Reflective

Journal
By: Sabrina
Backoff
 Reflection Questions
Set #1
Question 1
In my classroom I build a strong student-teacher relationship by making sure I
have a safe and open environment classroom. I also make sure the student know
that I am always there for them and not here to judge. When they are at school it
is a safe place for them to be comfortable and feel loved. I also make times in the
morning during morning meeting that students are learning about me and it's not
just the teacher learning about the students. I want my students to know things
about me so they can connect/relate to me.

Teacher Student Relationships

 Reflection Questions
Set #1
Question 2
● Model lifelong and continuous ● Aware of learning needs,
learning-I model this for my interests and talents- Every
students because I am always morning in my class we have
letting them know that I am morning meeting where we
still in school and still learning share about a topic so we can
and my principal is always learn about each other in the
riderting to students he learns class and make connections.
something new everyday and ● Leadership roles- I give
he is 60. students times through the day
● Model effective learning to be the teacher and share the
processes- In my classroom I roles in the classroom. I give
use a variety of learning students a chance to lead
strategies for students to try as discussions to promote
all students do not learn the learning.
same but it is good for them to
try other ways.
Reflection Questions
Set #1
Question 3
Scale 1
My Score-3.6
Rubric Score-3.2
Scale 2
My Score-2
Rubric Score-2.3
Scale 3
My Score-2.6
Rubric Score-2.4
My scores are right around the rubric
score which tells me that my beliefs are
considered learner centered.
 Reflection Questions
Set #1
Question 4
There were a lot of similarities between my student and what
was on page 38. The student I talked to wanted to feel safe at
school and feel like they belong. In the community that my
school is in we deal with a lot of students that only have an
adult care about them when they are at school. They also
wanted to do well in school because they wanted to please the
people who cared for them. My student did not mention that
they wanted to have choices. I think this is because they do not
have someone at home telling them what to do so they make
choices everyday and it is nice not to have to make choices
sometimes.
 Reflection Questions
Set #1
Question 5
When I have students that are difficult to reach I try to make
small connections with them at first and have them trust me as
a person and not as a teacher first. I also work with the students
and/or the family to see what we can do as a team to work
toward a goal in school. Some students are ju8st difficult
because that is the only way they know how to get attention
whether is be positive or negative attention. Small strides are
what you need to do to build relationships it will not happen
overnight. Students will often make small steps to success and
feel excited about them when the you as the teacher show that
you are excited too.
 Learner Centered Principles

