Growth & Development
Growth & Development
Standard 3: Understanding & Organizing Subject Matter
Standard 1: Engaging & Supporting All Students in Learning
Standard 6: Developing as a Professional Educator
Standard 2: Creating & Maintaining Effective Environments
Standard 5: Assessing Students for Learning
Standard 4: Planning Instruction & Designing Learning
Standard 2: Creating & Maintaining Effective Environments
Standard 6: Developing as a Professional Educator
Standard 3: Understanding & Organizing Subject Matter
Standard 4: Planning Instruction & Designing Learning
Standard 1: Engaging & Supporting All Students in Learning
Standard 5: Assessing Students for Learning
I am constantly proud of my students. On a regular basis, simple things like overhearing student discussions on the material, or watching them overcome the struggle to negotiate meaning of a challenging passage make me feel so proud of what my students can accomplish. One of my earliest proud moments in my classroom was our TEDTalks. I gave students a decent amount of freedom with their topics, which resulted in some of the most profound work they completed all school year. My students went above and beyond what I had anticipated with this project, and they turned my classroom into a comforting and safe space where we held each other up in intense moments of grief, laughter, and connection. Students told (and showed) me that my class was their safe space where they could open up freely, without judgement.
My pedagogy is ever-blossoming, my techniques are fluid, and my attitude is open. This ability to adapt and willingness to change have proven to be my key strengths; especially at a small charter school where I experienced firsthand how unpredictable things can be. My flexibility and "go with the flow" mindset help me adapt to unpredictable circumstances with minimal stress. This openness however is not limited to my pedagogy and logistics of working in a volatile atmosphere. I am just as open and flexible with my students. I encourage them to voice their thoughts, and I try my best to adapt to their interests and needs.
CSTP Strengths: In the classroom, I feel the strongest in my ability and efforts to create and maintain an effective environment. I find it is essential to take the time to strike a delicate balance between a space that is warm and welcoming, where students are encouraged to express themselves, but to maintain a rigorous atmosphere. I often find myself modeling after my favorite college classrooms, where professors stirred lively discussions by looking at multiple points of view so that all students felt heard or seen. To me, this is the most important standard of the CSTP induction, for a safe environment is the cornerstone of student learning and growth.
I can pressure myself in feeling that I have to prove myself. This can lead me to lose sight of opportunities to re-teach material and concepts where needed, and to rush myself and my students to the "finish line," or to stay on schedule. Rather than fixating on the goals and tasks I outline in a unit of study, I am working on using my students' performance on activities and assessments to better inform and direct my classroom's timelines. I am also working on finding and making opportunities for re-teaching throughout (and after) a unit of study.
CSTP Room for Growth: The CSTP Standards I can continue developing are Planning & Assessing. It's important for me to strike a balance in planning a dynamic unit of study with a diverse range of formative and summative assessments - and then to not rush through any of these steps! Taking my time, re-teaching, and re-visiting steps are crucial, but easy to forget when I am trying to accomplish too much.