Teacher Workday

 

Candidate Name: Xiomara Livingston 3/12//2021

Week of Reflection: (list the date of the Friday for week just completed)

   

• Rate your overall experience of the week: 1-Very difficult | 5 – Great week

I would rate this week a 5! This week was another great week. The school board voted to increase student rotations starting on March 22nd. Today is a teacher workday. I am rearranging my classroom to prepare for students returning on March 22nd. We will have a total of 16 in person students and 5 virtual. I participated in PLC and professional development on Friday. Going in person on a teacher workday helped me to understand what teachers do and what they need to plan and prepare to teach and enhance students educational experiences. Teachers work hard on teacher workdays!

• Seven questions to end your week:

• Observe: What pleasant surprises / accomplishments did I achieve this week? My students have been learning about energy in science this week. I was surprised by how fast students were able to put together a circuit to turn on a light during small groups. 

• Reflect: What lessons did my work/experiences teach me that I will build upon next week? This week my CE observed my literacy and math lessons. Her feedback was very helpful. I showed strength in teaching  content vocabulary and helping students to understand learning targets. I need to focus more on “I Do” modeling each reading skill. Cut down on the learning objectives and focus on one or two per lesson. Breaking down the lessons will allow me to go more in depth and help students gain a deeper understanding of the learning objectives. 

• Focus:  How are my short-term efforts and my long-term goals still aligned? My short term goals are to finish student teaching strong and graduate. My long term goal is to become an effective teacher. Possibly a national board certified teacher. My CE is a national board certified teacher. 

• Be Productive: What could I have spent more or less time doing? This week was very productive in the classroom. I think i managed my time very well. I reviewed my lessons each night to prepare for the next day. 

• Have Courage:  How did apprehension and indecision impact what I did and didn’t do? This week I tried something new. I introduced students to our class plant! Several students have an interest in plants. I decided to gift students a class plant. Something we can all take care of. I wasn’t sure if students would be excited. They were! The class took a vote and named her Rosie! Students were excited to learn that she originates from South America and that her name (peperomia rosso is of greek origin. This ties in to our international studies and our study of Greece.

• Begin Anew: What is the first logical step(s) for next week? What mental clutter can I clear? Keep going. We are almost at the finish line! Finish strong! The first logical step is to keep putting one foot in front of the other and show up every day! The student teaching experience is preparing me with the tools I need to be an effective teacher. I am adding things to my portfolio.

• What were some data you analyzed this week and how did it help guide your decisions? I analyzed data from math exit tickets. Students had to write a fraction and a decimal to represent the base 10 blocks and word problems. The results showed which students needed more practice. Students had the hardest time writing decimals in the 100ths place. I told students to think of decimals as money. To the left of the decimal are the whole dollars and to the right of the decimal is the change. This helped students understand place value and write the decimal correctly. 

• NC Professional Teaching Standards (be sure to reference activities from your lesson plans to solidify your answer)

• Pick an element from standard one of the evaluation tools and explain some activities/strategies you implemented this week to increase your rating for the element. This week I demonstrated leadership during PLC by selecting activities that we could incorporate into our science and literacy lessons. 

• 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. This week I added English/Spanish paper accents that featured colors and numbers in English and Spanish. This supports all students and helps them to understand and appreciate other languages. 

• 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. I teach the NC Standard Course of Study. Each week I plan lessons that are aligned with the NCSCOS. I deepen students' understanding by making instruction relevant to students by incorporating life skills such as leadership. This week I made math relevant to students by having them think about decimals as if it were money.

• 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. I participated in PLC this week. We create test aligned with state standards and discussed preparation for the EOG’s

• 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. This week I researched strategies to increase movement and make learning fun for students. 

 Other:

• What components of your portfolio have you started to complete? I added to my running logs for my teacher portfolio.

• What support does your clinical educator need from Mrs. Suttle? My CE does not need any support at this time.

• What support do you need from Mrs. Suttle? I do not need any additional support at this time.