After taking this course, what can I add to my knowledge of myself?

What can I add to my knowledge of my content area?

I'm not sure my knowledge of myself has changed much because of this course. Most of what I learned in this course has, instead, affected my knowledge of my teaching area, specifically in terms of expanding my instructional strategy toolbox. I really, really enjoyed that I was required to explore blogs and make a website, and that I was encouraged to choose creative, not standard, expression when it came time for assessment. I played around with blogging a little bit, years ago, but not recently, and have never made a website, although I've always wanted to. I'm glad this class made me try it. I now feel more confident about assigning blogs and website creation to my students, and I also now see the possibilities of using such tools to create a class site. I also appreciated being given the option of how to demonstrate that I understood the material. I have always been a big fan of providing students some choice in assessment, but have never really been given the chance, myself, to actually try it. Every single time, I was relieved that I didn't just have to type up a standard paper, and found that I was way more willing to do the assignment when I got to choose either ablog, PowerPoint presentation, or Prezi, instead. I think it's very important for our National University courses to demonstrate and model what they are teaching us, and for us then, in turn, to model and demonstrate the same for our students.

I also appreciated having to pay close attention to pre-, ongoing-, and post-assessments. I of course knew I should always be doing them, but having to actually plan out a unit plan with them, specifically, in mind really helped. I had to pause and think about if they contributed any value, if they accurately measured what I wanted to know, and if they allowed students to sufficiently practice material before the final, summative assessment rolls around.

Spanish Pre-Assessments

Intro: 
I enjoyed this assignment, as it made me really think about the purpose and effectiveness of my selected pre-assessment. However, it was difficult to implement a solid pre-assessment, in a realistic, authentic environment, due to the fact that I do not currently have my own class. This week, I subbed one block of a Spanish I class, which was a mix of 7th/8th/9th graders, where I was able to select four students who finished with their actual classwork early enough to help me with my assignment. I explained the purpose of the assignment and gave them the instructions: they needed to choose five things, which would be: people, animals, places, or objects, and then list adjectives to describe them. I gave them prompts to get them started, saying they could look around the room for an object they knew they they could label and describe, or they could use friends, pets, someone famous, family members, etc.

Results: 

Interestingly, the 4 students who I worked with all chose their family members and pets. After reflecting on the assignment later, it occurred to me that my actual instructions didn’t entirely make sense for the unit that it was a part of. The adjectives the students were to theoretically have just learned in the previous lesson were ones which are used to describe people and/or pets (timid, social, daring, tall, short, fat), and can’t really be used to describe places or things. No wonder they all chose people and pets!

Reflection and Adjustments: 
I originally planned on using the pre-assessment only as a means of checking that students had digested the new adjective vocabulary they had learned the previous day. The lesson that would follow this pre-assessment would teach the students the grammar rules about matching adjectives and gender, and the lesson would conclude by having the students go back and correct the original pre-assessment using their new-found knowledge.
Because the students I used weren't actually my own students, though, and hadn't actually done my planned lesson the day before, I ended up getting results that differed from what I was expecting!
Because the students I used for the assignment had learned different vocabulary words and phrases to describe people, I was able to see how I could actually use the same pre-assessment at a later point in the unit (after they presumably have learned the gender grammar rules), as a way to check student understanding and to determine what I might need to reteach or further practice. For example, out of the four student samples I procured, I can see immediately that every student made at least some spelling mistakes (some more than others).  Additionally, while most students seemed to understand how to change adjectives to match the subject's gender (ex. a boy would be gracioso, while a girl would be graciosa), every student still made at least a couple gender mistakes, and three out of the four students didn't remember that the word "deportista" is an exception and stays the same regardless of the gender of who/what it is describing. I saw that I can learn, just from this simple pre-assessment, that I would need to review gender rules and exceptions, and also Spanish spelling rules (specifically which letters get doubled and which don't, and where and how to use accent marks).

Beyond the original "check for understanding" uses that I had foreseen, I realized that it could also serve as the first step in a bigger project either in the same unit, or in later, more advanced, units. For example, the textbook my school used for middle school had me teaching a unit on table settings (plates, tea cups and saucers, spoons, napkins, etc.). In an attempt to make the unit more exciting, I had the students create comic/cartoon characters out of the items. 
It occurred to me that I could use a similar pre-assessment in the table setting unit, which would require students to use creativity to assign characteristics to their made-up characters. Maybe Carlos el Cuchillo (the knife) is daring and intelligent, and Matador el Tenedor is timid, anti-social, and non-athletic. If I used the pre-assessment in this way, it could actually also double as an opener for a short writing piece. First, students brainstorm adjectives to describe their characters, and then they build on it bit by bit and eventually complete a larger writing piece with descriptive sentences, and potentially even likes/dislikes, action verbs, etc.         

Reflection and Adjustments: 
After the students finished, and after I realized they were familiar with more grammar rules than I had expected, I reminded them that, in Spanish, adjectives need to match what they're describing, in terms of gender. I asked them to work with a partner and see if they could locate and talk about any instances where they may have forgotten the rule. We spent a minute or so going over it and making sure they understood. I also pointed out how fantastic it was that they had thought to include things I hadn't even asked them for, but which they knew how to say, such as describing hair and eye color.

Conclusion: 
I went into this assignment thinking about the pre-assessment I had chosen as just a warm-up and as a way to make sure that students had retained information about what they had learned the day before. What ended up happening, however, is that I discovered several other uses for my original pre-assessment. What I particularly like about it is that the format involves very little prep (all I have to do is make the template once and just copy it) and it can have several uses. By providing the 5 columns, I can have students brainstorm information in a variety of ways: sorting vocabulary into categories, describing different characters in a story, listing facts about different Spanish-speaking countries, etc. And for assessment, it can be used to check for understanding, to see what I need to reteach, to check a student's progress, or to allow students to revisit and correct/add later, after learning new information.

