Reflection Form

Introduction: ONLY DURING COTEACHING WEEKS, everyone should complete approximately 250-300 word reflection on the online Reflection Form (Internet Explorer) on weekly coteaching experiences. Each person must post a minimum of six times: 3 before mid-term and 3 after mid-term. Postings will be counted as complete (meets word requirements, format, AND posted by 12 pm Friday deadline) or incomplete (no credit).

NOTE: If you do not post on-time, you will not receive credit for this assignment. Your instructor will monitor postings and replies per. Students who do not fulfill their obligations will not receive credit for their posting.

How to post: The weekly deadline for posting is Friday by 12 p.m.

1. Click “CTSE 4100” on my website. Then select “Coteaching Observations and Reflections.”

2. When posting a reflection, be sure to type in the title of your posting as the topic of your lesson followed by the main point of your reflection – ex. Making Oobleck: How unruly can inquiry become?

Private email: Note that the “reflection” screen will also mention if you have a private email, please indicate your name and private email for any teacher responses.

Print out everything: Be sure to save a printed copy of your posting each week and copies of your instructor’s responses to any of your postings.

How to get started: A good start to all reflections is some background information to help orient a reader:

· Very brief overview of the lesson with description of teaching approach(es) used and level of inquiry

· What part did you take in coteaching the lesson?

· What issues or problems are you facing? What advice are you seeking in resolving an issue, making personal change, or growth?

The following questions can be used for your reflection if you cannot think of any issues immediately:

· What are you learning about general teaching procedures, science teaching strategies, and/or classroom management that others can use, or that you have questions or doubts about?

· What do you like most about today’s lesson (what worked well) and what do you like least about it? Why? How would you improve it or your performance in it? What advice do you seek?

· What previous experiences of school, personal beliefs, ideas, or values are being changed or challenged as a result of your experience? What surprises you in your participation or observation at school today?

· How difficult are hands-on activities to teach and manage in your setting? What knowledge would help you in your teaching now?

· Are your students learning science (both content and process)? What evidence suggests that they are, or are not?

· What are you thinking now about schools as places to teach and work?

· What are your concerns about issues of equity, student diversity, or special needs (inclusion)?

· What are you thinking now about students as learners of science? How does this compare to your previous beliefs or how you have been taught science?

· How are you relating to students? Are you able to manage their attention, interest, and behavior in your lesson? What advice do you seek?

At the end of the term… You will look over your posts chronologically from the past term and write a 1-2 page reflection on your learning and growth in your field placement as evidenced in your reelections over time. This reflection is a required component of your weekly activities and will be due Tuesday April 22nd. Place your reflection as a cover sheet on your sequential, printed out reflections and responses. This final reflection of your coteaching experience should include three paragraphs on:

1. Highlights of how you changed (in your beliefs about science teaching) and/or developed the most as a science teacher over the entire term (with evidence from your postings).

2. Your cooperating teacher’s impact and your students’ impact on this change and development – both positive and negative.

3. Your present ability to relate past personal experiences (and values), university courses/teachings, and actual classroom practice in some kind of balanced way that fits your style, orientation, or approach to teaching science, and bodes of your success as an intern.