UNE Reflection

Catherine Queen
21 June 2014

From the time I decided I wanted to become an educator, I have been passionate about
the holistic development of students. My experience has only reinforced this core objective. I see
my role as a teacher as extending beyond students academic achievement, as I seek to address
their social, emotional, and physical needs. In my classroom, I teach my students to think,
analyze, create, design, and dreamall skills which can be used in and out of academic settings.
My time at University of New England (UNE) has reinforced my passion for creating a
classroom community where students feel valued and are challenged to think critically about the
world around them.
One of my first courses I took at UNE was Differentiation Theory & Strategies. I had the
misconception that differentiation was solely based on students academic readiness. Through
that course, my definition of differentiation broadened to including student learning profile and
interest, an idea that has revolutionized my classroom practice. Students learn, think, and create
in different ways (Tomlinson, 1999) and it is my role to discover how my students learn best. By
empowering students to choose their tasks based on their interests, students feel greater
motivation (Anderman & Anderman, 2010). I have seen my students grow in their academic
achievement through differentiation. For example, by differentiating assessments, my students
choose how best to communicate what they have learned according to their skills.
The next course that significantly impacted my teaching practices was Study Skills &
Content Literacy. This course was particularly helpful for me because I teach at a school where
we use a transdisciplinary curriculum. It is very rare that I teach literacy without incorporating it
into my social studies or science units, but this course gave me practical ways to meaningfully
combine the disciplines. For example, in a unit I taught on the human body, I used a strategy I
learned called Talking Drawings. In this strategy, students draw a picture of what they think
something looks like before learning about it. With each body system we learned about, students
first drew what organs or parts of the system were in the body. Then I read a book about that
system by Seymour Simon and the students drew another picture based on what they learned.
Students were able to apply what they learned from the book to their new understanding of the
science concept. Students then practiced the strategy independently as a way to enhance their
reading comprehension. I find these tools especially important for my students who are learning
English as a second language.
The last course that had a lasting impression on my teaching was Teaching & Learning in
Inclusion Settings. I teach at a school where there is not an official special education program,
but has a significant number of students who struggle and need IEPs. This course gave me
different strategies to better serve those studentsstrategies that extend beyond differentiation.
As I was taking that class, I had no idea I would teach a student with physical disabilities the
following school year. The course gave me ideas for how I could best help him succeed in my
class. For example, his Spanish teacher and I have decided to let him type instead of handwrite
many of his writing assignments, as his physical limitations have made developing fine motor
skills difficult for him.
All of my courses through UNE have been very helpful and have had an impact on my
classroom practice. Through the discussions in each course I have learned about the importance
of collaboration. I have learned so much through the people from all over the world I have had
classes with. I value the professional conversations I have had with my peers and hope to
continue those conversations at the different educational institutions I teach in the future.
Works Consulted
Anderman Eric M. and Anderman, Lynley Hicks (2010). Classroom Motivation (1st Edition).
Pearson Merrill Prentice-Hall.
Tomlinson, C. A. (1999). The differentiated classroom responding to the needs of all learners.
Alexandria, Va.: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.