When I was in 4^th grade, I partook in a pen pal program with students in Japan, and my mind was just blown by the fact that there were entire countries filled with people who spoke and did things differently than everyone I knew in the U.S.  This experience was the beginning of a lifelong love for foreign languages and cultures.  During my sophomore year of high school, I took advantage of my school’s one month study abroad program in Mexico City, and was hooked.  The following year, I spent a semester in Austria, where I learned German and got to visit a number of countries in Europe.  Senior year, I visited England during Spring Break.  I then spent a month backpacking through Central America, learning to love the Spanish language and culture even more!

Hiking Cerro Chirripó, the
high point of Costa Rica,
during my Central America
backpacking trip.

Now trilingual, I decided to double major in Spanish and German at college, but I was disappointed by the programs, so ended up creating my own major: Second Language Acquisition, which combined child development, psychology, education, and language pedagogy into one big focus. As part of the program, I spent a semester in Costa Rica, interning at an English language school, assisting in ESL classes for students ages 5-18.  This was my first real taste of teaching, and I loved it. Almost everyone in my family is an educator, so I guess a teaching career was inevitable, although it took awhile for me to make the choice.  A few years later, I moved to Mexico and spent almost a year there, improving my Spanish, enjoying the culture, and teaching private ESL classes to people in my town.

Celebrating the holiday, Las Posadas.

Four years ago, I was offered the opportunity to teach at a private school in Costa Mesa, CA, and I spent the next three years teaching Spanish to students, Kindergarten through 8^th grade.  Although the experience was incredible, I wanted to grow, professionally, so decided to leave and pursue my California Single Subject Credential in Spanish. I will hopefully be continuing on with the Master’s program, upon completion of the credential component. I am currently a substitute teacher at Orange County School of the Arts, and within the Huntington Beach Union High School District. I recently was offered two almost back-to-back long-term subbing positions at a local high school, and will be teaching Spanish there in December/January and then again from March through the end of the school year.

Some of my elementary students,
celebrating "Day of the Dead."

How did your personality affect your choice of content area?

My personality test results have me labeled as an ISTJ. I don’t usually agree with these types of tests though, because they do not allow people to select how they are or how they act in different situations. For me, work is work, and play is play.  I am one way when I’m at work, but when it’s “me” time, I have different personality needs. For example, I am an introvert when I am not at work: I tend to prefer to spend time alone or one-on-one with someone.  But, this is partially because I get my social fulfillment from working with students. I am not at ALL an introvert when I’m teaching.  I am very energetic, sociable, warm, funny, caring, and supportive, and am comfortable interacting with my students.  I am not quite as caring and sociable when I’m not at work, because I’m tired, I’ve exhausted my “caring” supply at school, and am ready to be selfish and take care of “me.” I also think, plan, and work sequentially when I am doing school work or lesson planning, but I am very spontaneous when I travel. 

Perhaps due to my personality as an introvert, I always really enjoyed studying grammar, and learning new material on my own.  My ability to plan, set goals, and work diligently towards meeting them means that once I set my mind to a task, such as learning Spanish, I worked until I had accomplished it. My love of travel feeds into the desire to be able to communicate with people everywhere I go. I spent three months traveling around Europe last year, visiting 13 countries, and made an attempt to learn at least some things in each language I encountered.

How does or will your personality affect your relationship with your students?

In the same way that some people are social butterflies at parties, or other people get a rush from negotiating high stakes business deals, I come alive when I'm in the classroom.  I truly enjoy working with kids, and they can tell.  I use a combination of humor, warmth, and structure to keep my students engaged, feeling successful, and on-track.  The fact that I am organized and punctual means that I am always prepared, and can model these behaviors for my students.  
People with ISTJ personalities can get frustrated when other people are inconsistent or irresponsible, so this is one thing I have to watch when I am with my students; students are OFTEN inconsistent and irresponsible, and showing frustration won't help at all, and would actually likely make things worse. I will have to be sure to be extra patient, encouraging, and supportive, and help students develop self-regulation and self-discipline in their learning.
Additionally, I tend to create a divide between work time and "me" time. When I am at school, I am 150% there, enthusiastically engaged in what I'm doing.  When I taught elementary and middle school, though, there was very little need to stay after school and attend events, so once my day was done, my day was done. Teaching middle/high school will be different, though, as teachers are encouraged to attend school events, such as plays, concerts, and athletic events, as a way to demonstrate school spirit and to make connections with students.

How will your teaching and learning style affect your teaching and your students’ abilities to be successful?

Regardless of a teacher’s specific personality or learning style, it is our responsibility to recognize that our students need a variety of learning opportunities, and therefore differentiate our instruction to cater to their needs. I am a visual learner, as are most people, so I incorporate a LOT of visual activities into my classroom.  I make use of graphic organizers, use color coding for grammar and vocab, and teach a lot of grammar concepts through using charts. I also try to incorporate a lot of kinesthetic or hands-on activities in class, giving students the opportunity to move, use their bodies to learn, and work with the material with their hands. Although I personally do not learn well in group/social settings, I know that many students benefit from this style, so I try to incorporate pair or small-group activities into most lessons. I was surprised to learn that most people are not verbal learners, even though lecture or direct instruction lesson formats are extremely common; due to this, I will try to limit direct instruction to just a small part of the lesson.