classroom procedures and rules, and achievement of the students success. Every touchstone brought great influence to my teaching style as well as others around me. Teachers should use these strategies to make a difference in their teachings and their careers.

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References Goodwin, B. Hubbell, E. (2013).The 12 touchstones of good teaching: A checklist for staying focused everyday.Alexandria, VA. ASCD.