Accomplished Teaching: Initial Reflection

I want to become a better teacher, but focusing on one particular area of growth has always been challenging for me. I collaborate well, but I often struggle at unit planning. I use technological tools in my classroom, but I don’t interact with my students through those tools. I involve myself in school activities, from announcing football games to serving as a PLC leader, but I don’t communicate with parents often enough. Somewhere in those strengths and weaknesses are opportunities for me to grow in my profession.

In California I worked with a program called BTSA - Beginning Teacher Support and Assessment. The system works like ProTeach, as the means for new teachers to clear their credential. Much of my work was as a mentor teacher; I worked with new teachers, observing them teach and facilitating their own reflection about their teaching practices. It was the best professional development I’d had, the ability to see other teachers teach and to talk to them about the craft, all while getting paid. When I left California and got a job in Washington, I intended to continue that work, if only as an informal process. Little discussions with colleagues, PLC meetings, talks at the lunch table all contribute to my collaborative reflection. Individually, I can do more, however. Like all teachers, I look back at the day’s lesson and wonder what went wrong, but the process has generally been informal and sporadic.

One way to do this would be to take advantage the Marzano TPEP framework my district uses for its evaluations. Coming from California I didn’t pay much attention to the evaluation system. I’ve always seen it as a hoop to jump through, and I’ve been able to get proficient ratings without putting too much effort into the process. Having looked in more detail at the framework I can see the advantage of using the rubrics to evaluate my own teaching. Within my grasp is the ability to move from proficient to distinguished in several areas, and a regular system of reviewing the framework will help me achieve that growth.

I’ve always considered myself a dynamic teacher, an effective classroom manager, and a strong presenter of information. I have a great relationship with my students, one built on mutual respect and treating each other as adults with a purpose. I feel I can motivate them to work hard, but I’d like to be more efficient about doing that. My planning skills suffer because I often fail to look at the big picture of what I’m teaching. This year as I’m developing new units for my AP English Language course I’m learning more about establishing objectives and assessments before moving backward to the nitty gritty of each day’s lesson. This is my challenge - seeing the big picture - and that’s the area I would like to grow in the most.