Courtney Wenstrom

ELD 307: Final Reflection Letter

Dr. Sharon McKool
April 27, 2011

Dear Dr. McKool,

In this final letter, I will be completely honest. This semester has by far been

the most stressful one here at Rider University for me, with the most work given.

Although at times I felt like just giving up, I have come to realize in the ending days

that it has been the most rewarding and informative one as well. I have actually

begun to feel like a “teacher in training,” and know that my day in the classroom is

not very far down the road. Not only have I filled out the official application for

student teaching, and started the physical process of graduating, between the

classroom and fieldwork this semester I have learned a lot of helpful hints and

lessons that will go far with my future students.

One thing that I have learned in the very beginning of the semester is the

importance of classroom routine. This goes hand-in-hand with classroom

management, and I never believed it until I stepped foot in this second grade. It

became very evident how adjusted and scheduled the students were when we had a

substitute, and this teacher did not follow the day exactly as they were used to it. As

soon as she would do one thing at the wrong time, 22 eight-year-olds were very

quick to say something. Although at the time this seemed very irritating, I reflected

on this once the day had come to a close. Yes, the students liked things the way they

were supposed to be, because that was “comfortable” in their eyes. This showed

that the teacher has ultimately the upper hand in their learning, and has created an

environment to them that they like, and would like to see day in and day out. This
shows extreme classroom management skills on the teacher’s part, that she is able

to routine the children enough for them to try and change the ways of other adults

that come into the room.

Another important aspect of teaching is scripting lesson plans. Although

some of my education classes do not require scripting, I have become accustomed to

it and love it. Without scripting, I feel as though at this level of skill that I have as a

teacher, my lessons would not have been as successful as they were. Some people

see scripting as something that you have to read from, but I felt the exact opposite.

In past experiences, I have had to just take notes on my lesson planning, which

caused me to be more dependent on my notes. When scripting became an aspect of

planning, I felt much more prepared for teaching, and felt comfortable getting up in

front of the class to explain something. Preparing these scripts was my learning

session, which definitely reflected on the success of the overall lesson taught.

One unique thing I have learned this semester is the importance of drawings

when an ESL (English as a second language) student is present in the classroom.

When first meeting this student, I was very nervous and confused on how to

approach teaching a child who could not understand a word that I was saying. This

particular student was only two weeks in the classroom when I arrived, so the

extent of his knowledge of English was, “teacher” and “thank you.” After I sat down

and discussed with my cooperating teacher his situation, she explained to me the

route that she has decided to take to try and keep him as involved in the classroom

as possible. She did some thinking, and found that him making drawings in place of

different writing activities. Drawing can serve purposes similar to talk, which in this
case is exactly what is needed (Owocki). In one drawing, the teacher is able to see

the understanding the child has, and could be the beginning of further conversation

about the specific topic. It was very interesting to see the progression made by this

student, and how by just doing drawings and simple words, he is now making full

sentences and understanding much more being said to him, just two months later.

Students always come up with very creative responses to questions, and I

have learned that asking one simple question: “How did you get that?” is beneficial

to not only them, but for the teacher as well. I found this out especially during our

daily math lessons, when the students are giving “explosions” on the numbers we

are discussing. An explosion is a way that they can reach the number, or some sort

of number sentence. Because it is completely up to them what they come up with,

some of the answers are very different. By asking this question, it gives the teacher

a little time to decided whether it is accurate, gives the student a chance to look over

their work, and allows a review session to occur for the rest of the class. Although

referencing to reading, Reutzel and Cooter have a good way of explaining oral

retelling as “assessing content comprehension and text structure knowledge in

holistic, sequences, and organized ways.” Obviously math does not involve much

text structure, but the way that the students gave explosions and then had to explain

their thought processes behind them is a way to show their understanding of basic

mathematics skills or the “content comprehension,” as they put it.

Lastly, something I learned was the importance of read-alouds in the

classroom. Reading aloud to the class is a way to build background knowledge of

the book that is being presented, and making sure they are engaged throughout. By
just hearing the story out loud, the students are able to make bigger connections to

the text than they would be if it was a silent reading assignment (Chen). My

cooperating teacher constantly exhibited this, and made sure that she was trying her

best to reach every student involved in the reading. It allowed them to better

comprehend what was going on, and in the end, they enjoyed the overall lesson

better.

My experience this semester is something I will never forget. I met amazing

kids in the classroom that were so receptive of the idea of having two new teachers

in the room, while receiving great insight on hidden classroom strategies. I will

definitely grow from this experience, and change some things I have done to make

every lesson that much better. I am now better aware that I need to work more on

classroom management skills, and how to incorporate different ways of learning

into the classroom more. Overall, this very busy and stressful semester turned out

to be a great one full of learning, fun, and excitement for a bright future of teaching!

Sincerely,

Courtney Wenstrom
 References

Chen, Linda, and Eugenia Mora-Flores. Balanced Literacy: for English Language

Learners K-12. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann, 2006. Print.

 Reutzel, D. Ray, Robert B. Cooter, and D. Ray Reutzel. The Essentials of Teaching

Children to Read: What Every Teacher Needs to Know. Upper Saddle River, NJ:
Pearson/Merrill/Prentice Hall, 2005. Print.

Owocki, Gretchen, and Yetta M. Goodman. Kidwatching: Documenting Children's

Literacy Development. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann, 2002. Print.