EDU 6150 Course Reflection

I did not realize how much I learned in General Inquiry, Teaching and Assessment Methods (EDU 6150) until today.  Today I attended my first teacher training with my mentor and I was able to apply everything I have learned throughout this course.  At this meeting, teachers were reviewing the new PE standards and from writing the content standards paper in this class,  I was already completely familiar with them.  The second activity at this meeting was using those new standards to write a lesson plan.  Again, from this course and the lesson design assignment, I knew all of the terms and how to complete the lesson plan.  I was even able to take the lead and help my group with current knowledge that I learned in this course. 

When reflecting using the internship performance criteria, standard 4.4 as seen below, I would put myself in the basic category.  Before this course I would have put myself in the unsatisfactory category and completely clueless.  Designing coherent instruction in the area of lesson and unit structure will take lots of practice to master but I am grateful for the experience and feedback I received in this course.  Being someone who is changing careers, I am not just completing assignments to get a grade; I truly want to learn and the format of the lesson design assignment allowed me to improve and grow versus just receiving a grade.  The growth I have seen in the past two months has given me a confidence going into student teaching.  I feel ready and prepared to begin applying my knowledge, as well as continuing to learn, so I can become the best health and PE teacher I can be. 

4. Content Knowledge: The teacher uses content area knowledge, learning standards, appropriate pedagogy and resources to design and deliver curricula and instruction to impact student learning.

4.4 Component 1e: Designing Coherent Instruction in the area of Lesson and Unit Structure
1 Unsatisfactory	2 Basic	3 Proficient	4 Distinguished
The lesson or unit has no clearly defined structure, or the structure is chaotic. Activities do not follow an organized progression, and time allocations are unrealistic.	The lesson or unit has a recognizable structure, although the structure is not uniformly maintained throughout. Progression of activities is uneven, with most time allocations reasonable.	The lesson or unit has a clearly defined structure around which activities are organized. Progression of activities is even, with reasonable time allocations.	The lesson’s or unit’s structure is clear and allows for different pathways according to diverse student needs. The progression of activities is highly coherent.

EDU 6918 Course Reflection

Figure 1

I am going to begin by saying that I did not realize how much I struggled with cultural competence until this course.  The first discussion in class made my skin crawl because I was so scared to say the wrong thing or offend someone.  To me, “everyone is equal,” “I don’t see color,” boy have I learned that is so wrong.  I am far from considering myself culturally competent but I have come a long way in the past two months.  As presented in Figure 1, becoming culturally competent begins with learning about yourself, which is directly connected to 8.2 Growing and Developing Professionally.  Figure 1 also speaks to the importance of learning and interacting with other cultures.  As I reflect on my own experiences, this seems to be where I struggle.  I have spent so much time assuming everyone is equal that I have been ignoring the fact we are all different.  I seem to have fallen into the trap of trying to be politically correct by saying “I don’t see color” when I was told, “its weird that you don’t notice our skin is different colors,” or “that means you don’t see me.”  These are powerful statements that I am so grateful I learned before I go into the classroom.  I believe one of the reasons I was unaware of how to handle culture competence and the greatest implication I may face in the classroom is that I went to high school that was 92% white.  With that being said, I think the specific changes I need to make to improve in this area is first to become educated with the cultures within the community I will be teaching in.  I also want to become comfortable with the fact that there are differences and it’s ok ask questions about student’s cultures in order to learn.  To give the student’ the best education and classroom experiences, it has to begin with what makes them who they are; and that is their cultural.

Clay, R. A. (2010, September). How do I become culturally

competent? Retrieved August 19, 2016, from     

http://www.apa.org/gradpsych/2010/09/culturally-competent.aspx