Nicholas Kingeter

EDUC 630 Final Reflection

1. How did this experience contribute to formulating my beliefs about how students learn?

This experience reaffirmed my belief that all children can learn, even if they are at a significant

disadvantage. I have also found that positive reinforcement and celebrating student

accomplishments no matter how small support the students self-confidence and productivity.

First, my belief that all children can learn. I have heard staff members while in school or

teaching that some students just dont want to learn or they dont care. I have found this to

not be true. All students want to be successful; they all want to be knowledgeable. The rub is the

work ethic and environment that surrounds the student. If a student comes from a family that

doesnt value education than the student is predisposed to realigning their priorities elsewhere.

Also, students may not be willing to sacrifice their own time or work time at school to bettering

themselves. This may be a work ethic problem, but I have also found that being a positive role

model for the student and showing an interest in them will start to break down their

unwillingness to work. All of the students in my practicum course came from split homes or living

below the poverty line. Both of these factors played significant roles in what led them to be in a

self-contained environment. When factoring those into how I wanted to teach them I had to

make sure that whatever their level, they could complete the assignment and I would be

unrelentingly positive during the process to gain their trust and let me into their lives.

2. How did I create a positive learning environment for all students?

Creating a positive learning environment for all students can be very challenging, especially

when working with students diagnosed with EBD. However, I found that by using CPS

(Collaborative Problem Solving) I can alleviate many of the stressors students have when it

comes to incentives or punishments. CPS is a method of including the student in an individual

predictive behavior plan. This would mean that we would have an open dialog about their
triggers, possible punishments, and incentives that they would want to work towards. Giving the

students a voice in this process gives them power they may not have had before. Many of these

students have no control over their lives outside of school; they live in poverty or some other

circumstance that is out of their control. If students can have a voice in their learning they will

pay you back with trust and more of a work ethic than previously observed (even if it 5 minutes

more, it is still a victory for them!). By creating this level of trust with the students they will

respect themselves and others more and feel in control of something for many the first time in

their lives.

3. How did I customize learning to meet the needs of all students?

Every student that is in my mentors classroom is on an individualized learning plan through the

online programs Odysseyware and Academy of Math/Reading. Each student has assigned

assignments by grade level or interest. This allows the students to work through their credits

and courses at their own pace. When working with the individual students I sat down with ones

that needed more support or guidance with their assignments. Many of the problems the

students had dealt with reading comprehension and/or writing skills. I would encourage and

model Cornell note taking while they were reading their passages. Cornell note taking allows for

interaction with your notes. Students take an outline or paraphrase then they highlight important

terms or phrases. Then a day or so later they go back through the notes and write a summary

on what they learned and how it is useful to their assignment. When working with the writing or

short answers, I would change strategies based on the student's level of confidence in their

writing skills. For instance, I would have a students dictate to me their ideas and I would type it

for them or I would flop with a students and read their notes to them while they typed.
4. What informed my instructional decisions?

I will base this answer around my lessons that I taught to the class. For my observed lessons I

based it on their reading, which was Lord of the Flies. My first lesson was a lower level critical

thinking activity, students had a list of items and they had to number them in importance (1-30)

for their survival on an island. After they individually numbered the items, I brought them

together and as a group we came up with the most important items, as well as, what their roles

would be if their class were to be dropped in this scenario. The lesson went very well, the

students seemed to really like the discussion and everyone was participating. I did see why

some of the students do not function in a traditional classroom, however. TS is a student who

works wonderfully on independent work, but the moment I opened up the discussion as a group

he knew he had the floor and an audience. He couldnt control himself and spoke out of turn and

yelled answers. Most of what he was saying was appropriate, but there were a few moments

where I had to reel them back in. It was just interesting to see a student go from 0 to 100. This

is why I they may function more appropriately in this setting than in a traditional setting because

they mainly are working independently.

5. How did I give feedback to my students about how well they were doing or how they could

improve?

I communicated with my students about their progress mainly through one-on-one

conversations. I would sit down with each student and talk about their previous day and what

they had planned for the rest of the day at hand. This was a way for me to check-in on their

progress and support them if they were lagging behind in their goals. During individual work

time I would sit with the students and support comprehension or enrich the learning with

interesting facts, videos, or current news about the topic. After they turned in an assignment

some students would have to retake it and re-write short answers or choose a different multiple
choice answers. I would sit with them and help with test taking strategies, using the process of

elimination being the main idea.

