Professional Development- 4 events

Kaylee Neubacher
November 16th, 2015
ARA Conference Reflection
The ARA conference was a great experience. I am glad that I had the
opportunity to attend. At the end of the conference, I walked away with a
greater knowledge of reading and writing. I got to hear a variety of speakers.
I am going to touch on a couple of my favorite break away sessions.
One of the speakers I enjoyed was Jeff Anderson, author of Zack
Delacruz. His session was about encouraging and motivating students to
write. He gave a lot of good advice. One piece of advice that stood out, was
to lift students up and recognize their effort in writing. I think this will give
student confidence and a positive experience with righting. Thus,
encouraging them to write more. In my classroom, I will always lift my
students up and recognize their efforts in all subjects. There were many
things that he talked about that I could use in my future classroom. One of
the writing exercises he talked about was having students write as much as
they can for x number of minutes. Then, recording the number of words
each time. I could see myself doing this in my classroom. I think this exercise
not only motivates students, but also gives them a great opportunity to
practice their writing.
Another speaker I enjoyed was Dr. Underbakke. He gave a lot of good
recommendations for quality childrens books. Many of which I will be putting
in my future classroom library. Dr. Underbakke seems to be very passionate

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about reading, which I can relate to. Similarly, Diane Barone, the President of
the International Literacy Association, has a great passion for reading. She
was very knowledgeable and gave great recommendations for quality
childrens books. I have no doubt, with Dr. Underbakke and Mrs. Barones
recommendations, that I will have a high quality library classroom in the
future.
Professional Learning Plan
Parent/Family Engagement Reflections
Date/Ti
me
10/16;
4:00 pm

Topic

10/22;
7:00 pm

Communicating with
Parents/ Conveying Bad
News to a Parent

Personalities/Communicati
on

Reflection (What did you take away from

the session?)
In this lesson, we discussed personality
types. Before the lesson, we took a
personality test. I found out that my
personality type is ISFJ, or The Protector.
Some of the characteristics of an ISFJ is
that they are practical, compassionate,
caring, humble, and shy. This personality
test hit the nail on the head with what I
already know about myself. Something I
took away from this lesson is that there
are many different personality types.
Every personality type has its strengths
and weaknesses. Its important to know
what the different personality types are,
as well as how to communicate with the
different types of personalities. For
example, to communicate with an ISFJ
personality type, like myself, you would
want to be specific, provide examples,
and appeal to emotions and feelings.
Knowing personality types and how to
communicate with each, will help me in
the future when I communicate with
parents.
This meeting was very helpful, as I was
concerned with how to deliver bad news
or new that may upset a parent. Katie
gave us some great information on how to
convey this news to a parent. What I took

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10/23;
4:00 pm

Parenting Styles

10/30;
4:00 pm

Teacher Types

away from this meeting, is that

communication is key. It is important to
ask parents if they have any concerns
about their child, which allows you to hear
their side first. Also, you should be gentle
and factual when talking to parents about
problems. Finally, you should end the
meeting with the parent on a positive
note. In the future, this information will
help me when talking with parents.
The thing I took away from this meeting is
that there are many different parenting
styles, which effect student behavior
differently. For example, a student who
has a parent who is authoritarian, will be
withdrawn, unhappy, anxious, insecure,
and defiant. Also, (something I am
especially concerned with) is how the
teacher should discipline a students
behavior. There were guidelines Katie
gave us for disciplining students. One of
these guidelines includes: trying to
understand the childs feelings. I think
this is one of the most important
guidelines. I think knowing why the
student misbehaves will help the teacher
discipline the behavior better. All of the
guidelines Katie gave us were important,
and I will use them when I have to
discipline students in the future.
What I took away from this meeting is that
there are different types of personalities
of teachers which correlate to their own
personality type. I found out that I was an
Idealist teacher. This means that I am
an encouraging, inspiring, and
enthusiastic type of teacher. This
correlates to my ISFJ personality type, in
that I am a caring and uplifting person. As
a teacher, I want to support each one of
my students, and encourage them to do
their very best. I think both my
personality and teacher type reflect this.

November 20, 2015

ELL Training Reflection

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I learned a lot on my first day of ELL Training. Before these two days of ELL training, I
felt a bit overwhelmed by the reality that I would one day have a student (or students) who may
be an English Language Learner. These two days of ELL training helped me to understand
English Language Learners, how they learn, and effective ELL instructional strategies. On the
first day, there were many important things that I learned.
One of the important things I learned was that there are four language domains: listening,
speaking, reading, and writing. All children go through this process when learning language. It is
important for teachers to be familiar with these domains, so they can understand the English
Language Learners language learning process. Learning about these four domains will help me
in the future to be sensitive to a language learners needs. It helps me to understand that when a
student is learning English they must go through a process. I cannot expect the student to start
speaking fluent English right away.
These four domains relates to the stages of learning a language. This is another important
aspect of students learning the English language. The stages are: Preproduction, Early
Production, Speech emergence, and Intermediate Fluency. I can relate to these stages; I went
through these stages myself while learning Spanish. I started out in the Preproduction phase,
being afraid to use any Spanish. Then, I moved onto Early Production, where I could say words,
form simple sentences. Next, I moved to the Speech Emergence stage, where I could use fluent
sentences and answer what and how questions. I never got to the intermediate fluency stage. It
took me quite some time to move from stage to stage. I think this own personal experience can
help me identify and relate with any future ELL students in my classroom. I just have to think
about what it was like being a Spanish language learner. This can help me to understand my
ELLs better, especially with realizing that learning a language is a process and takes time.

