Change: Learning, Adapting, Modifying

In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the

Master of Arts Degree in Curriculum and Teaching

Department of Teacher Education, Michigan State University

Hannah Long

11/16/2020
Introduction:

“Build the plane while you are flying it,” This is the quote I continue to hear over and

over again the past few months in our current pandemic and now a metaphor I have

begun to correlate with my teaching experiences during my time within the Master of

Arts in Teaching in Curriculum (MATC). I have learned the importance of experience,

trying new things, reflection, analysis, and adapting. Teaching is a continued cycle of

learning. Just as my students learn by doing, I thrive by doing the same. I am constantly

looking at my own practice, reflecting and analyzing in order to adapt and shape my

own art of teaching.

My learning of analyzing and modifying began early throughout my student

teaching experiences. Within my first experience writing a unit, teaching, and later

analyzing my work (Artifact 4). I noticed changes occurs constantly during my lesson,

day to day planning of lessons and the unit as a whole. While I am “flying the plane” I

realize my students may not understand what I am teaching and therefore I notice the

need to “build my plane” simultaneously. I need to make a change in my lesson by

reteaching it a different way or implementing a different tool etc. I have learned how

reflection and analysis of my work affects my practice as a teacher as I note what

worked, did not work, what I need to improve on, and in the end, how to adapt my

teaching. I have continued to practice this throughout the MATC program as well as

adapting my reflection and teaching with the addition of research (Artifact 1). Through

research I can study my own teaching and create changes in my teaching to better

myself and my students. I have continued to realize this constant change occurring in

my teaching and therefore constantly changing and adapting my work. After teaching for

1
a few years, one would think they know what they are doing and can simply use the

plans they have created in the past. This can be true sometimes yet in some way there

continues to be a need of change and a need to grow my teaching. I continue to be

pushed with changes in our world and society as changes over time occur with

curriculum changes, policy changes, and as we are currently seeing, health changes. In

addition, student’s needs change year to year and as the year goes on their academic

needs begin to differ.

My goal has become taking changes as they are presented. I aim to learn how to

adapt and modifying my art teaching before, during and after. As I continue on, I realize

the impact it has to analyze my work in this way. I have pushed myself to test and use

research proven strategies to help extend and develop my own teaching into the best it

can while remaining fluid with factors of change in demographics, student population,

time, society, politics and more.

Changes over time

Since being admitted into this program I have learned and experienced the effects of

time, as time goes on over the years. I learned the literacy affects as well as other

curriculum and academic changes that occur. Time is not stagnant, and we must adapt

to our society.

Children’s Literacy

Throughout my courses I have analyzed literacy, specifically children’s literacy both in

the past and present. A major trend I found was as time changes, literacy adapts to

match the current time. In TE 836 I found a trend in books relating to its intended

audience of children at the time it was published. Texts tended to have some sort of

2
connection with its present time, which makes text relatable and thus enjoyable for

children to read. As time continues texts and author’s writing adapts to meet our societal

norm. Novels relate more to its intended audience by implementing more connectable

themes and topics around juvenile experiences (Artifact 5). I have taken these trends I

concluded throughout my work and have worked to implement and adapt my teaching

accordingly. Reading an older Caldecott winner may not be as exciting or capture my

student’s attention, due to its relatable and attraction, however implementing literacy

and classics is a teaching point I have adapted to highlight the changes in children’s

literature. I implemented reading classics to highlight technique differences. For

example, in Make way for Ducklings (McCloskey, 1941) my students immediately

noticed the difference in illustrations, with the illustrator using a different technique by

sketching and the lack of vibrant colors. In addition, I also think about change with

today’s society by implementing literature relevant to my children. As noted, with time,

literature changes to make connections and be relevant to the audience. Therefore, I

aim to find those books to make connections with my students. When student can relate

to characters and see themselves in books, they will take in more and the learning is

more relevant to them. I have aimed to incorporate more literature representing all my

children. I have found new releases such as Hair Love (Cherry, 2019) with the theme of

loving what you have and family. In addition, the African American representation allows

my students of this color to see themselves in literacy in our read aloud. I aim every

year to make changes with my book choices, finding new and old classics to enjoy and

relate to and help cultivate each student’s belonging and their own genius and unique

qualities they bring to my classroom.

