GATEways to Teacher Education

A journal of the Georgia Association of Teacher Educators plan, which can ultimately be adapted for their own classroom. The background and purpose statements on the assignment are: Background: Positive classroom management is essential to an effective learning environment. This includes all of the procedural, management tasks you and your students will use to keep the classroom running as smoothly as possible. Discipline, or behavior, management refers to expectations, or rules, you will use to promote positive interactions.

Purpose: The purpose of this assignment is to provide you with an opportunity to consider procedures, expectations, and consequences (both positive and negative) you might use in your classroom These things should connect, in some way, to your vision and philosophy statement, as your beliefs will (or should) influence your management plan.

Frequently, I discuss the Background and Purpose statements in class with students, drawing specific attention to them or, if the course is an online class, I explain the statements in a brief discussion of the assignment. Constructing and drawing attention to these direct statements helps students to create a connection between the course activity and their own lives beyond the walls of our university in a highly personalized manner.

Kelli: Strategic Reflection

Pre-service teachers in the final internship phase complete a weekly reflection on three prompts: “What are some observations and/or experiences you had this week?”, “What are some opinions or reactions you had this week?” and “What questions do you have?” These questions encourage pre-service teachers to ponder all aspects of the teaching profession, possible struggles they have encountered, and/or personal anxieties that might arise. The preservice teachers send me their reflections for feedback, which, as noted in Dumlao and Pinatacan’s (2019) study, is important to facilitate change.

This activity encourages pre-service teachers to evaluate personal and professional challenges that might arise in the teaching profession. It is imperative for teachers to reflect upon observations, lessons, and communication with students, parents, and peers in order to grow as professional educators. Adding this assignment during the student internship phase might foster an intrinsic desire to continue self-reflection as they transition to full-time educators.

Each of the anecdotes above represents an example of how we facilitate learning experiences, bringing authenticity and value to the content of our courses.

What Does This Mean?

As each vignette was coded and analyzed, it became apparent that three major themes emerged from the data: reflection, communication, and diversity in experiences. Each of the themes which emerged connected to the characteristics of authentic learning activities, as noted by Chen et al. (2013). Furthermore, these themes presented in unique ways even among the six researchers and authors of this study.