RevaLu Ronnfeldt

3rd Grade Spanish Class Instructor

2015-2016 School Year
Description
This artifact is a letter of recommendation from my Spanish teacher at La Farge Schools
for a program I applied for recounting my experiences teaching the third-grade class Spanish as a
project for my Spanish three class. I taught the class alongside another Spanish 3 student every
Friday for 40 minutes. We created lesson plans every Thursday for which we planned the subject
of our lesson, created worksheets to evaluate their progress, and designed games that would aid
in the comprehension of the lessons. I learned to work with my fellow instructor as well as the
students through this experience.
Alignment
Wisconsin Teacher Standard Alignment:
This artifact best aligns with Standard 10: Collaboration- The teacher fosters
relationships with school colleagues, parents, and agencies in the larger community to support
pupil learning and well-being and acts with integrity, fairness and in an ethical manner.
The experience of teaching third grade Spanish fits in well with standard ten because I
had to collaborate with my co-teacher to create lesson plans, and teach the lessons. I also had to
communicate with the third-grade teacher to decide when our lessons would be and to discuss
what we would be doing in our lessons. My co-teacher and I had to figure out the best way the
third-grade students would learn; to figure this out, we consulted the teacher about some of our
ideas and found out what she thought was best, as well as asking the class what they would like
to learn. After we discussed what the teacher and students thought would work best, we created
lesson plans that incorporated both of their ideas. This lead to a lot of collaboration between us,
the third-grade teacher, and the third-grade classroom. One of the reasons that collaboration was
so important was, we were new at leading a classroom and planning lessons, so we needed to
collaborate with other teachers to figure out what worked best for our students. This experience
helped me learn how to collaborate with many different people at once; it also taught me how
important collaboration is for teachers. I can honestly say I learned a lot about working with
others and collaboration during this experience.
UW-Platteville Knowledge, Skill, Disposition Alignment:
This artifact best aligns with KSD2.c: Manages Classroom Procedures- The candidate
values and has the ability to manage self-motivated students and instructional groups who are
productively and independently working at all times with classroom transitions and routines
occurring smoothly. The teacher, volunteers, paraprofessionals and students share the
responsibility of the classroom environment.
When I was teaching Spanish to the third-grade class it was essential that me and my coteacher managed the classroom effectively. If we did not manage the classroom the students
would not be able to learn properly. We created group and individual activities for the students
to ensure a fuller learning experience, because of this we had to learn how to make sure they

were working on what we were asking them to work on and not getting off track. They had a
tendency to want to work together on individual projects and we had to learn to make sure they
were working on their own. We also had to learn to transition smoothly from a group activity or
a game to an individual activity. This was something much more challenging to do, but we
learned how to get their attention effectively. One way we did this was listen and respond. That
would always quickly grab their attention and we could move on. Over the course of the year I
learned how to manage my classroom effectively. At the end of the year I felt like the students
had learned exactly what we had wanted them to learn. A large part of this accomplishment was
because we were able to manage the classroom and keep the students focused.
Secondary KSDs:
KSD4.c. Communicating with Families
KSD4.d. Participating in a Professional Community
KSD4.f. Showing Professionalism
Reflection
What I learned about teaching/learning from this experience:
Teaching the third-grade Spanish class taught me a lot about what it is like to instruct a
classroom full of kids. I learned how to collaborate with my peers and those above me to create
a great learning experience for my students. I know it is the students that matter most and
finding a way for them to learn effectively is the most important thing a teacher needs to do. In
order to make sure the students have all they need, a teacher needs to be able to collaborate with
their peers, superiors, and the students parents. I also learned how to manage a classroom
effectively and make sure the students are learning. A teacher needs to know how to keep their
students working and prevent them from getting distracted. Doing this means you must work
with your class to create a well-managed learning environment.
What I learned about myself as a prospective educator as a result of this experience:
This experience made me realize I wanted to be a teacher. I learned that I love seeing
students understand new things, and I enjoy seeing the process they go through to comprehend
what I am teaching them. The third-grade class made me realize how important teachers are to
the development of students. Teachers affect students beyond the classroom. A good educator
can influence someone for the rest of their lives. I want to be that teacher for someone; I have
always wanted to enter a career where I can make a difference, and I now know teaching is that
career. I also learned what a teacher must do to become a good educator. They must be able to
collaborate with other teachers, their students, and the students parents. I realized how enriching
it was for me as teacher to be able to collaborate with other teachers and my students, and I
realized this is something I want to do for the rest of my life. This experience made me realize I
am capable of becoming and desire to become an effective educator.