Evaluating my Evaluation

Today I debriefed a Guided Reading lesson I taught about 1 month ago with my building principal. I wasn’t too nervous because my principal is very laid back and does not make situations tense at all. I thought she would tell me all of the things she noticed during my lesson, but she did not. Instead, she pulled the trick that I have become all too accustomed to- “How did you think your lesson went?” When this question was first posed to me by my student teaching coordinator, I must admit that I was a little irritated. I did not want to hear about what I thought, I wanted to know what she thought! I have learned that they do this to help you self evaluate and also to gain more insight into why you taught the lesson they way you do to make more informed evaluations.

There were two important things she noted. One was the fact that both me and my CT taught our Guiding Reading Groups in totally different ways (1 more teacher centered and the other more student centered). I personally believe this difference in style can be attributed to the fact that I was working with my stronger readers, while she was working with the group with the more profound reading challenges, who may have needed more direct scaffolding. She also asked me, in a perfect world, what my G.R. lesson would look like. I talked about the literacy work stations, management board and spending the majority of my time with students who needed the greatest level of intervention, and having more fluid groupings. It was nice being able to talk about some of these things and gain more confidence and comfort with articulating aspects of Best Practices. Whenever I have a job interview, I will know exactly what to say…I just need follow through!

Making the Most of It

Although this was a very busy week for me, I took out a chunk of time last night to write my formal lesson plan for my writing lesson for today. I have not had much feedback on how effectively I teach writing and I wanted my CT to evaluate me on this subject. I gave my CT the formal lesson plan and a camera because I wanted her to capture some of the lesson in pictures (to include in my portfolio, of course!). She took some pictures but did not really take many notes on my lesson. When I asked her about it, she said that she totally for got to take notes on my lesson and that she would do it right then (3 hours after my lesson was taught). I was a little frustrated because I know that she was getting her sub plans for Monday together during my lesson. The comments that she did end up writing were very generic and her simply affirming my success with the things that I said I wanted her to pay attention to. How can you give me feedback if you are not even watching the lesson?


So, I’m going to do my own self-evluation:
I taught a lesson on Persuasive Writing. We read Hey, Little Ant earlier and the week and came up with reasons why the kid should squish the ant and reasons why he should not squish the ant. Today, I wanted students to write a paragraph for one reason why the kid should not squish the ant, using ample secondary support. We reviewed the story an the reasons we came up with for both sides. Then I had students determine which two ideas they felt were most important about why the kid should not squish the ant. I told them that they would choose one of those reasons and write a paragraph, but first I wanted to model it for them.

Prior to the lesson, I chose one reason to support why the kid should squish the ant and wrote a paragraph modeling the incorporation of a topic sentence and support. We read it aloud and students helped me identify the examples for support I included. Next, I had students select partners. One partner would “talk long” about reason #1 (which was selected earlier in the lesson) for two minutes. After two minutes the other partner B would talk about reason #2 for two minutes. While each partner was talking, they were to discuss support about why that reason justified not squishing the ant. After they discussed with a partner, we shared out some of the examples they used for each reason. Then I sent students back to their desks to write 1 paragraph about one of the reasons, reminding them of the topic sentence and supports that needed to be included. After 15 minutes, students shared out their writing whole class and we gave Thumbs Up to that person when they were able to identify the required components within their paragraph.

Self-Evaluation:
*I think that allowing students to choose their partners made their conversations have more substance because they wanted to talk to the person they chose to work with. I have learned that if I want students to focus on a certain skill when working in partners, they are more likely to engage in the skill if they are able to choose their partner (of course with the expectation that all talk and behaviors are centered on the focus of the lesson)
*Creating a paragraph to model the focus of the lesson helped students to understand what I expected of them when they wrote their paragraphs. It also helped me to think about what aspects students may struggle with because I went through the entire process myself.
*I gave each partner a letter (A or B) so that they would know which reason they needed to talk about with their partner. If I were to do this lesson again, I would have had the paper letters prepared ahead of time because it took about 3 minutes of my time to find the paper and marker to do it during the lesson.
*I feel that by incorporating the conversational piece in the lesson and modeling the paragraph for students made them feel more confident and prepared to go back and write their own paragraphs. I was so pleased to see all of my students engaged in writing when they went back to their desks.
*Overall, I think the lesson went well. I prepared quite a bit for it and I think that preparation resulted in my students being able to apply the skills and focus of the lesson in their own writing.

~In these last few weeks of my student teaching experience, I am doing my best to turn every negative situation in to a positive. I want to end this year, walking away with as much growth and preparedness to teach and this is a great way for me to ensure this happens~

Teeter Totter

Today was an emotional roller coaster for me. I called the school this morning to confirm my interview for the K-5 Spanish teacher position that was supposed to be on April 9. About an hour later, they called me back and left a message saying that the position for which I was going to interview was no longer available because instead of offering Spanish as a foreign language, they decided to offer….yep, Mandarin Chinese! They apologized for the inconvenience. I spent so much time over the last 24 hours stressing and worrying about what if they offered me the job and then I had to decide whether or not I wanted to take that position or wait for one in which I was more interested. I feel such a connection to the district in which I am student teaching, but the whole waiting game is what is driving me crazy! I prayed about the situation but still felt like I could control the situation. Today I learned that there is no point in stressing about things that have yet to come to fruition. My faith shows me that God will put me exactly where he wants me to be and when he wants me to be there. I have learned a very valuable lesson in trusting that all things will work out the way they are supposed to. I still don’t know where I will find employment but I am going to be open to the options that present themselves and be confident that I will be lead in the direction I am supposed to go.

