Week of April 16, 2021

Candidate Name: Amber Tyson 

Week of Reflection: April 16, 2021

   

• Rate your overall experience of the week: 1-Very difficult | 5 – Great week

I would rate my overall experience of the week a 3. I am really beginning to feel a lot of the stress and pressure associated with end of year testing, while still trying to prepare my students the best I can, and while keeping my instruction student-centered and fun. I feel like I am being forced to teach “to the test” which I really do not like.  Next week, we have our final check ins, with EOGs scheduled for mid-May, and 2 district benchmarks in between the state tests :(.  

• Seven questions to end your week:

• Observe: What pleasant surprises / accomplishments did I achieve this week? An accomplishment this week is that I was able to plan and get a virtual field trip with the NC Aquarium approved for my students after we finish all of our testing. This made me feel good because it will be something fun for the students and something we can look forward to these next few challenging weeks.   

• Reflect: What lessons did my work/experiences teach me that I will build upon next week? My work experiences this week made me realize that I am starting to feel a lot of end of year pressure and I can tell  my students are starting to feel the same pressure and anxiety. Next week I want to build on preparing my students to do their best on all of our upcoming tests, but remind them that a test is not the only measure of how much they have learned and grown this year. 

• Focus:  How are my short-term efforts and my long-term goals still aligned? My long term-goals are to nurture relationships with my students while helping them achieve mastery of 5th grade standards. I am teaching as hard as I possibly can to ensure that I cover all 5th grade standards before EOGs, but I am continuing to keep my relationships with my students positive and nurturing despite the mounting pressure being put on all of us. 

• Be Productive: What could I have spent more or less time doing? This week I could have spent less time worrying about if I am doing enough and if I have done enough to ensure my students have learned everything they need to know by the end of the year, but this is easier said than done.  I have a plan to complete my pacing guides with some time to review prior to EOGs and I just need to stick to my plan and take it one day at a time. 

• Have Courage:  How did apprehension and indecision impact what I did and didn’t do? Despite my apprehension about testing and whether I am going to be able to get through all of the standards I still need to cover, I still kept to my plan for the week and had a productive week of instruction with my students. 

• Begin Anew: What is the first logical step(s) for next week? What mental clutter can I clear?  My first logical step for next week is to remember that I am further along in my pacing than some other schools in my district so I need to take a deep breath and try not to worry too much about check ins next week because we are all in the same boat. It is frustrating that students will be tested on standards that haven’t been covered yet, but after check ins, it will be time to get back to work. If we continue to work hard, we can do this!

• What were some data you analyzed this week and how did it help guide your decisions?  This week I analyzed two mini Schoolnet assessments that I created and that covered all of the standards that I reviewed and taught this week to assess my students’ level of mastery and understanding. This will help me plan what I need to spend more time on in the upcoming weeks. 

• NC Professional Teaching Standards (be sure to reference activities from your lesson plans to solidify your answer)

• Pick an element from standard one of the evaluation tool and explain some activities/strategies you implemented this week to increase your rating for the element. Element Ia. Teachers lead in their classrooms.- This week I led in my classroom by using assessment as a valuable tool to assess my students’ understanding of the standards we reviewed and learned this week.  I am incorporating more assessments that include a few short questions that will be similar to the type of questions that students will be seeing on end of year tests to better prepare them and help me identify skills and testing strategies that they are still struggling with. 

• Pick an element from standard two of the evaluation tool and explain some activities/strategies you implemented this week to increase your rating for the element. Element IIe. Teachers work collaboratively with the families and significant adults in the lives of their students. This week I received a new student. I reached out to the parent prior to my student’s first day to find out how I could best support my student and ease this transition.  I remained in contact with the parent throughout the week so we could discuss how this transition was going, offer praises for how well he was doing, and address any concerns. 

• Pick an element from standard three of the evaluation tool and explain some activities/strategies you implemented this week to increase your rating for the element. Element IIIa.Teachers align their instruction with the North Carolina Standard Course of Study. All of my instruction continues to be aligned with the NCSCOS. This week I focused on standards that I know my students will be assessed on next week during our final check-ins. 

• Pick an element from standard four of the evaluation tool and explain some activities/strategies you implemented this week to increase your rating for the element. Element IVe.Teachers help students develop critical-thinking and problem-solving skills. This week when reviewing division and strategies for solving division problems, I provided my students with authentic tasks and word problems to work through both as a class and independently to build on their critical-thinking and problem-solving skills when working with division problems and problems that required them to use multiple operations.  

• Pick an element from standard five of the evaluation tool and explain some activities/strategies you implemented this week to increase your rating for the element. Element Vc.Teachers function effectively in a complex, dynamic environment.  I told my co-teacher that I feel like this is the first year of teaching that just keeps giving haha. It has been one surprise, transition, or challenge after another.  For example, this week I received an email at 1pm that I would have a new student arriving the next day.  Knowing what a difficult transition it would be a student to start a new school this late in the school year with only a few weeks left, I immediately started thinking of ways I could make this student feel welcome to our school family, creating a welcome bag for him, spending time with him to make him feel comfortable, and taking the time to observe his level of understanding during our lessons this week so I could best assess what he already knows so I could best support him in all areas. I was very happy to learn that his favorite subject is math :). 

•  Other:

• What components of your portfolio have you started to complete? N/A

• What support does your clinical educator need from Mrs. Suttle? N/A

What support do you need from Mrs. Suttle? No support is needed at this time.