Reflection Questions
I have learned that learners Set #1
can be any age and it is good Question 6
to let students know that they
are lifelong learners. I also I will use these in my
learned that making classroom and in my lessons
connections with students to get to know my students
makes them feel safe and and know how they learn in a
trust you. I learned that there variety of ways. I also will
are 12 LCP’s that are broken look at each student as a
into 4 domains. individual learner and not the
whole class. This will help
me construct my learning,
meaning and understanding
the types of principles.
Reflection Questions
Set #2
Question 1
One of the conditions that I believe I
could work on is condition number 4.
Teaching first grade it is often
challenging to have them evaluate their
own work. I am working on this in my
classroom because this is how our new
writing curriculum is having first grade
learning how to write. When asking first
graders to go back and look at their work
they just look over it quickly and say
they are finished. With the writing
curriculum they have to revise their own
writing after they finish each story. I am
used to helping students spell words for
writing but that is not encouraged in this
writing program.
 Reflection Questions
Set #2
Morning Meeting Question 2
The culture in my classroom is comforting and welcoming. I
make sure all students are welcomed in the classroom and make
them feel safe. We have morning meeting every morning where
I get to learn more about the students and the students learn
about me. This opens the connection between students and
teachers. I also make opportunities for active participation and
movement breaks in the classroom. I also have some flexible
seating in the room and all chairs have a stretch band on them
to help with students get antsy. My classroom is also organized
with colors so students know exactly where things are and
where they belong.
Low-
*home life- this relates to low achieving
students because some do not have
supportive people at home or they are being
raised by their older sibling who cannot
mentally be there to help the student learn.
*class size-when teachers have a class size
that is large they may not have time to see
what each individual child needs nor do
they have the support of another adult in
their classroom when an aid is not present.
*student motivation-students sometimes do
not see their potential and they don’t believe
other people do either. This goes back to
making students feel safe and welcomed in
the classroom.
Reflection Questions
Set #2
High- Question 3
*how we teach-I think how we teach affects
the students learning achievement. If we just
teach by the book that is not how all
students learn so if we differentiate learning
it helps the students achieve more.
*home life-just like effecting low achieving
it also affects higher achieving. If parents
care and work with the students they gain
more knowledge and have the things we
learned reiterated at home.
* classroom environment-having a
classroom that is inviting and that has the
necessary tools for learning will help
students reach higher learning. Students
need specific tools are needed for learning
and they are different for all students.
Reflection Questions
Set #2
Question 4
A few goals I have for making my classroom more learner-
centered is allowing students the explore higher order thinking.
With having the “low” students a lot of what we are learning in
class is higher level but I need to remember the few outliers
need access to higher level thinking as well. I also want to do is
limit the controlling I am doing in the classroom. Students need
to be able to make choices to expand their learning and when
the teacher is always making the decisions it does not give
students the freedom to do so. I also want to make sure I am
giving the students what they need to learn and not just what
the curriculum offers.
Reflection Questions
Set #2
Question 5
After listening to Pearl’s story I had
to sit back and reflect. I did not grow
up like she did or how a lot of my
students are. I lived in a home with
both parents who cared and worried
about my education and my sister,
and I had everything I needed to
succeed in school and in life. My
parents did not go to college but they
knew that I always would. Since I
was a little girl I told them I wanted
to be a teacher. Being the first in my
family to go to college was a great
accomplishment, but I could not have
done it without the support from my
entire family.
But I seen not all my friends grew up
like me and how they did struggle in
school and how they did want their
parents there and they were not. My
mom always called my house the
“safe house” for all my friends to
come and seeing how opening and
inviting she was made me want to be
that for kids one day, which led me to
be a teacher. A teacher is with his/her
students 5-7 a day and they make the
biggest impact which is what I
wanted to do.
Reflection Questions
Set #2
Question 6

