Blog 13: Almost There

 Candidate Name: Caitlyn Hamrick

Week of Reflection: November 15, 2024

   

• Rate your overall experience of the week: - I would give this week a 4 because the week was by no means perfect with some non-preferable surprsies, but I accomplished and made some great memories with my students this week.

• Seven questions to end your week:

• Observe: What pleasant surprises / accomplishments did I achieve this week?

Pleasant surprises and accomplishments that I achieved this week would be going on my first field trip with my students, now it was to Gardner-Webb, but it was still great to experience something with them in a fun setting outside the classroom. I also had a fun run with my students this week, and it was really fun to see them excited for this event. It was a great bonding experience. I loved running around the track with my students and running hand-and-hand with them.

• Reflect: What lessons did my work/experiences teach me that I will build upon next week?

Lessons that I learned from my work/experiences this week that I will build upon for next week will probably be to just hold on and work it through because it will pay off. I saw two specific students of mine this week that I was concerned about with their performance in math based on their math test scores from the previous week and some of their misunderstandings during instructions, but after some sit downs with them and some conversations with the parents of these students that the parents and the students made a real effort to ensure improvement within these students. One of them is showing consistent growth, and started at a very low point, and she is growing a little more and more and displaying true progress. The other student displayed the most growth and made a hundred on her test. I was so proud of her, I had to tell her immediately, talk to her about how working hard and studying can really pay off, and this is the evidence and reward. I told her that I was proud, and I gave her a big hug.

• Focus:  How are my short-term efforts and my long-term goals still aligned?

My short term goals of completing lesson plans for the week, finalizing my instructional resources and online resources, along with completing my professional development plan. THese goals all contribute to me completing my student teaching and becoming an effective and independent teacher.

• Be Productive: What could I have spent more or less time doing?

I could have spent more time writing lessons earlier in the week, I could have spent more time videoing for my portfolio though I was able to get more in than I have in previous weeks. I did make some video footage, but I went back over it, and most of it is not viable due to me being out of camera range, or audio not being accurate.

• Have Courage:  How did apprehension and indecision impact what I did and didn’t do?

Apprehension and indecision always seems to affect my accomplishing major tasks in the earlier part of the week because I have a hard time predicting exactly how things will look over a week from now, and I like my choices to be extremely responsive to student data. 

• Begin Anew: What is the first logical step(s) for next week? What mental clutter can I clear? 

The first logical step for next week would be to make sure that I have set up all appointments and communications with people that I will need to meet with. I should also update my records and fine tune my lesson plans. My other logical steps would be to update my logs, finish my plans, and make a finalized plan for creating my video.

• What were some data you analyzed this week and how did it help guide your decisions?

Some data I analyzed this week would be the students’ performance on their math morning work test from the previous week, and I used it to make decisions about students' math deficits that I addressed with IXL skill assignments and quizzes for monitoring. I also decided to give the students additional and more indepth time to study and receive feedback on their performance with their morning work to ensure success on their Friday math tests.

• 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.

I would say that I increased my rating for this standard by working torwards contributing to my School Improvement Plan, which shows a responsibility of leadership torwards my students and a responsibility of leadership within the school. I analyzed the data of my students from previous progress monitoring, and I was able to lead my students in my WIN group, and they showed exponential growth on their math progesss monitoring, which made me exceptionally proud of them.

• 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.

This week, I worked alot on making sure that the needs of my students struggling in math were being met by communicating both with the parents nd the students on recent adapatations made in the classroom and areas of concern along with methods that could be used by parents at home to help improve student sucess. I communicated with some parents in person during the fun run on Friday, and I was happy to show respectful interactions by expressing my gratitude and praise for the student directly to the parents.

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.

This week, I would say that I increased by rating for this standard by completing a global awareness lesson on global currency that built upon my previous lesson on different government types and the forms of measurement that we have been studying in math. The students appearred to love and be extremely engaged during this lesson.

• 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.

I addressed this standard this week by encouraging more independent and small group work rather than consistent guided work during math lessons because I have noticed a deficit in their stamina for thinking and working independently. I assessed that the students have a strong stamina in adding and subtracting with multi-digits with regrouping, so I decided to have the students do a larger majority of their math lesson handouts and activities more independently rather than whole group, and then I gave them additional support with rounding due to their displayed deficit or loose understanding of the concept.  

• 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.

This week I am reflecting on my practice of my students’ displayed deficit with the spiral review of time and making solving two step word probanlems by assigning additional practice and also providing modeling and guided practice using check in sheets.

•  Other:

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

I have started working this week on organzing information within my portfolio, listing all of my instructional resources, dfinsihing collecting artifacts for improvement plan, professional development plan, etc, and trying to check as many boxes as I can to complete my Portfolio with the necessary components.

• What support does your clinical educator need from your University Supervisor?

• What support do you need from your University Supervisor

The only support that the two of us need, is that we are both dealing with very full plates and just trying to keep our head above the water in work that just keeps coming, but we are trying to keep going no matter how crazy the to-do lists get.