Core Values Reflection

Sarah Nitti

The purpose of the Connecticut Common Core of Learning is to

provide examples of skills, knowledge, and effective teaching practices

Connecticut teachers should demonstrate in their classrooms. The

teacher expectations werenot derived from general opinion but were

generated and supported by scientific research. It is also the

expectation that teachers will improve and develop more effective

teaching practices over time and seek opportunities for professional

development. The document outlined two phases of teaching which

include the induction phase, where the teacher is still relatively new to

teaching, and the continuous professional growth phase. Here a

command of the subject matter and passion for students to succeed

are emphasized.

Many of the standards in the Language Arts section focus on

student thinking. Teachers should help students consider the elements

of the writing process and also expand their knowledge of the world.

Teachers are also expected to be knowledgeable about the background

of their students. Teachers should be more cognizant of what is

influencing their students ideas, learning habits, and decisions. Other

standards focus on skills such as implementation of the writing

process, utilizing language effectively, and effective reading strategies.

 In the Language Arts section Statement three concerning reading

and literature, emphasizesthe study of literature in order to expand self

and worldly knowledge. This ideal is particularly important because it

addresses the students in the context of the world. This is why almost

every American teenager has to read stories about coming of age.

Texts with this theme are more relevant to students because coming of

age and forming identity is a big part of adolescent life. The purpose

of English is to contemplate relationships and what it means to be

human. It is within this practice of reading and evaluation that we

come to know ourselves and formulate a basis for our personal values

and judgments. English is unique in that it allows one to accomplish

this formulation without physically experiencing the situation. Instead

the experience is internalized through the imagination and higher

order thinking.

In my student teaching I will push students to view the works

read in relation to themselves and their values. I will do this by

creating projects and activities which invite comparison of student

experiences with themes in the selected work.

Section two of the Common Core pertains to writing and the

elements which influence a writing process. In is necessary for these

elements to be emphasized. A good understanding of the process a

writer goes through and what he or she thinks about during

composition can help students better interpret the work as a whole.

Investigating an author’s process helps students expand their reading

of work outside the direct and literal meanings of the text within the

work. Thinking about certain elements of the author’s process such as

intended audience and modern conventions of the enables the student

to formulate an interpretation that encompasses a more

global/historical perspective. Evaluation of the writing process needs

to extend to student writing as well. Students need to be able move

back and forth through the compositional process in order to create,

critique and evaluate their own writing.

During my student teaching I will try to foster the larger view of a

particular work by placing an emphasis on what goes into a novel and

how it fits into a larger picture. I will accomplish this by collecting or

assigning students to collect historical information about the work and

its time period. I will also give background information about authors

and encourage students to incorporate this information in their

interpretations of the text.

I also believe that it is important for teachers to gather as much

information about their students, preferences, background, learning

styles etc… as possible. Some thing as simple as gathering

information about the preferred learning styles of students can go a

long way in terms of curriculum design and developing teaching

methods which reachout to as any learning types as possible. Knowing

your students also allows you to create a curriculum based on subjects

the students find emotionally engaging and personally relevant.

Goodman (2008) asserts, “students will learn more when they become

both cognately and emotionally involved in classroom subject matter”

(p.108). Students will be more intrinsically motivated to learn

something they actually are about, this is why it is so important to

engage with students in conversation about their likes and dislikes.

I plan go give my students a short quiz which will determine their

preferred learning style. I will then use the information to formulate

varied class activities that address the different learning styles of the

class as a whole. For example if I am explaining a difficult topic I will

utilize a power point presentation with pictures to reach out to the

visual learners, I will be lecturing so that will aid the aural learners and

I will then formulate a hands on activity where the idea is explored by

the students themselves for those who learn better by performing the

task.