Jessie Bowlin

During my first several years of college, it never crossed my mind to become an educator. In fact, I had planned to attend pharmacy school at the University of Charleston. My mind was set until I was offered a teaching position through the Upward Bound Program. I had been a member of this program, and was more than obliged to return to work with the students. For one year, I taught the students chemistry and ACT math. My experience as a teacher for this program changed my perspective of my future career. Reflecting back, I believe I made the best decision in changing my major  to chemistry education. I have reflected on my growth and realized that I have become a more accomplished student and well-rounded person. It is my commitment to promote growth and positive changes to become an effective, professional educator. 

​

To reflect upon my growth, I have included two lessons that show improvement in my content knowledge and pedagogical knowledge. In my first lesson, I taught about the different types of bonds, their characteristics, and how to model such bonds for compounds and molecules. The second lesson focused on defining and classifying isotopes, as well as calculating the average atomic mass based upon the abundance of isotopes. The first lesson incorporated an excessive amount of information to be taught in such a short time frame. Reflecting on this lesson, I feel that I should have focused on one specific area of the content, to ensure student understanding and avoid confusion. Also, within a forty-five minute period, it was difficult to perform all of the activities in the lesson plan. For the second lesson, I focused on one specific area, isotopes. I was given ninety minutes for this lesson, which gave me the opportunity to implement several activities focused on understanding isotopes, such as the “Bean Bag Isotopes” lab experiment. By comparing both lessons, I have realized that I do not need to incorporate multiple standards into one lesson, especially when given a short class period. Students need time to process and master content skills. It is also crucial to incorporate activities over several days to support objectives for a specific concept.

​

Throughout my experiences in the classroom, I have also reflected upon my pedagogical knowledge. After teaching my first lesson, I realized that I did not effectively differentiate instruction. I was not aware of using informal and formal assessments, in order to alter my pedagogy to ensure student understanding. In comparison, I provided a detailed differentiated instruction chart in my last lesson plan. I improved my “withitness” in the classroom by paying close attention to student behavior and student actions in the classroom.

​

​