Student Teaching Reflection 2014 1.0

PART I: Positive Trends and Areas of Growth Reflection (based on Feedback from 449, master teacher, supervisor, etc…)

Instructions: Please take time to examine and reflect not only on your performance but also on all the feedback you have received from 449, master teachers, supervisors, etc..

Positive Trends

Look for any positive trends or patterns that have developed. Examples might be repeated comments from the Supervisor and/or Master Teacher(s) that you are improving in your command of the classroom, regularly working on content and academic vocabulary with students, and/or increased use of graphic organizers to support English learners and students with special needs.

I have been improving in the areas of monitoring student learning, my command of the classroom, time management, and in developing my own lesson plans. I personally think my biggest improvement has been in my command of the classroom, and I have received similar feedback from my master teacher and supervisor, they’ve noted a great improvement. I now more confidently use the entire classroom during content delivery, whereas I used to be more shy and stayed at the front of the room. I freely walk up and down the main center aisle and project my voice more (I have found my teacher voice) and this constant motion helps maintain student attention much better than before. Monitoring student learning was one of my stronger points from the beginning, and it has steadily improved as well. I get positive feedback from my master teacher and supervisor that I’m very diligent with walking up and down the aisles to check how each student is progressing on their assignments, to keep them on task, and that I make myself readily available for students to ask me one-on-one questions. I would also say that I’ve definitely improved my time management skills in the classroom. I used to frequently finish my lectures and assignments about 5 or 10 minutes before the end of class and be at a loss as to how to fill the extra time, however now I’ve gotten the hang of using all my class time. I’ve also gotten good encouragement and evaluations on lessons I’ve created, the last one my supervisor observed he noted that it really had the students engaged and he liked how they asked really good, thoughtful questions. He thought the assignment I created aligned very well with the new Common Core standards as well.

Areas of Growth

Identify areas that need specific attention, such as lesson closures tend to be missing or you are not extending "wait time" for students to process questions and develop responses.

An area that I still have difficulties with is classroom management at times. Mostly it’s when class discussions or group activities get too boisterous and I have a hard time reigning everyone back in or regaining students’ attention. I try different techniques, like waiting for them to stop before I continue on, to varying degrees of success. My 4th period class is a special ed. inclusion class with a lot of having attention and learning disorders, so that class is even more difficult for me to maintain control of. I think that sometimes I also have difficulty giving the students enough time to formulate responses during class discussions or when I ask them comprehension questions during a lecture. The silence tends to make me feel nervous and I sometimes rush them or give them the answers too quickly.