Week of Reflection: January 8, 2021

 

• Rate and explain your overall experience of the week: 1 - Very difficult to 5 - Great week
• This week was around a 3 for me. Not because it was especially difficult, but the first week after a break is always a bit tough. The students have to get readjusted to the schedule and rules, and so do I. I also started filming my edTPA this week which added some stress. Today ended up being a snow day (more of a rain day, but oh well), so that made the week a little bit shorter.
• Response to these questions to end your week:
• Observe: What pleasant surprises/accomplishments did I achieve this week?
• I was proud of myself this week for recording my first edTPA lessons. With Cohort A I was able to do Lessons 1 and 2. With B I was only able to record 1, but I felt like it went better than Lesson 1 did for cohort A. I was pleasantly surprised by how well both groups did with the lessons I was presenting. They made some great connections on their own. 
• Reflect: What lessons did my work/experiences teach me that I will build upon next week?
• I was very nervous about the first lesson. Even though I have been an assistant for years, and I have been with these students all year, I was still nervous to teach the lesson. Partially because it was the first lesson of my student teaching career, and partially because it was my edTPA lesson and that is such a big deal. By the end of the week, I was much more comfortable with myself and with my students, so I plan to build on that feeling and become more relaxed and comfortable with myself and my teaching. 
• Focus:  How are my short-term efforts and my long-term goals still aligned?
• All of my short-term goals are pieces of my long-term goals. I have reviewed the Syllabus for Student teaching, and the requirements for the portfolio and I have started to break these things down into bite-sized pieces so that they aren't so overwhelming, and so that I can have a full picture of everything that I need to do to be successful this semester. 
• Be Productive: What could I have spent more or less time doing?
• Overall, I am pretty satisfied with my productivity for the week. I balanced work, school, and family pretty well. I know that this will become more difficult in the weeks ahead, but I am going to try to keep a balance. I used my time at school wisely and did a lot of my planning while I was there so that I could spend more time with my family when I was at home. 
• Have Courage:  How did apprehension and indecision impact what I did and didn’t do?
• Apprehension definitely caused me to hold back in the first lesson that I taught this week. I was nervous and it caused me to feel like the whole lesson was bad. After talking with my CE I was able to see that it was actually a good lesson and that I just need to relax and look for the good. 
• Begin Anew: What is the first logical step(s) for next week? What mental clutter can I clear?
• My first steps for next week are to write a rough draft of Task 1 and to prepare the lesson plans that I need to have to my CE by Wednesday. I would like to have both of these things completed tomorrow so that I can take some time on Sunday to review and revise. 

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?
• Our students completed their iStation middle of year assessment this week. Although we haven't fully analyzed this data yet, we did begin looking at it to see which students will be needing extra support in the future. We will be analyzing this data further next week to adjust our guided reading and writing groups and determine which students may need additional support from our Title One teachers. 
• What is one piece of advice you can share with other student teachers?
• My one piece of advice comes from being an assistant for many years more than from student teaching. I feel like most of us already know this, but relationships are so important. Taking the time to know your students and know when something doesn't seem quite right with them makes such a difference in how you teach them. Is there a student who is normally on it and with you every step and today they aren't? That is a good indicator that something isn't quite right. Maybe they just didn't sleep well, but it could be something bigger so it is always worth asking them about. I find this to be even more true now that we only see the students face to face 2 days a week. 

• 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.
• Standard 1a: Teachers lean in their classrooms: As I mentioned above, my CE and I began looking at iStation data in order to appropriately plan and provide instruction for our students moving forward in this semester. 
• 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.
• Standard 2a: Teachers provide an environment in which each child has a positive, nurturing relationship with caring adults: With our current Plan B set-up (cohort A on Monday and Tuesday, and cohort B on Thursday and Friday) it had been almost 3 weeks since we had seen our students. Because of this, we took extra time at the beginning of Monday and Thursday to welcome them back, and show that we cared about the things that they had done over the break. We also spent a lot of time reminding them of the rules and worked to ease them back into the routine of school which is also an example of a way to show them that we care about them as people, not only about the academic side of things. 
• 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.
• Standard 3a: Teachers align their instruction with the North Carolina Standard Course of Study: When I was planning my edTPA lessons, I made sure that they matched the NCSCOS; and that they were on a topic that I felt my students would be interested in and ready for. I considered the other things that we have learned this year and the way that we have built on prior knowledge throughout the year and continued this process in my lessons.  
• 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.
• Standard 4a: Teachers know the ways in which learning takes place, and they know the appropriate levels of intellectual, physical, social, and emotional development of their students: This is an area that I am definitely still working on. I feel like I have a decent understanding of these things, but I am still working out what the differentiation for them looks like. I feel like I have started making progress in that area in my edTPA lesson plans, but I am continuing to finalize them this weekend. 
• 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.
• Standard 5c: Teachers function effectively in a complex, dynamic environment: I think that this is definitely something that all teachers are working on with the way things are right now. This week my CE and I discussed in depth different things that we will need to do if our school changes to Plan A or Plan C. I have spent some time this week researching and reading about different strategies to use in a fully remote situation, and we planned the ways that we will change things and help the students adapt if/when things change. 
• Other:
• What components of your edTPA and portfolio have you started to complete?
• I have completed my edTPA lesson plans and I have recorded the first two lessons.
• My CE and I discussed the student that I will work with for the Classroom Management element of the portfolio. We also discussed the next steps that I should take for the School Improvement Plan element. 
• What support does your Clinical Educator need from your University Supervisor?What support do you need from your University Supervisor?
• There is no additional support needed by either of us at this time. I have already emailed with a lot of questions and my US responded quickly.