U-32 GOALS

I created these goals at the beginning of the academic year 2016-2017 using the framework from the school and district for three types of goals: A Danielson Goal, Using Assessment in Instruction, and Designing

Domain 1: Planning and Preparation Reflection

Based upon your self-assessment and observations during the year, comment on your areas of strength and areas of growth in planning and preparation.

Components:

a. Demonstrating Knowledge of Content and Pedagogy

b. Demonstrating Knowledge of Students

c. Setting Instructional Outcomes

d. Demonstrating Knowledge of Resources

e. Designing Coherent Instruction

f. Designing Student Assessments

I believe that my areas of growth are knowing my students and how they learn, setting daily outcomes/goals for the class, and using various resources and technology/media in the classroom. I am becoming stronger at using various forms of technology in the classroom as I am exposed to new ways of collecting formative assessments (goformative.com, eclickers). I try to balance resources in terms of how students can access information, but know I still have far to go in terms of building digital citizenship skills in my students. I feel that my students aren't able to tell reliable from unreliable scientific online sources, and struggle to close-read scientific text (either from a site or a book). I feel that I can grow in terms of content knowledge and designing coherent instruction. I often joke that I need a doctorate degree for some of the unanswerable or extension questions that students ask me. While I strongly encourage the question and above-and-beyond thinking, I feel that my content knowledge needs to grow in order to be able to answer these questions, or push students to think beyond the "meeting" proficiency expectation. In terms of coherent instruction, I feel that I often sacrifice the lesson that makes the most sense or is straightforward for a lesson that is possible more "engaging" or "fun". Although the students are engaged in making water molecules with M&Ms, are they learning about the chemistry as well as if they would have just make a diagram in their notebooks about a H2O molecule?

Domain 2: Classroom Environment Reflection

Based upon your self-assessment and observations during the year, comment on your areas of strength and areas of growth in classroom environment.

Components:

a: Creating an Environment of Respect and Rapport

b: Establishing a Culture for Learning

c: Managing Classroom Procedures

d: Managing Student Behavior

e: Organizing Physical Space

My strengths for this domain are: Creating an Environment of Respect and Rapport and Managing Classroom Procedures. We open nearly every class with an RP check-in or Question of the day (the student's favorite because it is usually a polarizing question and they want their vote to count). I do not allow students to swear or say disrespectful things to each other, such as "shut up". By "sweating the small stuff", my hope is that more egregious behavior won't be tried because the small stuff will be noticed. Despite being on a cart and moving from room to room with items, I think I managed papers and classroom procedures well. A grow for this domain is being prepared with papers (copy materials) prior to that day of class. I often find myself rushing to make copies each morning, even though I feel that I plan for the week ahead. In one sense, maybe changing plans each evening and rearranging the order or activities and lessons is an indication of accommodating students' needs and a reaction to instruction, but it feels rushed sometimes. Regardless, I think that I did well managing classroom procedures and transitions despite being in several rooms. One teacher tool I have often used this year is having a student repeat a direction back to me/the class before the transition occurs. Often, the student will admit to zoning out or not understanding the direction, so I repeat it and then ask her/him to re-repeat the direction. If I am still unsure if all students understanding, I ask another student for clarity before the transtion begins. My growth areas for this domain: establishing a culture for learning, managing student behavior, organizing physical space. I think that aspects of the classroom environment demonstrate a culture for learning (or more classes sections than others have a higher degree of a learning culture), but these aspects are inconsistent. I feel this way due to what I learn about intrinsic and extrinsic motivation with learners. Is there a culture for learning because students fear getting a bad grade, or that their parents will see their HW isn't completed via Infinite Campus? A true culture for learning would exhibit students wanting to learn for the sake or learning, or more intrinsic motivation purposes. For these reasons, this component is still a growth area. Managing student behavior, and being consistent with consequences, is a growth area for mine. Within the school from class to class, there is inconsistency in terms of behavior and what is allowed in each setting. This leads to students being confused when a cell phone is allowed in one class but not another; as one example. Managing student behavior, I believe, will continue to be a growth area for me as long as there are inconsistent behavioral expectations between each class. Organizing physical space is another growth area for me because I don't often feel comfortable in the various classrooms to move things around or accommodate the learning in terms of the physical area. This will hopefully be a strength next year when I have my own space and can move tables, chairs and learning areas around as needed.

Domain 3: Instruction Reflection

Based upon your self-assessment and observations during the year, comment on your areas of strength and areas of growth in instruction.

Components:

a: Communication with Students

b: Using Questioning and Discussion Techniques

c: Engaging Students in Learning

d: Using Assessment in Instruction

e: Demonstrating Flexibility and Responsiveness

My areas of growth for this domain include: Communication with Students, Using Assessment in Instruction, and Demonstrating Flexibility and Responsiveness. I feel that the class sites aid with communicating the HW to parents and students, but in terms of instruction, each learner is so different that communicating must be unique as well. Communicating with some students is best through videos, hands-on activities and auditory lessons; striking a balance between various learning modalities is often tricky. I find, more often than not, that I strive for hands-on activities at the expense of simply telling students what it is I want them to take away. Students who learn best by having the information simply told to them don't do well in my class, and I need to strike a balance between the various learning modalities. In terms of the "Using Assessment in Instruction" component, I feel that I use formative assessments often but don't use them to drive further lessons or learning. I feel that I collect data, and can make minor shifts in instruction in the moment, but the next day's lesson is simply the plan I had made from the weekend. In terms of summative assessment data, I don't think I use that information effectively either. In theory, a summative assessment should be given when a student is approaching or meeting the standard, but I have many "beginning" assessments being completed. This ties in with the fact that the assessment tool we currently use still requires numbers/scores in order to report on a student's progress. I am hoping this changes next year; a student will take a summative when he/she is ready for it and can demonstrate mastery, rather than demonstrate the beginning stages still. The last component related to flexibility ties in to "Using Assessment in Instruction" because, somehow, if a student doesn't demonstrate proficiency, he/she should have to keep learning that material and working towards proficiency. This would require a teacher's flexible plans and reponsiveness; that I don't think I currently possess in my teacher's toolkit. My glow areas are "Using Questioning and Discussion Techniques" and "Engaging Students in Learning". These are growth areas for me because I consciously scaffold my questions with students based on where they are and try to push their knowledge beyond the surface when they are ready. I engage students in learning via hands-on activities, eclickers, various formative assessments, flipped classroom, and a variety of group, partner, and independent work. Engaging students as a growth area has been validated by several Google forms that my learners have taken post-units this semester as a way of providing feedback to me about teaching, and a way to make decisions as a class.

Domain 4: Professional Responsibility Reflection

Based upon your self-assessment and observations during the year, comment on your areas of strength and areas of growth in professional responsibility.

I keep a positive outlook about changes in the school, outside-of-class tasks I have to do, and own my behavior when something required of me is not completed. My area of growth for next year is finding a balance between the professional responsibilities that I do here at school, and my personal life. I feel that if I continue to put as much effort as I do into my professional responsibilities (both class and not-class related) I will burn out unless I balance it with another aspect of my life. Two years ago, I would have considered spending an entire Saturday with family and friends slacking off; and perhaps some people would still consider that slacking off. I have accepted that, for next year, something needs to change in terms of the amount of hours I put into school and non-school work, or a burn-out is inevitable.