Hodge Podge

I had a talk with my CT during our CAL today about what I wanted to focus on during these last few weeks of student teaching. We reflected on the growth that I have made and the fact that I want to spend time tweaking and improving some of my teaching strategies. One of the issues that I brought up is the trouble that I seem to have with following through with authentic assignments that I give my students. For example, I wanted my students to complete their Black History biographies and be able to publish them so they could be displayed in the hallway on a bulletin board. The students completed them and they were graded, but it has been very difficult to get all students to publish their work. Now that it is time to move on to persuasive writing, I find it very unlikely that students will be able to have their work displayed. I also talked to my CT about how I wanted her to give me more informal feedback regarding my teaching.

Surprisingly, she agreed that she should focus more on paying attention to my lessons and that she would do a better job of that. So, needless to say, I was a little disappointed to see her texting on her phone throughout the entire afternoon! Oh well. I will have to continue being my own self-critic. I can only try so much, but I am honestly just appreciative of the fact that I was able to sit down with her and talk some of these things out. One a totally different note….I got a call to come in for an interview for an Elementary Spanish teacher position!!!!!!!!!!!!! They called my permanent home and left a message, hoping that I can make an interview at 1pm on Friday….yes, this Friday. It is such short notice, but really, what am I going to do…say no??!!! I think not! Wish me luck!

Debbie Diller Delight

I enjoyed my first day at the Illinois Reading Council Conference. I planned out my day the night before, but I had no clue how intense and exciting the day would be. I attended four different workshops: one on teaching reading as a new teacher (pretty dull; all presenters did was read from the PowerPoint) and one on Guided Reading (which was actually pretty practical). The highlight of my day was the afternoon because it was a DEBBIE DILLER afternoon! I attended another workshop during her first morning session, but I made sure to go to the first one after lunch. The workshop was Spaces and Places, based on her most recent book about organizing the classroom for effective learning. My student teaching program provided me with an opportunity to set up the classroom at the beginning of the year, so it was nice to have some working knowledge of classroom arrangements.

One of the most interesting pieces of advice that I plan to use in my classroom is the importance of setting up specific places in the room in a specific order: whole group, small group, classroom library, writing station, word wall and other stations, classroom math corner, and portable work stations (in that order). The absolutely last things she said teachers should organize are student and teacher desks. Diller believes that desks are not the optimal learning space for students and should be used primarily for independent practice work, not for whole-class, small group teaching experiences. She also said that the “teacher desk” is a magnet for “visual noise” (clutter). The teacher desk should not take the prime position in the classroom.

I always thought it was best to get the students’ desks situated first. However, after hearing Diller speak, I am thinking more about my use of desks and the message that sends to my students about learning. My students do spend the majority of their time at their desks, restricted from natural, fluid interactions with their peers. When I have my own classroom, I want to create an environment of collaborative learning and one that values the knowledge and experiences of each student. I would love to see in my classroom the whole-group learning space on the carpet, where students can be closer, feel more connected and more engaged in the learning experience. This does not happen in the classroom that I am in now, but Debbie Diller has given me a vision and a plan to put it into action.

Improved Relationships

Lately, I have been struggling with some of the same disruptive behaviors as I have been since the beginning of the school year. One thing that has changed for the better is the dramatic decrease in blatantly disrespectful attitudes. This is coming particularly from two students: Sarah and Patrick. Until the last 3 or 4 weeks, I had nothing but confrontation with these two students. If I said anything that they did not want to hear, I would be on the receiving end of total defiance and disrespect.

As of late, however, things have changed between us. They are by no means angels, but I think the way in which we interact has changed. I have been working more on using ‘choice words’ and not engaging in arguments with students about their disruptive behavior. I have also done more to get to know them as kids outside of the classroom. I attended Patrick's basketball games and practiced with Sarah after school studying for the Spelling Bee. These two students now handle my redirections of their behavior more maturely and respectfully. They both give me hugs throughout the day and greet me every morning. We all have our ‘slip ups’ occasionally, but for the most part, I think we are on the upswing! I hope it only gets better from here!

It is my goal to continue to work towards breakthroughs with a couple other challenging students. I understand most teachers probably won’t have ‘breakthroughs’ with all of their students, but I feel like it is my responsibility to put forth my best effort to make it happen for each and every student.

Letting Go

After being observed for my read-aloud lesson on Diary of a Wimpy Kid today, I am inspired to implement some of the suggestions I received today about releasing control and responsibility for learning to my students. I have talked with my students numerous times about how important it is for them to take responsibility for their own learning. It is up to them to learn what information I am teaching them. I understand that when I teach, I do most of the talking and work. I think a part of me doesn’t trust my students to learn what I want them to learn without me giving it to them. In internalizing some of the comments from my evaluation today, I am thinking more about how to shift the role of ‘teacher’ on to my students.

Relinquishing a little bit of my control of teaching my students has the power to incredibly enhance the confidence and learning experiences for not only the children who become the ‘teacher’ but also for those receiving the information they provide. In order to make this happen, I need to think about what it is that I want students to learn and how they can learn it without me giving it to them. It will take much thought, effort and training for the students but the end result is one will ultimately benefit my students.

Do you have any tips about how I can build more autonomy in my students? How can I deal with not hearing my voice so much?!!? Thanks!