Standard 9

Throughout my coursework and student teaching semester I have had many opportunities to reflect on teaching practices I have observed and on my own teaching practices, which addresses Standard #9. I have found that teaching is a constantly evolving practice, where teachers must shift strategies either from class to class within one day or from year to year with new students. I also find that I am constantly finding new resources and ideas to help make my lessons more effective. Below you will find a reflection from my student teaching semester and a number of reflective essays on various topics from my coursework which demonstrate my ability to constantly be reflecting on what I do and what I see when I am in the classroom. You will also find my self-evaluation after student teaching and my initial educator statement.

Artifact 1: Reflection on Student Teaching

Looking back now at the end of my student teaching semester to the beginning, I see that I had a solid foundation from my coursework and practicum experience to build off of during student teaching. I have broken down my reflections into four main parts: Lesson and Curriculum Planning, Assessments, Classroom Management, and Building Relationships. I am sure there are other aspects to reflect on, but I feel these are the four main categories I have constantly reflected on the most.

Lesson and Curriculum Planning: The World History Department at Cardinal Heights Upper Middle School uses an aligned curriculum. I have struggled with teaching with an aligned curriculum the entire semester. It is nice having the general outline of lessons and units, but I have struggled with the aligned pacing of lessons and content. Throughout the semester I have found a balance between keeping pace with the aligned curriculum while also taking the time I need to teach content and skills so my students have time to understand and practice. I have also gained experience in creating scaffolds for lessons and modification for lessons materials and assessments. The house that I taught within had a special education focus, therefore I taught a high percentage of students with IEPs and 504s compared to other houses. My experience planning scaffolds and modifications helped build my general lesson planning skills while also allowing me to use frameworks such as Understanding by Design, Universal Design for Learning, and "Thinking Like a Historian."

Assessments: Similar to lesson and curriculum planning, assessments were already created and planned by the world history department. While I used the department's assessments, I have found ways to modify them to fit my teaching style and the way I taught the content to my students. After each assessment I always reflect on the results and connect them to the effectiveness of the teaching strategies I used throughout the unit. I have made revisions to lesson plans and teaching strategies based on informal and formal assessments.

Classroom Management: This is an aspect of teaching that I felt I have an excellent foundation in before student teaching from my experience as an Avid tutor and substitute teacher. I found that I struggled a bit at first, mostly because the students were used to my cooperating teacher, who is great at classroom management and building relationships with students. At first I tried to emulate him, but found that his style did not exactly fit who I was as a teacher. I borrowed some of his strategies and others from teachers I have observed and have found that I am slowly building the repertoire of classroom management strategies that work for me. I have also found that even when a teacher has been teaching for years some still may struggle with one class or a group of students. I have found that while I have found strategies that work for me, I may always have to be adjusting and adapting based on the class or students that I am teaching.

Building Relationships: One big takeaway from my student teaching experience was the importance of building relationships with my students. I have found that not only does it help build mutual respect between me and my students, but it also helps when planning lessons. I can use background knowledge and student interests in my lessons to help students engage, and students are more willing to listen and follow directions if I have a solid relationship with them.

Artifact 2: Initial Educator Statement (Linked)

As part of the process in receiving my license, I was required to write an Initial Educator Statement, which has its own page in this portfolio. I reflected on two standards that I have excelled at and two that I intend to improve.

Artifact 3: Culturally Responsive Class Reflections (Attached Below)

This is a reflection paper I wrote in my first class during my course sequence. Reading it now almost a year later at the end of my student teaching I see that my reflections have not changed in my opinions of creating a culturally responsive, inclusive classroom. If anything has changed, it is that I have more strategies to work with and am aware that I can always research more.

Artifact 4: Self Evaluation (Attached Below)

This is a copy of my self-evaluation I filled out in the last month of my student teaching before i completed my Initial Educator Statement. The self-evaluation includes my scores of myself in meeting the ten teaching standards.