AGAPE - IDEA

This semester’s Lasallian concepts will definitely show up in the routines and strategies that I use in my teaching next year and for years to come.  These can be found in the practice of IDEA: Instruction, Discipline/Content Area, Environment and Assessment. 

With instruction, I have really tried to make the move to constructivist teaching.  I tried to allow the kids more freedom and choice in their learning.  I worked to back off direct instruction when possible and make the move to more small group facilitating.  This is something I will continue to improve upon in the years to come as I found in helped motivate kids and decrease some of the behaviors I was experiencing. 

As far as discipline and content, I really worked to have more intention behind what I was teaching and why I was teaching it.  I did my first unit using the backwards design method and that is something I will continue to use.  It was much easier for us visual learners to lay out the lesson and to know exactly what I was teaching on which day and how I would assess it.  I also will continue to include time to teach about what the kids are interested in.  I found that this time was the time when the kids were most engaged in my teaching as was I.  I found myself enjoying their excitement!

For my classroom environment, I did some things this year that I will continue to use in the coming years.  Relationship building is a big piece of what I tried to implement this year.  I made sure to greet each child daily when they came into the room.  I also incorporated relationship-building activities into my morning meetings each week.  I found this to be an incredible way to form connections between the kids and really helped them to become better friends.

As for assessment, we tried as a grade level to base our assessments more on the standards.  I think this will be really helpful as it has seemed we were just randomly assessing things in the past with no real reason behind them.  In my classroom, I tried to do more summative assessments to catch those kids who don’t understand a concept rather than moving on without them because that’s what the curriculum says to do.  To do this, I have incorporated more small group interventions based on specific skills for each unit.

All in all, this semester’s Lasallian concepts worked well for me and will continue to show up in my routines and in the teaching strategies I use for years to come