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A final important thing to note is the analogy: Language is like an iceberg. You have the
language thats on the surface, which makes up 10 % of the iceberg. Then, there is language
below the surface, which makes up 90% of the iceberg. BICS is the surface language, or the
everyday, playground language. CALP is below the surface and its academic language. The
analogy was interesting to me. I never thought about how important it is to develop academic
language. I think it is important to expose all students, not just ELLs, to higher level words, such
as the tier 2 and tier 3 vocabulary words. The iceberg made me realize how important it is to
equip students with a strong academic language foundation, so that they are prepared for the
futurehigh school, college, professional life, etc.
On my second day of ELL training we talked a lot about the instructional strategies used
to teach ELL students. This is known as SIOPSheltered Instruction Observation Protocol. One
strategy of SIOP is Preparation. This means that the teacher makes the content and language
objectives clearly defined. In this strategy, the teacher can use simplified text and graphic
organizers to teach ELLs. Another strategy deals with lesson delivery. In lesson delivery to ELLs
the teacher must do things like make sure that their instruction supports the content and that there
is differentiation. Some useful activities for ELLs in instruction include manipulatives and
thinking maps. In learning SIOP, I have learned how to instruct ELLs adequately. In the future, if
I have a ELLs in my classroom, I am going to go back to SIOP and use the effective instructional
strategies and activities to guide instruction with my ELLs. I think it is important to note that
many of these strategies and activities are beneficial in instructing ALL students, not just ELLs.
Many of the SIOP strategies and activities remind me of the MCREL strategies.
The two ELL training days were beneficial to me as a pre-service teacher. Much of what I
learned helped to fill in some blanks I had when it came to ELL instruction. Now, I do not feel as

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overwhelmed as I did before. I really appreciate Mrs. Valtierra taking time out of her schedule to
train us.
11-24-2015
3rd Grade Team Meetings/Professional Meetings Reflection
During my clinical placement at Trace, I attended a few professional meetings. Attending
these meetings was a valuable experience, as I got to see how data is analyzed and used, as well
as the importance of communication between teachers. The first meeting I attended was a 3rd
grade team meeting. This was a meeting between each of the 3rd grade teachers. The 3rd grade
team had a discussion about technology and project based learning. The technology part of the
discussion was about using it effectively in the classroom. One of the teachers shared a tutorial
on how to use Google Slides. This tool is like power point, but it is connected to Google Drive
and allows students to work on the power point together. I got to see this tool utilize by my 3rd
grade teacher. The students created presentations through Google Slides on the regions of the
United States. Google Slides is a great resource to allow collaboration during projects in the
classroom. I am going to be adding Google Slides to my resource list I have been building up
this semester. I think there were many good resources shared during this meeting. However, I
think some teachers have a tendency to rely too heavily on technology. In connecting this
professional meeting to something Mrs. Joyner said in her maker movement presentation, there
is an appropriate place for technology in the classroom. As a teacher, it is your job to make sure
you are using it to support instruction, and not use it as a time-filler, or for instruction.
Also in this 3rd grade team meeting, they discussed project based learning. PBL is when
students come together and solve a problem. The 3rd grade team was discussing a problem to give

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the 3rd graders to solve for a PBL experience. The problem that they decided on was: hunger
within the communities around Trace. They plan to have students collect cans and have
discussions on the issue of hunger in the community. This project is going to last throughout the
year. I think PBLs are a great idea to use with students. I think it prepares them for college, and
their professional life, where they will have to collaborate with other people to solve a problem. I
think it is a great learning opportunity, and I hope that I have the opportunity to do PBLs in my
future classroom.
The second meeting I attended was a data meeting between the 3rd grade teachers, the
principle and vice principle, and the math/reading coaches. In this meeting, they discussed tier I
students in the 3rd grade. They discussed the progress the students were making. The 3rd grade
teachers also discussed students who they have identified who may need to be placed into tier I.
Attending this meeting, allowed me to see the importance of data and how it is used to improve
student learning. It also allowed me to see the process of placing students into tier 1 and moving
them up a tier. This meeting made me see all of the effort that goes into supporting students. The
teachers and administration at Trace care a lot about students and their education, and it shows.
In the future, I hope that I have the same environment at the school I work for.