Assignment 1: Virtual Field Experience: Communicating with Students and Developing Rapport
Recall one of your favorite teachers from your school days. Who comes to mind immediately, and why? What qualities of that teacher can you recognize now as examples of knowledge, skills, and attitudes that are essential for teaching and reaching every student? In particular, what do you remember about the teacher’s communication style and how the teacher worked to connect with you and your classmates?
Great teachers are highly effective communicators. Understanding the many dimensions of communication that matter in the classroom is a key course standard. To be a strong communicator you must also utilize effective listening techniques. Draw from your experience with great teachers to consider listening skills, communication theory, language development, and the role of language in learning. You can also benefit from observing teachers in the classroom. For this Assignment, you will use a virtual field experience to observe and critique a lesson presented by a teacher, with particular attention to her communication and rapport with students.
To prepare:
Access the handout “Virtual Field Experience Observation” from the Week 3 Learning Resources. You will use the questions for guidance in viewing the video and in completing your analysis of what you observe.
Based on the questions, review Week 3 Learning Resources that can strengthen your ability to recognize and analyze specific teacher behaviors and responses in the video lesson (e.g., teacher communication, verbal and nonverbal; listening skills, teacher rapport with students; how the teacher has planned and manages instruction; questioning techniques).
View the Virtual Field Experience video as many times as needed. Take notes on the handout of what you observe.
Reflect on your notes and how you would assess the teacher’s performance, particularly her communication and rapport with students.
Reflect on the value of observing teachers in the classroom as a means of professional development.
Access the Walden Course Paper Template from the Week 3 Resources. Note: You are not required to provide an abstract for this Assignment.
To complete this Assignment:
Using the Walden Course Paper Template, write an analysis that addresses the points below. Cite all Learning Resources in APA style.
Describe focus areas from the handout that you observed, providing specific examples from the video and support from the resources.
Identify any focus areas from the sheet that you did not observe. Explain recommendations for how the teacher could include these elements of her teaching, citing resources to support your thinking.
Explain at least one recommendation for how the teacher could strengthen her cultural responsiveness, citing resources to support your views.
Using the Learning Environment Rubric on the Virtual Field Experience Observation handout, evaluate the teacher based on the criteria of the rubric. Provide specific examples from the video to validate the score you give.
Explain the value of observing teachers in the classroom as a means of professional development. Summarize your conclusions in terms of benefits as well as cautions to consider.
Assignment 1 is a Word document of 2 pages.