TPE 6

TPE 6.3: Establishes professional learning goals and works to improve their practice by routinely engaging in communication with others.

What is this?

I collected this set of feedback notes from my mentor teacher during my placement at St. Helena High School. During each lesson, she took notes about what well in the lesson and what could have been improved, both in terms of teacher actions and student engagement. For each lesson, we conferenced later that day about her feedback on the lesson and my experience teaching it. I have kept her notes along with my original lesson plans so I will be able to make improvements to those specific lessons if I ever have the chance to teach them again. 

Why did I choose it?

I chose these feedback notes because they indicate the frequent and effective communication between my mentor teacher and myself. Based on her notes and our conversation after each lesson, I set goals to improve in the next lesson. For example, one piece of feedback I received in my first lesson was to use slides more effectively by writing down clear instructions as an anchor for students in addition to my verbal instructions. In the feedback for the second lesson, one of her notes shows that I did a better job of that. This was a pattern throughout my lessons.

What did I learn?

Through the feedback sessions with my mentor teacher and reading her notes, I learned so many new strategies for making my instruction more effective, including things to do in planning before the lesson, and ways to adapt mid-lesson. I was able to improve upon each lesson in the next one through the advice she shared. I also learned about some of my strengths as a teacher which she noticed and I had not identified. Most of all, I learned how deeply impactful a positive collaborative relationship can be on my growth as a teacher.