Anna: Student Teacher
Name: Anna Shapko
Age: 24
Academic Background: In process of completing her Bachelor of Education with a Major in Ukrainian and a Minor in Physical Education
Teaching Experience: Anna has coached many sports teams, ranging in age from elementary to senior high. She completed her IPT in a junior high where she taught Phys. Ed and Health.
Other Background Info: Anna was raised bilingual Ukrainian and English and therefore speaks both languages fluently. She has spent many summers living with family in Kiev, Ukraine.
Current Teaching Experience: Anna is currently teaching Ukrainian as a Second Language in her APT.
Anna's Reflections
Reflection |
Timeline |
Summary |
| Reflection 1: Hooray! Can't wait to begin | Observation Week; Week 1 of 9 week practicum |
Anna observes her mentor teacher during the first week (observation week) of her final teaching practicum. |
| Reflection 2: Frustrated! Teaching more than just curricular objectives... | Week 3 of teaching; Week 3 of 9 week practicum |
Anna is discovering some challenges with gauging student readiness when implementing her unit plan. |
| Reflection 3: Finally some progress... | Week 4 of teaching; Week 4 of 9 week practicum | Anna makes some progress thanks to feedback from her mentor teacher. |
Read through Anna's reflections to find out more about some of the challenges she is facing in the classroom. Click on any of the highlighted areas to find out more about that issue from Dr. B!
1. What is scaffolding? How might scaffolding be used in SL/SL teaching? How does scaffolding relate to B-SLIM?
2. Anna noticed that her mentor teacher was using visual supports and gestures. What are some examples of supports that she might have been using? Where do visual supports and gestures fit into B-SLIM?
3. Anna also noticed the use of partner work by her mentor teacher. What are some examples of activities that could be done with a partner or in a small group? What are the benefits and challenges of partner work? Where does partner work fit into B-SLIM?
4. Anna mentions the importance of Multiple Intelligences. What are Gardner's Multiple Intelligences and how do they apply to SL/FL teaching and learning? Where do Multiple Intelligences fit into BSLIM?
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Anna tried to create a relevant task for her students; what are some important elements of an effective task?
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Anna designed the unit before designing the task; how is this problematic?
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Anna believes that she had provided structure for her students in the form of written activities; why is this not enough structure in terms of her task?
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Anna decides to let the students read their oral presentation from a script; how is this not helping their language development? Is this really speaking?
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How could Anna ease the anxiety the students feel about presenting orally?
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In order to help the students with the task, Anna did some general review; how could she have made it more specific to the task?
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How has planning backwards helped Anna’s unit planning? Why is this more effective and efficient?
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Why is it important that activities cover the different levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy? How will planning backwards help Anna with this progression?
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Anna spends time observing other classrooms; what can one learn from observing other teachers, even those who teach different subjects?
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Anna observes a new technique related to partner dialogues; how does this technique increase language development?
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Anna’s teacher is willing to share her resources and materials; why is it important that all teachers be willing to do this? Where else could Anna look for resources and materials?