TPE 8

TPE 8.1

TPE 8.1

Gets to know students’ a) skills, knowledge, and academic language abilities, b) personal abilities and interests, c) communication modality, and d) health and other risk factors through interpersonal interactions, formal and informal assessments, and parent communication and involvement.

Making a connection with students' is extremely valuable in planning lessons as I can get to know their abilities, interests, and other factors and plan instruction in a way that best suits them. I have gotten to know my students in a variety of different ways. I talk to students throughout the day and at their recess/lunch breaks to get to know them. I also get to know my students through different lessons. For example, I taught a lesson about poetry and had my students write an acrostic poem about themselves, using their names. Throughout this lesson I was able to talk to students and help them brainstorm different things that describe themselves. I taught this lesson shortly after I joined the class, allowing me to get to know the students. I learned what students liked and were interested in, as well as more personal information such as one student being hungry. I have used this information about students to help me plan lessons and engage students in learning content. For example, one of my students loves cats and we recently did an opinion writing assignment. I helped this student brainstorm different things about cats she could write about. Another example is how a lot of my students talked about liking games or sports, which is why I have incorporated more game based learning to help engage students in learning different content. I have seen an increase in motivation when students get to learn through games or when an activity is competitive.

In my second student teaching placement, I joined the classroom in the middle of the school year which is why I wanted to find different ways to get to know my students. I created this student interest survey and had my students take it the first week of me joining their class. In this survey, it asked a range of questions such as how they were feeling that day, their favorite colors, foods, and TV shows. The survey also asked who they live with and what language they speak at home. I also created a space for students to share anything else with me privately and/or ask me any questions. The responses to this survey allowed me to get to know students as I joined their class and helped me plan instruction including student interests and needs. For example, a few students said they liked art and drawing, which is why I tried to incorporate art into some of the lessons we did. I did my best to use all student interests in our lessons to ensure they felt heard and valued.

During a geometry lesson, students made a geometry star. This star helped students review vocabulary, as well as practice making different lines, angles, and rays. In order to make this lesson engaging, I had students be creative and draw or write different things they like within in their star. This allowed students to review geometry in a fun and interactive way, as well as helping others, including myself, learn about them. Students loved making this geometry star and had fun reviewing vocabulary. This lesson was engaging and showed students that learning math can be fun. Students took this geometry star home and shared with their families.

TPE 8.2

TPE 8.2 Reflects on student data (with consultation from others, as needed) to identify and provide needed supports to students in need of specialized instruction or adaptations.

My mentor teacher and I reflected on our students' i-ready diagnostic scores to help focus instruction and small groups. Based on this data, we found that overall our fourth grade students improved their ELA skills. To the right I have included the diagnosis results from three of our fourth grade students. After reflecting on these test results, we have noted that we need to support students specifically with their phonics, vocabulary, and comprehension. My mentor teacher and I have been brainstorming different ways we can best support our students, including any adaptations we need to make. For example, we decided to focus on comprehension with literature in small groups. We chose a story for students to read and will work with this one story over the span of two weeks. We will review the key vocabulary words, as well as have students point out any words they do not know. We will dissect the story and break it down part by part, to help students with their comprehension.