Multicultural Assignment Reflection

I have learned throughout the years of being a teacher that some of my strengths are my creativity and spontaneity when it comes to planning lessons and the ability to build relationships with my students and parents. However, in this reflection my main focus is the opportunities for improving my teaching style. I have learned that I need to focus on three specific areas going forward as it pertains to teaching. The three areas are: How I manage my time and the specific activities I choose to do with my class, how closely I focus on the students who have higher needs and a yearning for differentiation and the questioning I use to guide instruction. I am now more aware of my in the moment tendency to try to fit everything into one lesson at once rather than stretch out the content to have a better effect on my students. I can admit that this is going to be a hard habit for me to break since I have done it for so long.  

From the video I also need to be more engaged in monitoring students in a balanced manner. I need to circulate more around the class and be constantly aware of everything going on, and not let myself get distracted by interacting with one or two students for too long.  Lastly, observing myself teach has taught me that I need to pose discussion questions that are  more focused, so that I can wait patiently with confidence for students to think about their answers and then volunteer to respond. The goal is to have them think more openly of what I am asking and to connect it to their own lives, which was also the point of this lesson as it pertained to exploring things to do in NYC.

In the video, I noticed that I have a tendency to state a question and then restate it in a weaker, version. I used to think that rephrasing the question would be helpful to students, but now after watching myself, it appears that since I was focused on thinking about how to restate it, I sounded hesitant and somewhat confused. After listening to myself, I realized that it might be pretty hard for students to think of an answer while I am reformulating these questions. As a result I lose momentum that was already set in place when I asked the question in the first place.

The goal at hand was to see what they like to do and to make the connection to options available to do in Manhattan. In the future, I should try to make sure my discussion questions are short, loud, and focused. A shorter question would be easier to comprehend, and then I need to be confident in my question and force myself to wait a little bit longer to see what they think before I guide them to what I have in mind. Especially since I am working with children who some might have visited these places and others who have not I need to be mindful of what they might say.

Going forward I will try to apply the lessons I learned from my self-evaluation regarding effective time management, engagement/monitoring, and my format of asking questions. Overall, I personally feel that the lesson went extremely well with the active engagement of the group of students and with how excited they are to go to Manhattan and seek out new things whether it be Central Park, The Empire State Building or even the Statue of Liberty. The goal in mind was to allow them to feel comfortable stepping out of their culture and melding it with the culture of the United States. Especially with the Statue of Liberty which serves as a open invitation to immigrants as they arrive into the United States.

After the lesson was completed, some of the students came to me and shared that their parents actually know what the Statue of Liberty is and plans on taking them there during the Summer. With continued professional support and development at NYIT . I aim to continue to develop my teaching awareness and performance so I can be extremely effective and truly the best at what I do when I’m in the classroom.