Reflection:

 

The fourth grade class I student taught had a wide diversity. I had students with special needs, students who remained in the general education setting, and students that ranked in the gifted category. This was something I never encountered before and had to adapt to promptly. Something that I knew all the students had in common, despite their differences, was the fact that they loved games and hands-on activities. As a result, I planned a variety of these that everyone looked forward at the end of each lesson. These included Around the World, Sparkle, PIG, I Has Who Has, my Twister Board Showdown game, matching cards to tape on the whiteboard, Kahoot, Task Card Scavenger Hunts using clipboards, Word Searches, writing on individual whiteboards, and more. If students struggled with an activity, I would always be by their side to gently guide them through the process or pair them up with a student I knew could help them adamantly. Most importantly, I always offered the choice to work alone to avoid a student feeling awkward and anxious from not getting picked to be someone's partner or in someone's group. I was the student in school that was never chosen and know exactly how that feels. I did not want any of my students ever feeling that way. I made sure everything was as inclusive as possible because I believed we were one classroom, one team, and one student body. In addition, since a good portion of the class qualified for gifted learning, I always included a bonus challenge if they finished early in order to avoid wasting effective use of instructional time. I would also make something trivial such as reading out loud more interactive and hands on with props. Every week involved a different reading. Therefore, I planned interactive read alouds each week. Whether it was huddling up with clipboards to make predictions on sticky notes or using a rotary phone to pretend to be Alexander Graham Bell, the students had a genuine love for reading.

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I created several anchor charts when teaching grammar as well as a replaceable weekly ELA Focus Wall that was posted up in the classroom. It definitely taught the students how to use their resources wisely. I made the classroom extra inclusive by creating a bulletin board on a Saturday afternoon based on our ELA unit on voting and elections. It included a writing prompt of what they would do if they were president. It made everyone feel like they had an equal say and their voice was heard, which is not only important, but corresponded to the content of the unit by relating to a democracy. In addition, I kept the concept of being inclusive in mind when planning and utilizing a seating chart for the class. I built rapport even further in the classroom by surprising one student, who I knew loved the Disney character Stitch, by wearing a stitch shirt one Friday where I was allowed to dress casual. I also used my knowledge of my students by remembering that they love animals. So, I got permission to bring in my pet guinea pig as a last day surprise. They would always ask about him because I created an all about me poster during my first week as their student teacher. It was a phenomenal way to build rapport and for the class to learn about me when they had free time. Also, it was only fair I tell them about me since I had them fill out interest surveys to get to know them. It made the relationship I had with my students a two way street and ultimately stronger in the long run.