TWS Reflection & Self Evaluation

Joyce Spaulding Meyer

Dixie State University

TWS Reflection Classroom Environment

Joyce Spaulding Meyer

Some students in my class face considerable challenges. Sixty-eight percent of the class qualifies for free lunch with an additional nine percent qualifying for reduced price lunch. One students father is in prison and she wont be able to see him until she is 13 years old. Another family is barely able to pay their rent and just lost their car which will have an impact on her single mother being able to get to work. Yet another students mother is disabled and she must help care for the household and her siblings. The majority of my class comes from single-parent homes. I tell my students that the way for them to make a change in the world or in their own lives is through education. I have shared with my class that I needed a change in my family and a way to better provide for my family so I returned to school. During my student teaching, I have worked hard to build a positive classroom environment. Each day I greet my students at the door with a smile and a handshake (my school is a Leader in Me school and wants us to help students build leadership qualities). My students know they can come to me with a problem, and that they will be listened to with respect and courtesy. When they have a problem, I dont solve it for them. Instead I ask them what they think they should do about it. I believe it is important for students to come up with solutions for their own problems as much as possible. When a problem is too big for them to handle on their own, I will offer solutions for them to choose from or refer them to the counselor as needed. Students reflect on their own learning in my class. I have shown them where to add a or a ? to indicate how they feel about their own learning. Students often add these now without me even asking them too! I assure students that I am the only one who will look at this and during practice time I am sometimes able to go over the work with them.

TWS Reflection

Joyce Spaulding Meyer

From the beginning of the year I have been honest and sincere with my students. I also have had times Ive had to admit Ive made a mistake. I believe this has helped me to build trust among my students and myself. Content Knowledge I feel confident in my own knowledge when it comes to teaching. My PRAXIS scores were high which supports that I have strong background knowledge. However, I have learned that knowing something is much different than teaching something! Using SIOP has helped to think of how to teach content from various perspectives and using a variety of techniques and materials. Although I do not typically use the colleges planning template when I plan a lesson, there are key components I use and I also use a SIOP checklist to ensure that I am doing everything I can to support student learning. I know as I continue to implement lessons following SIOP that my teaching will continue to improve over time. Although students did not meet proficient levels during this unit on fractions, they demonstrated tremendous growth! The class average on the pre-assessment was only a score of 27.1%, with post-assessment scores averaging 61.5%. Thats measured growth of 34.4%! Fractions can be difficult to understand, and I feel the lesson that included the relationship between fractions and division was more than my students were ready for. In the future I would use this time to compare and order fractions or to strengthen students knowledge and abilities in division prior to teaching fractions. An area I feel frustrated with in teaching is the strict schedule I must adhere to. Sometimes I notice my students arent getting it, but its time to move on! When can I reteach? During this unit, I felt that several students needed additional practice. I created a module for students to do during Success Maker time and also included Bellwork that gave them additional

TWS Reflection

Joyce Spaulding Meyer

practice on difficult concepts. I felt like this still was not enough for some students, especially as so many were pulled for interventions that were focused on reading or timed fluency of math facts. When I have my own classroom, I will plan specific topics for interventionists to cover with my students in addition to practicing their basic facts. My desire is to teach mild/moderate special education. This experience has brought to me a greater awareness that I need to be cognizant of the effects of pull out time on regular instruction and ensure Im not taking a student out of an important lesson. Additionally, I can give support to that concept and additional basic concepts my students are still struggling with. Personal Growth This unit was not the first math unit I have taught, nor was it the best unit I taught. I tend to be a perfectionist and I over-planned and over-thought what I was going to do during this topic, I believe to my detriment. Students performed very well in the previous unit and are currently doing well in the subsequent one. From this I realized that I need to rely on and have more confidence in my knowledge and abilities and not try to reinvent the wheel each time I plan a lesson! As I continue to develop my pedagogical skills, I can bring in additional activities where needed. To motivate students to do their best on this test, I offered a class reward if we reached a specific goal. I showed students our pre-assessment score of 27.1% and together we came up with a goal of 70% for the post-assessment. Students offered several suggestions for a reward and then we voted on them as a class. I was pleased and touched that someone suggested eating lunch in class with Mrs. Meyer as a reward and that when we voted, this won out over extra recess or a root-beer float party. Although students did not earn our reward of lunch in the classroom with me, because everyone worked hard and demonstrated growth I rewarded the

TWS Reflection

Joyce Spaulding Meyer

class with $5 of Coyote Cash, the school currency. They will be able to use their Coyote Cash at the Coyote Cash Store that is held once a month and they will be able to choose their own prizes. I believe that students really did try to do their best and that they feel safe, important and valued in my classroom.