Katies Midterm Evaluation

Over the past several weeks, Katie has become an invaluable part of our learning community. She
made strong connections with both the teachers and the students, and has nurtured those
relationships through responsive ways of supporting learning in the classroom. She conducts
herself professionally in terms of attendance, punctuality and dedication to the core purpose and
values of our school. In addition to her work in the classroom, Katie has taken every opportunity
to participate in professional conversations such as SLT (student learning team) meetings, PL
(professional learning) days, support staff meetings, informal conversations with parents and
teacher planning times. There is no question that Katies work has positively contributed to
student learning, as well as to teachers knowledge of and relationship with their students.

When Katie and I met at the outset of her work at our school, she asked what mattered most
what was important to bear in mind as she took up her role in the classroom. Among the things
we discussed were a) unconditional positive regard for the students in her care, and b) an
approach to designing and implementing supports that took the form of an adjustment cycle (i.e.
observe, plan, act, observe, reflect, adjust, respond). Katie is working with students who present
with very challenging classroom behaviors. What Ive observed in the way she talks about
students, in the instructional supports shes developed, and in the ways she interacts with
students and staff is that she strives to keep student autonomy, self-determination and personal
motivation to learn at the forefront of her decisions. She makes observations of students with
more curiosity than judgment, and uses what she notices about each child to make informed
adjustments to her plans and support their learning.

One strategy Katie has been using in the classroom that I find particularly compelling is to take
video recordings of students during a variety of learning experiences, clip them together into a
montage of what learning looks like for an individual child and then sit with the child to review
and discuss what they notice about their own learning. I think it is a particularly powerful
approach to building shared understandings between adult and child the child has a chance to
see things from a different perspective, and the adult invites an expanded understanding of their
own observations that incorporates the insights the child shares. For one student in particular,
this approach has already led to new insights that have allowed the child to take actions of his
own accord that are significantly improving his daily learning experiences.

At this point in her practicum, I am delighted with Katies progress and am looking forward to the
next several weeks of working together.

Alison