Week of Reflection: January 15, 2021

• Rate and explain your overall experience of the week: 1 - Very difficult to 5 - Great week

                This week was a 4 for me. It has been really good. I haven't gotten as much accomplished on my work for GWU as I would like, but things at school went well and I was able to finish recording my edTPA learning segment.

• Response to these questions to end your week:

• Observe: What pleasant surprises/accomplishments did I achieve this week?

                        As I said above, the only thing that I really feel that I have accomplished this week is recording my edTPA lessons. I did have a pleasant surprise that my CE really liked the activity that I used to help my students remember what the parts of a Venn Diagram are and how we use them. That made me feel like I really can do this. I was feeling a little down before that.

• Reflect: What lessons did my work/experiences teach me that I will build upon next week?

                        One of the experiences that I had this week was having a lesson that just clicked. It felt right for me, the students were engaged and with me, and they remembered the things I had taught them last week so we were able to build on that this week. I will build on this by having more confidence in myself and my abilities to think of and implement good ideas.

• Focus:  How are my short-term efforts and my long-term goals still aligned?

                        My short-term efforts are still baby steps to help me achieve my long-term goals. I have had to adapt them a little based on some changes that were out of my control, but they are still aligned.

• Be Productive: What could I have spent more or less time doing?

                        I could have spent more time working on things that I need to submit for my portfolio. I could have spent less time worrying over little things that probably won't have too much of an impact on the big picture.

• Have Courage:  How did apprehension and indecision impact what I did and didn’t do?

                        I could have submitted my lesson plans for next week to my CE earlier and cleared something from my to-do list if I hadn't been apprehensive that they weren't good enough. She offered me some positive feedback, a few small changes, but nothing worth the amount of worry I went through.

• Begin Anew: What is the first logical step(s) for next week? What mental clutter can I clear?

                        Once I get through the edTPA Bootcamp tomorrow, I plan to immediately start planning the lessons that I will be teaching on January 25-29 so that I can get those submitted to my CE early and move on to other things.

Adapted from: Cernoff, M. (2013, August 7). 7 Questions to End Your Week With. . Retrieved July 21, 2014, from http://www.marcandangel.com/2013/08/08/7-questions-to-end-your-week-with/

• What were some data you analyzed this week and how did it help inform your instructional decisions?

            My CE and I spent more time looking through our students' iStation data and planning new small group assignments for them based on their needs. This will help me as I plan for these groups and as I plan differentiated instruction and supports in the whole group setting. 

• What is one piece of advice you can share with other student teachers?

            Don't be afraid to ask questions, even if you are a TA and have been doing this for a long time. There is a lot of stuff that we don't know or have access to as TAs and so there is a lot of stuff that we may not know. Our CEs may assume we know since we have been TAs for a while, but don't be afraid to tell them if you don't understand. They want to help us, they just need to know what we need.

• NC Teacher Candidate Standards (Be sure to reference activities from your lesson plans to solidify your answer.)

• Pick an element from standard one of the evaluation tool and explain some activities/strategies you implemented this week to increase your rating for the element.

                        1a. Teachers lead in their classrooms: During my edTPA learning segment, I gave my students several opportunities to collaborate with each other. I also used this time to remind them how important it is to be respectful of each other and to give everyone a chance to participate.

• Pick an element from standard two of the evaluation tool and explain some activities/strategies you implemented this week to increase your rating for the element.

                        2d. Teachers adapt their teaching for the benefit of students with special needs: I am not sure whether this belongs under this week or next week, but since I was planning it this week I included it here. Next week I will begin teaching the social-emotional lessons to our students. We have one student who has been diagnosed with ASD. I know that this can make understanding feelings a bit difficult for this student, so I asked my CE and our EC teacher for some additional resources that I can use when teaching these things to him.

• Pick an element from standard three of the evaluation tool and explain some activities/strategies you implemented this week to increase your rating for the element.

                       3c. Teachers recognize the interconnectedness of content areas/disciplines: This week as I was teaching the edTPA learning segment I used the books The Hat and The Mitten by Jan Brett. Both of these books take place in winter, and we have been learning about winter during our science and social studies lessons, so I was able to relate the books back to the other things our students had been learning.  

• Pick an element from standard four of the evaluation tool and explain some activities/strategies you implemented this week to increase your rating for the element.

                        4c. Teachers use a variety of instructional methods: As I taught my edTPA lessons this week, I made sure to teach the concepts in different ways in order to meet the needs of the different learners in my class. I used hand motions, a Venn diagram, and hula hoops that the students got to move and stand in to help them remember the definitions of compare and contrast as well as how they can use a Venn Diagram to help them organize their thoughts when they are comparing and contrasting two items.

• Pick an element from standard five of the evaluation tool and explain some activities/strategies you implemented this week to increase your rating for the element.

                        5a. Teachers analyze student learning: As I was teaching cohort A this week, I was already thinking about what worked and what didn't work in my lessons. Although I didn't change those things at this time since it is my edTPA learning segment and I wanted it to be the same for both groups. This helped me to see how teachers are constantly assessing student understanding during instruction and how they use this information to adapt for the next lesson, and sometimes in the middle of the lesson, they are teaching.

• Other:

• What components of your edTPA and portfolio have you started to complete?

                        I have almost completed edTPA task 1 in preparation for the Bootcamp tomorrow. I have finished recording my learning segment for task 2. I have not worked on any other elements of my portfolio this week because I have been devoting my time to edTPA.

• What support does your Clinical Educator need from your University Supervisor?

• What support do you need from your University Supervisor?

                        Neither of us feels that we need any additional support at this time.