3
Curriculum and Assessment

Another element that changes with time is our curriculum and assessments. With

curriculum change, comes change to our teaching. As I have researched in TE 808,

there are many methods and ways to approach teaching sight words. As time

continues, there are different studies that occur trying new methods, just as I was

researching and found. There is not one way to teach sight words, or any subject for

that matter, and as new studies continue to occur there are new approaches to try and

implement, just as I attempted myself (Artifact 1). As curriculum as a whole develops

teachers adapt to new content and learn how to teach and implement new curriculum. I

experienced and observed the impact of curriculum and its changes these past few

years. During my student teaching time I struggled creating a unit plan (artifact 4), due

to the lack of curriculum. I had nothing to look at or refer to, besides the Common Core

Standards due to the district’s process of writing. This district revealed a lack of

curriculum development and I felt I was inventing the wheel and writing my own writing

curriculum myself. I felt the lengthy process of writing a unit. I now realize the work that

goes into curriculum writing and how curriculum leaders are constantly editing, revising

and analyzing their work that goes into the process.

As curriculum changes, the knowledge and concept we want children to learn

develop, and therefore the assessments in how we analyze student’s knowledge of

these concepts advance. In TE 842 I learned how fluid the act of giving assessments

should remain. In addition, I was introduced and reintroduced to different forms of

assessments. Working in one district, I admittingly get used to the way my district

operates and assesses. However, right before my first year, they went through a big

4
curriculum change, adding on a new teaching tool and therefore implementing new

assessments. I am seeing this shift and new learning across all teachers, as we are all

learning together. TE 842 made me realized, weather I am staying at the same district

or not, there are different assessment implemented to assess children. I experienced

using different tools to monitor and analyze student’s reading data at all levels. Artifact 6

pushed me to break out of my emergent literacy ways and practice analyzing different

levels of readers. Although I have been teaching kindergarten for 3 years, I could easily

change grades and have this new teaching change occur and would therefore need to

be familiar with all varying readers and how to assess across grades.

Society

I have also experienced the change of time as we are making history with

teaching in a pandemic. This past year teaching has had a big impact in how I teach.

With the presence of a pandemic I have learned how to adapt to virtual teaching, a first

for many teachers across the world. Being in our current pandemic state, I have learned

to adopt my teaching methods moving them to a virtual platform as well as how to teach

social emotional learning, something our children need so badly right now. As I have a

few years under my belt teaching, I begin to learn how to manage and handle certain

situations. However, nothing could have prepared any teacher for this change. In the

early stages of the pandemic I was researching the effects of differentiated sight word

teaching throughout my time in TE 808 (Artifact 1). This course challenged me to

analyze my own teaching by researching strategies to implement. However, instead of

changing my day in this way I had to learn how to change my day teaching from home.

This impacted my research and I learned that things, out of my circle of control

5
elements, happen and then we learn a new normal. I practiced researching this topic to

implement in my class yet when it came to implement the strategy, instead I practiced

how to hypothesize my results. (Artifact 1). This pushed me outside my comfort zone for

I couldn’t truly test my research. I was forced to think in a different way and analyze

student learning in an alternate approach. Instead I thought about what could happen. I

altered my thinking to hypothesize the what if results creating my own conclusions

based on what I thought would have happened.

Student Changes

Students Year to Year

Every year I receive a new group of students and as teachers we adapt to their needs.

Students enter the classroom with different academic, behavior, social, and even

financial needs. In kindergarten especially, I see the range of academic needs

throughout my student every year. I usually receive a handful of children where

kindergarten is their first school experience. Therefore, they require more academic and

social attention. Then I have students who are “gifted” compared to other students.

