Reflection and Self Evaluation

Reflection and Self Evaluation

For the reflection and self evaluation aspect of this TWS I spent time going through all of materials and reflecting, as well as giving students a surveys looking for feedback from their experience during this unit. This unit did not go as planned for me because of the pandemic breakout during this time and the move to remote learning. That being said I learned so much from my peers, mentors, and students during this time. I focused on giving students the best instruction I could during this time while knowing that every students at home life was different. I focused in on meeting all of my students needs during this time, and changing up my lesson plans and different assessments. Everything that I created was online, and some of my assignments at the beginning of the unit I was unable to go back into school and collected them so I was unable to take pictures of some students work. I learned a lot about remote learning, and found many different new ways to teach students using technology throughout the lesson. From a standards point of view, I was pleased with my student by the end of the unit. Based on my assessment my students didn't know much on random sampling and surveying, but by the summative assessment there was a solid amount that were able to meet the standard. My students showed growth throughout this unit, and showed resilience during the move from in class learning to remote learning.

The assessments that were given to students throughout the unit gave me tons of feedback for me to see where students were at. This was great for me to track students learning from the beginning of the unit to the end. Not all of the assessments went as well as I wanted, but again students were most likely distracted with what was going on outside of the classroom. Using assessments as a map for this unit was very important to me, and I feel that I was successful in implementing all of my assessments for students.

Looking back at it now, there are some things that I would change during this unit, but with everything going on outside of school I felt that this unit went pretty well. The focus on students social and emotional learning during this unit was very important and the content was something that came after. It was challenging to hold students accountable for late work, but I reached out to students as much as possible, to let them know i was there for them as a resource. For my summative assessment I felt that it went very well and students really enjoyed their time making surveys and reflecting on it. I wish I could have had more participation from all students, but that wasn't possible with remote learning. Students put time and effort into their assessments, and showed how they understand the material that was covered throughout the unit. I wish I could have gone into more depth with some of my topics, but I feel overall that this was challenging for most students and I had to find a balance and not to overwhelm them with school work.

During this unit I learned a lot about myself, and how I can be a better educator. Taking the time after the unit, I decided to develop some professional goals that I can continue to work over the next few year. I would like to continue working on my classroom strategies, and classroom management. Some of the steps I've taken with this goal is professional development opportunities. Weather it's staff meetings, a workshop day, or online resources. I think it's important to stay up to date in all of the latest developing strategies across the education field. Another professional goal is to continue to develop my professional relationship with colleagues. I had great success collaborating with my mentor teacher during this unit, and I feel that it is very important in the future to collaborate with my fellow teachers. In the math setting it is important to meet with other colleagues and learn from each other. I really enjoy gathering resources from people I meet so that I can better my instruction for students in my classroom. I've learned some much about what it takes to be a teacher, and all of the work educators put in behind the scenes. Moving forward, one goal of mine is organization. During my TWS I struggled at some points with my organization strategy and I learned how smoothly a lesson or day can go when you are organized and well prepared. Moving forward for me personally I will be focusing more on behind the scenes and staying organized and getting into a daily routine that works for me . I also learned how important social and emotional learning is in a middle school classroom. A goal of mine will be to add social and emotional learning on a daily basis to my classroom. Middle school students are social butterflies, and they need to learn how to be kind and respectful during this time. Focusing on social and emotional learning will give you the ability to create a safe learning environment for all of your students. Overall, I learned a lot about myself during my TWS and I am glad I got to have this experience. This whole experience has better prepared me for when I become a full time teacher, and have my own classroom one day.

Attached below are some examples of the reflection I had students fill out as an evaluation of my unit. I asked simple questions to students to help show me how they felt during the unit. Based on their answered all students seemed comfortable with the material we had learned about, and the communication with me. One of my goals I set when we moved to remote learning was to having an open line of communication with students. Based on their answers they felt comfortable coming to me if they had any questions which was very pleasing to me. I was happy to see most students enjoyed making the surveys because this is a skill that they will need to have throughout life.

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