Characteristics of a Novice Teacher

Characteristic #6 We believe that the novice teacher should have in-depth knowledge of content. 

    For the characteristics of a novice teacher I think number 6 is one of the most important characteristics for a teacher. I believe that a teacher should have strong in-depth knowledge of their content area as well as loving the subject and keeping it interesting to students. If the teacher shows great appreciation and excitement for their content area then it will help the students be more engaged and open to learning about that subject. It is so essential for a novice teacher to have an all around in-depth knowledge of all subjects and content to be a well rounded, intelligent teacher.

    In our program we get the opportunity to have a great all around in-depth knowledge on such a variety of content from our classes in the program and all of the subjects we cover. It is a good possibility that anyone could get hired and be placed somewhere that was not their first choice but they need to have strong knowledge of. For me, since I am elementary with a specialization in middle school English, this really applies to me during my preservice experience because last semester I was with a third grade classroom that covered all subjects and now I am placed in a seventh grade English classroom. It is so important to have strong knowledge of any content when you are a professional.

    An artifact that I can use for this would be from my third grade class which was an English lesson that went very well. I had to cover plural possessive nouns and did a really complex lesson that the students were able to follow and they really understood the concept by the end of the lesson. I first went over nouns and plural nouns, then possessive nouns, then made up a little dance that showed when it is singular you add apostrophe (‘s) and when it is plural you add an apostrophe. Then I went over many examples with the students saying if there was one dog and he had a leash it would be (‘s) and so on. Then I passed out pictures to the students with animals and them possessing something such as a bear with a pot of honey. I had 5 bears, 2 dogs, 1 cat, 3 pigs, 1 ant and 4 turtles. Then the groups got together and practiced on their smart board thinking that if there were more than 1 of them they were a plural group and only added and apostrophe. If there was only one of them they were singular and added (‘s). By the end of the lesson the students really understood the content of this English lesson and my teacher told me this was a very hard topic for them but the lesson was super easy for them.



Characteristic 8:  We believe that the novice teacher should be a
reflective practitioner. 

    Characteristic number eight about teachers being reflective practitioners is very essential to most importantly, our students. I believe that reflecting on any lessons, activities, classroom management, even the physical layout of a classroom should be reflected upon and constantly changing to adapt to all students. For teachers to reflect on their work is crucial because then you get to see what worked well and what did not work well and make changes. Our students and classes are constantly changing especially with new kids every year but they are also changing with their use of technology and what they are interested in. It is so important to reflect over everything so you know what will work best.

    It is okay if not everything goes smoothly as long as you learn from your mistakes. The best way from learning from your mistakes is realizing them. To write and reflect on it makes it easier to think of other strategies which is beneficial. For this artifact I would definitely want to use my researchers journal because this semester I really show what is working and not. I reflect on everything going on especially focused on this semester would be working with other people that sometimes are not so easy to work with and how to learn from it. Also our blogs would be a good artifact because I have done reflecting on my work with that as well.