Every year I adapt to better push all students academically, and push their learning

based on where they are. Some students are reading at a first-grade reading level and

others do not know any letters in the alphabet. I work to differentiate and manipulate

each child’s work to push and challenge them. Socially students are diverse too. Some

requiring more social attention and focus on teaching around sharing, taking turns, how

to be friends, etc.

Behaviorally, every year the class acts different as well. I have noticed one-year

students can handle painting all together as a class and the next year I have to paint

6
and complete art projects in small groups. TE 883 allowed me to study different

behavior management systems in order to better my teaching. However, even though

one strategy I studied worked one year the next year I learned to manipulate the

technique to fit the needs of my students. All students are different. They learn different

and respond to certain teaching styles differently. Artifact 2 grew my knowledge and

focused my attention on one student and their behavioral needs. It pushed me to

analyze this one student specifically and study what benefits them the most. Some

things I tried in the classroom would work for his behavior but others I saw the opposite

affects. Therefore, I learned that if one approach doesn’t work, to not get discouraged

but to adapt and modify to try teaching it or expressing my emotion to them in a different

way. My research was in Social Emotional Learning and in the end, I noticed a lot of

benefit with not only him behaviorally, but it also helped those students who struggle

emotionally. This year, with the great need of social emotional learning, being virtual

and distance, I have found great use in the past research and have been implementing

it virtually. I complete daily check in on the color zones, and especially at this age, they

love to share and are craving social interactions. Although some things do not work for

all, there are elements of teaching that can be overlapped and adapted for more than

one thing.

I have also learned it is ok to slow down and take things slow. Sometimes

slowing down is what the class needs, and not only do they benefit from it academically

to master the teaching point but emotionally. I have found a lot of times when students

struggle with a topic, they tend to act out behaviorally to show this frustration and their

sense of being lost.

7
 Both academically and behaviorally I am changing my teaching style to not only

meet the needs of my whole class, but individual students. Every year, the class

changes and student to student their needs differ. I have learned to reflect on my

practice to help every child within and I have learned that worked one year may not

work another year. Every year will not look the same and it is acceptable to modify,

adapt and slow down if needed in order to get my teaching across.

Academic Development

As previously discussed, children have different academic needs. They arrive to the

classrooms with different and varied needs. As a teacher it is our job to find their need

and help them grow. As students develop and learn, I adapt and modify teaching to

better differentiate to better help individual and small group needs. Artifact 1 I was able

to research differentiation and learned different strategies to differentiate teaching.

However, something else I discovered was the pace and development differences

between students. Why does one student develop more than others. Although my

teaching is benefitting this child and they are growing, why has another child plateaued

when they are receiving the same instruction? Artifact 3, I was able to pick one focus

student and study their learning. This way I could personally adapt my teaching

specially to them to help with literacy. This student was a struggling literacy learning

how had many different forms of intervention and I wanted to know what these already

put in place items were not helping him. Along the way, I learned different literacy tools

to strengthen not only his literacy need but to use in the future to try with other

struggling literacy learners. I combined my learning from this course TE 846 and TE 842

that assessments are fluid. I should be constantly assessing students formally and

8
informally to track what I need to do to help students grow. Assessment drives

instruction and helps me change, adapt and modify teaching in order to get results. The

constant flow of analyzing students and their learning is constantly changing how I think

and approach teaching and is something I will continue to do down the road.

Learning and Change will Continue

Although I encountered a lot of change these past few years, I know this change will

continue on. Every year, veteran teacher or not, teachers are constantly learning,

learning alongside our new group of students. For every year we encounter new

students, new behaviors, new academic challenges and new society impacts in our day

to day. Change will always be fluid and I have learned to adapt to many different

situations. I plan to continue to be moldable, adaptable, and continue to learn by doing

as I build my “teaching” plane while flying.