2020-2021 Goals

Note: I retired from full time teaching in July of 2020 due to personal/family needs related to the pandemic.

Intended Teaching Goals

Explicitly teach model making in math.

Rationale

When students accurately transfer math concepts into images, their understanding of that concept grows substantially. Often we don't take the time we need to teach children how to transfer concepts into models.

Product/Process

1. Students will learn to use model making tools online and offline.

2. Students will have a sketch book to use for creating models.

3. Students will create 1-5 models per unit.

4. Models will be labeled, and students will spend time describing the models in writing.

5. Students model work, in part, will be included in their online showcase portfolio as well.

Professional Learning Goal

I will focus my professional learning in three areas:

• I will read the book, White Fragility, participate in related book groups, and apply what I learn to increase my classroom's antiracist teaching and efforts.

• I will read the book, Limitless Mind, and apply what I learn to the math program.

• I will hone my skills via tutorials and exploration of the following tools:

  • Google Classroom

  • Screencastify

  • Online math teaching and learning tools.

Curriculum, Planning, and Assessment:

To further develop student showcase portfolio efforts by incorporating more regular and meaningful student reflection, goal setting, and action plan (learning path) efforts. To restructure student-teacher-parent conferences so that students present their work and goals at both the fall and winter conference. Also implementing revised science, tech, and engineering learning experiences.

IA2: Child and Adolescent Development: Team Building with Open Circle

IIB2: Collaborative Learning Environment: Student service meetings and professional collaboration with special education: Building a more effective model of special education-regular education collaboration to serve students well.

Teaching All Students:

Setting the stage at the start of the year for a warm, welcoming teaching/learning community.

IIB1 - Safe Learning Environment: Review of handbook with student self-assessment of what they do well and what they can do better.

IIB3: Student motivation: Working with students to identify student routines and protocols.

IIC1: Respects Differences: Beginning with the Three Word Project to foster understanding/knowledge of one another and building this respect throughout the year in a variety of ways to be named.

IIC2 - Maintains Respectful Environment - Early year focus on SEL categories to build awareness, foster related learning, support.

IIB1 - Safe Learning Environment: - Creation of protocols, policies list with students. as a class constitution.

IID3 - Access to knowledge - update academic/SEL websites throughout the year to provide students, colleagues, and family members with a ready reference (virtual classroom) for all classroom efforts.

Family/Community Engagement

IIIA1: Family curriculum night, curriculum presentation, and website that invites regular family participation in the class/school community. Update and include on website.

IIIB1-2 - Learning Expectations and Curriculum Support - explicitly relayed via websites including homework list, copies of homework assignments online, learning objectives, supports, and summaries.

IIIC1: Two-way Communication - invitation for regular family share of ideas, questions, and thoughts with ready educator response. Finding the best ways to communicate with every family such as using translators, finding comfortable places/times to meet/talk, and sensitivity to families' languages, culture, and values. Build our student-led student-educator-family member showcase portfolio/conference effort.

Professional Culture

IVA1 - Reflective Practice - continued reading, research, and blogging

IVA2 - Goal Setting - updating this list with specific actions, efforts.

IVB1 - Professional Learning and Growth - White Fragility and Limitless Mind. Tech Research to improve tech use.

IVC1 - Professional Collaboration - continued collaboration with grade-level colleagues and others to develop the program in ways that improve our collective efforts to teach well. Broadening our efforts to work with the entire team of educators and others who serve students in fifth grade.

IVD1 - Decision making - spending a full day in the summer to assess, revise, and enrich the curriculum map for the year ahead.

IVE1 - Shared Responsibility - look for ways to work with colleagues to support students with regard to school-wide behavior and learning expectations. (K-5 buddy program)

IVF1 - Judgement - respectful and thoughtful efforts during family-student-collegial work especially related to tough-to-teach students.

IVF2 - Reliability and Responsibility - Focusing on main priorities of being there, teaching well, and fulfilling the main responsibilities of the job.

2019-2020 Professional Reading