Lab C: Breakdancing

In this lab I taught breakdancing The art of breakdancing was a new  subject to me, and before I taught it I learned the dance as best as I could. I spent hours preparing for this lab, and I feel as though that the preparation really helped. When I teach I have a need to organize the learning environment so that many of the external variables that could hinder the lesson become less of a threat. I feel as though the need I have for organization cut down much of the time taken in managing the class during the lesson.

The lesson itself went alright, I would not say that it was perfect by any means, but I feel as though I was able to orate the cues in a manor that everyone participating would understand. The technology part of my lesson had a malfunction, so during my introduction I tried to explain what was seen in the video I was going to present, and the correlation I was going to make to the historical facts that I had prepared. This caused for quite a long introduction, in fact I believe it was almost three minutes before any activity took place, but I felt as though the background information was important and acted as a hook into my lesson.

I decided to start with introductory skills of breakdancing because this is how any unit is started, and I modeled this lesson to the first class of the new breakdancing unit. If I were to reteach this lesson I would probably keep the same skills I had, but probably add one or two more skills. I felt as though the practice of these basic skills started becoming monotonous to some students, and after a while a few started losing interest. I did not notice this as I was teaching, but upon further review of the tape I could see this in the body language and faces of some of participants. Also when I was filling out the feedback form I noticed that I did not give much feedback to the people in the back row of the group. I remember watching them, but I did not give any feedback. I will change this in my future lessons, so that everyone is acknowledged.

For Lab D I want to encompass all that I have learned and observed in the months of being here at Cortland. I truly want to be the best in my field. I want to make an impact on people, and educate them about how to take care of their bodies along with their minds. God only gives a person one body and one mind. This needs to last a person their entire life. I feel like I am here to help people understand how to do so, and I am glad I have the opportunity to make an impact.

Lab B2: Jump-Rope Lab

This lesson did not go the way I had intended. I had planned almost a week in advanced for this lesson because the tremendous about work my other classes were calling for, and I knew I would not have the time to prepare everything in one week. I had written everything I would say, and how I would react to various complications that may have arose. I found during this lesson though that it was not an outside variable that would be the problem, but instead it would be myself.

I divided my lesson into two parts, each part teaching a skill that had to do with jump-roping. The first half of the lesson was were everything had gone wrong. I wanted to get to the gymnasium early to prepare for lesson, getting all the necessary equipment out, and setting up my display. When I reached the gymnasium about twenty minutes early I had realized I forgot some of my equipment in my room, so I ran back and got most of it, then the rest with the help of my TA. Once this was done I had about seven minutes to prepare, which was not what I planned for. During the first half of my lesson my mind was not into teaching, I failed at not being able to put on my teaching mask. I was still thinking about how frustrated I was that I had planned so hard, and forgot so much. This caused me to forget checking for understanding, and explanation of cues for the first half of my lesson. After I about a minute or two I regrouped in my head, and the second half of the lesson went quite well. I was able to cut my instruction down in time, give congruent feedback, and make my lesson consist of a greater amount of activity than in previous lessons.

This negative outlook to my lesson I later found out was solely my own. The other students that were participating in my lesson did not even realize I had made any mistakes. One of the TA's did not even notice either. This leads me to believe that I may be over critical of myself, which I do not think is necessarily a bad thing, for it makes me work harder. It can be though when it causes my mind to wander while I am teaching. These are situations that I am learning from, and I just need to not make the same mistakes twice. 

NCATE Standards at SUNY Cortland

NCATE or "The National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education" is the teaching profession’s mechanism to help to establish high quality teacher, specialist, and administrator preparation. NCATE believes that every student is deserving of a high quality, and caring teacher. NCATE has developed a conceptual framework that each of the institutions this method is taught in need to follow. These "standards" help educators work effectively in P-12 schools. 

Standard 1: Candidate Knowledge, Skills, and Professional 
Disposition
Candidates preparing to work in school as teachers or other school professionals know and demonstrate the content knowledge, pedagogical content knowledge and skills, pedagogical and professional knowledge and skills, and professional disposition necessary to help all students learn. Assessments indicate that candidates meet professional, state, and institutional standards. 
Standard 2: Assessment Systems and Unit Evaluation
The unit has an assessment system that collects and analyzes data on applicant qualifications, candidate and graduate performance, and unit operations to evaluate and improve the performance of candidates, the unit, and its programs. 
Standard 3: Field Experiences and Clinical Practice
The unit and its school partners design, implement, and evaluate field experiences and clinical practice so that teacher candidates and other school professionals develop and demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and professional disposition necessary to help all students learn.
Standard 4: Diversity
The unit designs, implements, and evaluates curriculum and provides experiences for candidates to acquire and demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and professional dispositions necessary to help students learn. Assessments indicate that candidates can demonstrate and apply proficiencies related to diversity. Experiences provided for candidates include working with diverse populations, including higher education and P-12 school faculty, candidates, and students in P-12 schools. 
Standard 5: Faculty Qualifications, Performance, and Development
Faculty are qualified and model best professional practices in scholarship, services, and teaching, including the assessment of their own effectiveness as related to candidate performance. They also collaborate with colleagues in the disciplines and schools. The unit systematically evaluates faculty performance and facilities professional development. 
Standard 6: Unit Governance and Resources
The unit has leadership, authority, budget, personal, facilities, and resources, including information technology resources, for the preparation of candidates to meet professional, state, and institutional standards. 


When first learning of NCATE I was not sure what this organization was, or how it correlated with my learning, because I had been at a community college for the first two years of my education. After transferring to SUNY Cortland and reading about the NCATE standards I now can see that everything I do within the curriculum revolves around these six standards. Reading over these I can think of a lesson I have done, or a class I have been apart of here at SUNY Cortland that has been directly influenced by the NCATE standards. This is why I feel here at SUNY Cortland the NCATE standards are being taught and used effectively for all teacher candidates.