6. What was special or unique about my teaching?

Going into a self-contained EBD room can be quite overwhelming. Luckily, I had started a

relationship with many of these students prior to entering the room for practicum. I teach an

activity class with the school I am at and invite my mentor's class down for social skills. With all

of the students in my mentor's class being males, it was imperative that we work on those

competition skills and they understand how to control themselves during times of stress. Having

this previous experience and being much younger than many of the teachers I worked with

helped me gain trust with the students a bit easier. Because I am younger (27) I understand and

have some of the same experiences my students have, such as video games, social media,

clothing, and music. This allowed me to have common interests and conversation starters than

older staff may not have. Students also see me not as authoritative because Im younger and

have many of the same interests they have. Also, by using CPS to construct many of the

behavior plans the students knew they had more a voice with me and knew that I would take

that into consideration when working with them.

7. How will I continue to improve my teaching?

Being an initial educator in my 3rd full year of teaching I need much more time and experience

to say that I am a proficient educator. I need to attend more training and get more certifications

to help my colleagues and be a better professional. Some things that I will need to consider

doing is CPI training; I had an instance during my practicum where I needed to help my mentor

restrain a student from hurting himself. Going into the EBD field it will be necessary that I have

CPI training to ensure that I am within my rights and can protect students at the same time.
Another opportunity that I will need to complete will be my core credits for my Masters in

Education. I wanted to complete my 801 certification first and have my elective credits done

prior to starting my core class load. I am very happy with Viterbo and how/what they offer for

classes. I find that every class I have taken I have gained more and more of a knowledge base.

I have learned from not only my teachers but from my cohort as well. Online discussions have

helped me bounce ideas off of people in the same situation as me. But because they have

different backgrounds than I do I see different perspectives that I may be missing. Teaching is a

science and with that comes new ideas and philosophies, experimenting which ones fit your

teaching style will only help you expand your knowledge base of your profession.

8. Explain your experiences participating/observing in IEP meetings.

Because I work at a school with only four staff members I have been a part of many IEP

meetings. I have always been the general educator at the IEP meetings. I have found more of a

voice since I have started taking these courses. I may not be leading the meeting but I am more

informed and participate much more in the meetings than I did when I first started teaching three

years ago. I have also been a part of re-evaluations, both the administering and attending the

meeting. Prior to re-evaluations this semester I didnt quite fully understand the results of the

assessments. However, after being a part of the re-evaluation process from start to finish and I

have a better understanding of the results and how it is used. I have been a part of some

meetings that have gone for almost an entire morning and I have been a part of meetings that

go 30 minutes. The driver of the meeting needs to keep things moving at a reasonable pace,

while at the same time allowing for parental discussion.

9. Describe the significance of your most memorable moment that occurred during the

practicum.

When reflecting on my practicum, I have many positive memories. The one that sticks out the

most is teaching a student how to play chess and having the student take pride that he can play

an intellectual game. The student that I taught chess to is from a very poor, broken home. He

probably never imagined that he would be able to or understand how to play. However, after

working with him for a few weeks, his grasp of the game grew and so did his work ethic in other

aspects of school. He would study the game after we were done and would actively work to get

better and improve his skills. This led him to enter in our schools chess tournament on an early

release day. And he won one match! I was very proud of him and he was very proud of himself.

Even if he didnt finish first he proved to himself that he is capable of learning at a high level if

he puts his mind to it.

10. Describe how the students and staff will remember you

Fair and prepared. Those are two words that the students and staff will remember me by. The

students will say that I was fair. I allowed them to participate in their behavior interventions

instead of just telling them what will happen. I think that they respect that and would say it is one

of the first times they have had a voice and choice in their education. The staff will remember

me at being prepared. I am very confident in my abilities to create relationships with students.

That would be my overwhelming strength. This skill is amplified in a self-contained environment.

If I can get one student to trust me and create a positive relationship then the other students will

see that. With the majority of the students in the room not having a positive male role model in

their lives, they would want the same feeling.