I selected LCP 11 because she said that “A

colleague said to me one time, "They don't pay
me to like the kids. They pay me to teach a
lesson. The kids should learn it. I should teach it,
they should learn it, Case closed." This makes
the students not feel the sense of community or
feel loved in the classroom which can affect their
learning. Students learn better when the teacher
does not just teach by the book but they teach
with their heart. I also selected LCP 7, because
she talked about a student getting only 2 answers
correct on the assessment and she put +2 instead
of -18 because she wanted them to see the
positive instead of negative to help ease some of
the anxiety of assessments. She wanted him to
know he is on his way and that he will always
have room for growth.
 Reflection Questions
Set #3
Question 1
Cited:
Wiggins, G. P., &
McTighe, J. (2005).
Understanding by
design. Association
for Supervision &
Curriculum
Development.
 Reflection Questions
Set #3
Question 2
The difficulties that might result from creating
assessments near the conclusion of the unit is
that the teachers treat the textbook as the
curriculum rather than a resource that they use
in the classroom and are teaching things that are
not apparent or have a purpose in the unit of
study.
Assessments
 Reflection Questions
Set #3
Question 3
It is important that unit goals, assessments, and instructional
plans are coherent and aligned because it helps the teacher say
focused on what she/he is teaching and make sure they are
constructing meaning in what they are teaching the students.
Students minds are like sponges but you do not want to teach
them something that is not relevant to what they are learning
and need to process. You want them to be able to focus on the
content information needed to succeed. When all 3 are aligned
they help the process not be rigid or a prescriptive recipe.
 Reflection Questions
Set #3
Question 4
These outcomes support learner centered
principles by the teacher making sure the
information is transferred by the learner.
They also support the learner centered
principles by making sure there are goals
for the learning process by creating
meaningful and coherent plans and
assessments. Students need short term
and long term goals using higher level
thinking strategies that will facilitate
higher level learning. Purposeful learning
for students is when they construct
meaning from experiences and
information that are useful for them to
succeed.
 Reflection Questions
Set #4
Question 1
Yes, I do agree that the curriculum is not flexible. When you are
getting observed they want you to be teaching what is in the
curriculum but that is not always what is best for the students
because they way that they want you to teach is now how
students learn. When you are a teacher you know your students
best and the curriculum is like a one size fits all. Even though
there are some DI options they are also not always what is best
for the students. I believe that as long as I teach the standard
then it should not matter how I teach it because I know my
students better than the curriculum writers.
Reflection Questions
Set #4
Question 2
I believe that I am a master at building relationships. I have
worked with kids since I was 16 and have always made it a
mission to build relationships with the students. After subbing
in the same school for 4 years while going to college it was
hard to leave the place where I have built so many
relationships. But as my career moved on I was building more
and more relationships. Not just in the classroom but outside
too. I teach in the community that I live in so I try and make it
to sports events and any other extra curricular activities.
Building relationships makes it easier for students to trust you
and know that you believe in them.
 Reflection Questions
Set #4
Question 3
Growth mindset is the key to success. It means you
are trying and putting in the work to get something
done. Even though it may not be perfect I always
try my best to succeed. I put my mind on
something and I grow from my personal and
Growth Mindset professional experiences. Everyone's growth
mindset is always changing and always growing.
 Reflection Questions
Set #4
Question 4
I think teachers need to be “expert
learners themselves” because we
need to show students that learning
is forever and even adults and
teachers are learning new things
everyday. Being a lifelong learner is
important because things are
changing everyday. Weather it be the
curriculum, personal life, or just the
way things are done. As adults we
need to model how to think about
things are carry out our plans and it
is important that students see this as
well.
Reflection Questions
Set #4
Question 5

I believe that our curriculum is based off the myth of average.

Like I have stated before the curriculum is not a one size fits
all. It needs to be changed based on what the students need.
They may not have the background knowledge needed for the
lesson or have the capacity to store all the knowledge needed.
So you have to break down the lessons for what your child
needs. When they say that the curriculum is age appropriate I
laugh because I know no two students are the same and we
cannot teach to the group using the same lesson. This is why we
differentiate lessons for below, on, and above grade level.
 Power of YET!

Reflection Questions
Set #4
Question 6
One thing I learned from the video is that some schools do not
give failing grades they give a “Not Yet” which I think is better
for the students ego because they do not feel as if they have
completely failed and there is no coming back. Failing is
something that scares all of us and we do not want that for our
students, we want them to believe they can improve in learning.
Another thing I learned is that praising the process in which
children engage in and not the ones who just get the right
answer. We want them to be praised for their thinking and the
way they got the answer. By doing this they got more
perseverance when they get to problems they would have
trouble with. Mindsets are always changing to help learn new
connections to learning.
 Reflection Questions
Set #5
Question 1
The traditional curriculum currently
focuses on the affective networks. I
know this because the county I work
in is promoting goal setting and the
power of “yet”. We have had
professional development about how
to make students feel safe in
learning and giving them all the
tools and opportunities they need to
succeed in school. We work in the
classrooms to engage learning and
have students working in small
groups rather than always
individual.
 UDL

