Initial Educator Statement
Melissa Nowak
Throughout my coursework and my student teaching experience I have been collecting evidence and reflecting on the ten InTASC/Wisconsin Educator Standards. There are many that I am confident in, and there are a few that I believe I have room to grow. In the following paragraphs I will address two standards that I feel confident in implementing going into my first year of teaching and two standards that I am prepared to improve. I will be using the Wisconsin Educator Standards for Teachers numbering and descriptions when identifying standards.
One of the standards I have been effectively implementing in my practice is Standard 3: educators understand that children learn differently. This standard states that “the educator understands how pupils differ in their approaches to learning and the barriers that impede learning and can adapt instruction to meet the diverse needs of pupils, including those with disabilities and exceptionalities.” I am constantly reflecting on the lessons and assessments I create to make sure I implement strategies that allows all my students to learn and demonstrate their learning. It is important to me as a teacher to know my students, their backgrounds, their interests, and their abilities. This helps me create lessons which will best help my students learn and demonstrate their knowledge. From my experience in supporting ELL students and creating lessons with students in special education, I have also found the value in knowing frameworks such as Universal Design for Learning for creating lessons with scaffolds accessible for many students with various abilities and challenges. I have found while student teaching that sometimes lessons planned for one class may not work for others, so I have to adapt throughout the day based on what I know about how my students learn and can best demonstrate their knowledge. I not only provide scaffolds for students who need extra support, but I also try to provide opportunities for students with higher level thinking skills. These skills and strategies I have developed during my coursework and during my student teaching semester will help in my first years of teaching where I will have a variety of students with different backgrounds, interests, and abilities. I will keep reflecting on what I know about my students and how to best plan and implement teaching strategies to ensure I give all my students the opportunities for success.
The other standard I am confident I have been effectively implementing throughout my coursework and student teaching is Standard 9: educators are able to evaluate themselves. This standard states that “the educator is a reflective practitioner who continually evaluates the effects of his or her choices and actions on pupils, parents, and professionals in the learning community and other and who actively seeks out opportunities to grow professionally.” I am confident that I am always reflective about my practice, whether it’s during lesson or assessment planning, during lesson instruction, or reviewing assessment results. I am reflective of my lesson planning, and when I find that instruction does not go as well as what I had planned I adjust to better fit my classes and students, even if it is midway through the day. When looking at assessment results I am always critical of my teaching methods and whether different strategies would yield better results. I am also always willing to take advice and suggestions from fellow teachers and am willing to conduct research to find more effective teaching strategies. It is important I be a reflective teacher in my initial years of teaching, especially when I am still learning which teaching methods works best for me and the students I will be teaching. My teaching strategies that worked for me during my student teaching semester may have to change if I work in a different district; therefore it is important I continue to implement my strategies in meeting standard 9.
One standard I believe I can develop more is Standard 8: Educators know how to test for student progress. This standard states that “the educator understands and uses formal and informal assessment strategies to evaluate and ensure the continuous intellectual, social, and physical development of the pupil.” I have an excellent foundation of creating assessments, especially when planning instruction around assessments and ensuring that assessments allow students to demonstrate the knowledge and skills I have selected for units. I am already reflective when reviewing assessment results and altering my instructional strategies to improve student understanding, but I believe I can continue to improve. I’ve created or modified assessments on my own during my semester student teaching, but many assessments were already planned because of the aligned curriculum for world history department at my school. While I did have experience editing these assessments to fit how and what I have taught my students, I would like the opportunity to create assessments on my own. While I have consistently been informally checking student understanding day to day, I want to find some way of tracking these informal assessments. Some teachers I have spoken to keep track in the grade book, others keep their own files. I plan on finding my own way of keeping track of informal assessments in my first few years of teaching, because this would be more data for me to use to help plan and reflect on my teaching practices.
Another standard I see as an opportunity for growth is standard 10: educators are connected with other educators and the community. This standard states that “the educator fosters relationships with school colleagues, parents, and agencies in the larger community to support pupil learning and well-being and acts with integrity, fairness and in an ethical manner.” Similar to Standard 8, I believe I have a sound foundation to grow from regarding relationships inside and outside of school. I have made an effort during my student teaching semester to collaborate with content teachers within my department, with cross content teachers within the house that I teach in, and with special services staff. I have furthered my relationship building outside the classroom by working for the after school tutoring program where I help students with history or any other subjects they may need help with. I have also worked at the high school track meets, where I have connected with students outside the classroom and other teachers who coached or also worked. I was fortunate to be able to attend the spring parent teacher conferences, where I met some of the parents of my students. While I have made an excellent start in connecting myself with the school and outside community, I believe I can improve my involvement in school culture and community. One element I will be focusing on in my first few years of teaching will be communication with parents. I have had meetings and communication with parents throughout my semester, but I feel I can implement strategies to improve my teacher-parent communication. I also like the idea I have seen some teachers use in keeping records of parent communications. In my initial years of teaching I would like to find a system that works for me where I have a consistent line of communication with parents about their students and I have a record keeping system of how and when I communicate with parents. Another aspect I would like to improve is becoming a more active staff member and contributing to the school culture, whether that would be leading student clubs or being part of planning committees.