Adjustments to Practice

Proficiency Indicator (from DESE):

"Analyzes results from a variety of assessments to determine progress toward intended outcomes and uses these findings to adjust practice and identify and/or implement differentiated interventions and enhancements for students."

Being able to adjust your practice is integral to teaching. A teacher that never adjusts will be unsuccessful when they encounter a situation they've never faced before and be as ineffective of a teacher on day 100 as they were on day 1. Adjustments happen when a teacher sees that their strategies aren't working or could be improved in some way. Adjustments also need to be made when a student that reacts to your class differently then you've faced before. For example, english learners and special needs students may require that a teacher changes up their original plan and try something new.

During my practicum, I was faced with new situations everyday and oftentimes I would make a mistake my first time encountering them. However, I wouldn't get upset or disappointed when something didn't work. Every failure I encountered was an opportunity to learn and make adjustments for the future. This was especially helpful because I taught 4 algebra 1 classes, so I was able to adjust my practice over the course of a day and get better and better with each iteration. I am sure that this will continue into teaching my own classroom someday when I meet 5 new classes of students all with their own unique personalities and needs.

As a teacher, it is vital to get back up when you fall. Everyday there will be situations that arise where I felt like I messed up or reacted poorly. Each of these cases are an opportunity for growth and change. It doesn't make the teacher a failure if they mess up, same as it doesn't make the student a failure to do poorly on one test. What's important is what we do with our mistakes and if we use them to get stronger over time instead of receding. 

The artifact I have chosen to demonstrate my proficiency in Adjustments to Practice is my Measure of Student Learning Results. While I didn't perfectly predict what students would get on the assessment, I used the data to think about where I can make adjustments and do better in the future. One of my biggest takeways and adjustments I made after this, was putting in a conscious effort to check in with each student that missed class and make sure they are caught up before they start on material they haven't learned yet.