Reflection Questions
Set #5
Question 2
The affective network is the “why” of learning.
We keep students engaged in learning and let
them know what is expected of them. Students
are able to work in groups to complete work
and they can learn on na level that works for
them as a individual student. We give students
rubrics and checklists so they know and can
keep track of what we expect of them.
 Reflection Questions
Set #5
Question 3
The recognition network is the “what” of learning. We
often use alot of our senses when we are learning to make
connections. When there are things we want children to
remember we sometimes bold or underline the word or
phrase so they pay more attention to it and know this is
important. We always give multiple ways of completing a
assignment and giving directions which is why we model
and give oral directions to students.
 Reflection Questions
Set #5
Question 4
The strategic network is the “how”
of learning. We give students the
tools needed to succeed. We use
anchor charts that stay up for
students to refer back to when
needed. We also talk to students
when we can see they are having
troubles and we give them some tips
and advice on what they can do. We
are there to make the students feel
safe and take risks in the classroom
when learning.
 Reflection Questions
Set #5
Question 5
It is important for educators to know about systematic learner
variability because they need to know that no two learners are
the same and they need to be teaching to reach all students. We
as educators do this by using differentiated instruction in the
classroom and monitoring student growth. This benefits
students because they will not learn when they get frustrated
and do not have the correct teacher support.
 Reflection Questions
Set #6
Question 1
Students will read word problems and highlight
numbers they will need (representation) in
order to solve problems using cubes, 10 frames,
rekenreks and counters (expression) to solve
with their partner or group (engagement).
 Reflection Questions
Set #6
Question 2
In high school I took 4 years of child development. My
senior year as our final exam we had a paper test that was 4
brief constructed response questions that we had to answer.
A UDL approach to this assessment could have been to let
us answer the questions on a computer to type them or the
teacher observe us interacting with the kids and giving
feedback. You can not tell just by answering 4 questions
that someone works well with children. You need to see the
social interaction as well as the written piece. Some are not
strong in writing paragraphs but when they interact with
the students a whole nother person comes out.
Reflection Questions
Set #6
Question 3 *** It’s Ok
After watching this it was not what I thought
it was going to be. I believe it gave us a lot of
information but not in a way that was for me.
It was not upbeat like I thought it was going
to be by the title of the video. I am more of a
hands on learner so just listening to this was
not a way that I learn. I was listening to this
but I was doing other things around the
house because I could not just sit and listen
to this and I do not believe we needed the
step by step directions that the narrator was
giving us like when she was telling us he was
“going to read from the slide” and “he
searches on his nearby laptop.” I think if it
would have just been him talking and not the
narrator to it would not have been as bad.
 Reflection Questions
Set #6
Question 4
1. When students fail, seek assistance from peers or teachers,
Inclusion
and explore they are making their new knowledge more
meaningful for them.
2. Mindy Johnson said that when a student seems shy, clingy
or unwilling to participate they are known as the
“outsider” of the group. But having that person be a
special helper or having more one on one opportunities
can sometimes bring the learners out of their shell and
sometimes more likely to join in on more group activities.
 Reflection Questions
Set #7
Question 1
I believe UDL will help me become a better
teacher by helping me teach to the student and
not to the curriculum. It has me dissecting the
lessons and teaching what is needed and not
exactly how they tell you to teach in the
curriculum.
 Reflection Questions
Set #7
Question 2
UDL is included in Common Core
Standards in math. It gives us the
opportunity to teach to the student
and give them all the necessary tools
and strategies they need to succeed
in the class. We can teach math in a
variety of ways and having more
flexibility with small groups.
Reflection Questions
Set #7
Question 3

One concern I have about implementing UDL is still being able to

teach the curriculum. I feel that our curriculum does not really give
us the flexibility to teach this when all assessments are the same for
all students and they have us teaching things in a certain way that is
not support UDL. If we could make or change the assessments that
they have us giving I think more students would succeed.
 Reflection Questions
Set #7
Question 4
The most significant learning I have had about
UDL is when we had to watch the 3 videos in
module 5. I learn by watching and doing. So
watching the videos helped me understand UDL
more than just reading the chapters because I
often forget information I read or get side
tracked while reading. The pictures in the
videos are what helped me remember what each
one means and includes.
 Reflection Questions
Set #7
Great Teacher Question 5
What I learned about learner centered principles will help me become a
better teacher because I will allow more student choice in the classroom,
and encourage more group/partner work in the classroom to build a better
sense of community in the classroom. The Understanding by Design
process will help me become a better teacher because I can now see how
working backwards is beneficial because you are teaching to the test and
you already know what you want the students to learn. It also has me
focusing on the guided questions for the day and making sure the students
understand what is expected of them that day. UDL is helping me become
a better teacher because it has showed be how to differentiate for the
students and how to approach the different ways to be flexible with the
materials and have more student engagement.