TPE 13

TPE 13.1

TPE 13.1 Sets professional goals for increasing subject matter knowledge and teaching effectiveness.

In the Educator Disposition assignment I did for MACI 600, I decided to focus on my classroom management. Students cannot learn if they do not feel they are in a safe environment, which includes building a good foundation with a strong community. With this being said, I chose to work on disposition 5: demonstrates preparedness in teaching and learning. I want to work on being more prepared in terms of being able to manage a large class size of students and changing things on the spot during lessons depending on students' knowledge of understanding. I also created a SMART goal for myself so I could easily measure the progress I was making towards my goal. Lastly, I included different resources that I found to help me meet my goal. This assignment and research helped me transition from my Fall student teaching general education placement to my SPED placement in the Spring. I incorporated different versions of call-to-attention verbal cues with my students, which the kids love. I have also learned about the importance of routine and structure for my students. Many of my students are most successful with a structured daily routine that they are used to and comfortable with. I use a daily visual schedule with students, which helps them with transitions.

Throughout my student teaching residency, I have been working towards reaching my individual teaching goals. The goals I made for myself apply to teaching both general and special education. The first goal I made for myself was to enhance students' higher order thinking skills and incorporate more kinesthetic learning. I have been watching TED talks, listening to podcasts, and reading chapters from a book to work on reaching this goal. The second goal I made for myself was to create an effective classroom management plan that maximizes student learning. Classroom management is something that I will continuously work on as a teacher. I have been reading different online posts from other educators all over the country and taking notes of different management strategies. I have also been reviewing the book Better Than Carrots of Sticks and taking notes on key points. The last goal I wrote for myself was to continue to learn about old and new strategies to implement in my daily practice. As a teacher, I am constantly learning about different ways to teach subject matter effectively. I will continue working on these goals in the future.

In my professional disposition evaluation, my site supervisor provided feedback on my teaching halfway through my semester. She provided information on the strengths of my teaching, however, she also mentioned an area of something I needed to work on. I completely agreed with the focus area of taking command of the classroom, which I believe I have grown a lot in over the semester. This will continue to be an on-going goal for me, but I have changed the goal for myself moving forward to a more broad area of classroom management. I believe this is something that will constantly be changing throughout the years, but is necessary in creating a positive and safe classroom environment. I have included pictures of my formative EDA, as well as my summative EDA, where my site supervisor included general comments on my teaching.