Professional Growth Reflection and Growth Plan
Zachary Sullivan
1) My professional growth as an educator throughout my time in demonstrative teaching has been very satisfying for me. I feel more comfortable in the US educational environment, much better at classroom management, and have grown in my ability to differentiate and scaffold lessons. One activity that has deepened my knowledge in subject matter was when the school invited an elementary mathematics specialist last month to review effective strategies for teaching math. She split our group into pairs and had us go over different strategies to solve mathematical problems, using personal whiteboards similar to how class with our students would be conducted. It was interesting to find myself developing personal preferences for different methods in just the same way we witness with students. I learned a lot about differentiation of teaching methods within the areas of division, multiplication, geometry, and fractions. It was great to see so many ways to teach the same content, and in practicing with the students I felt that it not only deepened my understanding of how to teach this content, but the results were positive for students as well. The students who had been struggling with certain concepts and methods showed great improvement, and each student seemed to have their own preference regarding which method was most effective in solving problems. Although I participated in some great meetings and PLC activities during my time in DT, I witnessed the most growth through collaboration with my host teacher. She was patient and very generous with her time. We spent many breaks and after school hours discussing different pedagogical strategies in the classroom. Two areas of content pedagogy that affected me most were in learning more about constructivist pedagogy and collaborative pedagogy. My host teacher spends a lot of time teaching the students how to use graphic organizers and KWL charts to help students develop a clearer comprehension of their learning materials. It also gives teachers a better ability to track progress. These are tools that I used in my own lessons as well, and student feedback was overwhelmingly positive regarding how the use of these activities assist their learning goals. In collaborative pedagogy, things were not as easy at first. Students of this age are not quite yet able to effectively work independently or in groups, but my host teacher insisted they must learn these skills. We discussed ways they could collaborate and take control of their own learning. One idea we came up with was having them working around the room researching extreme weather and natural disasters. Students did this in groups and with aid of Chromebooks and reading materials posted around the classroom. They had to answer key questions, brainstorm ideas, justify answers, and work efficiently together toward a common goal. This was one of the key activities and conversations had in the classroom that I think helped me to grow as an educator, as it showed me students are more capable than I’d thought while working in independent groups in a way collaborative and responsible way.
2) Since in our school almost 70% of students read below grade level, I decided to collaborate with the 4th grade department for F&P assessments. I worked with all homeroom teachers to conduct F&P’s, collected the data, and worked in collaboration to create a plan moving forward regarding how we would arrange student reading groups to best address reading deficiencies. Students were graded and assigned a reading level. I also identified their unique weaknesses and regrouped students based on that data. This affected our planning for future instruction as it gave us a look into which areas of student learning needed the most attention. Student groups fell into three primary categories of weakness: solving words (phonetics/sounding out), inferring, and summarizing. Students were grouped accordingly and worked with in small centres as to provide differentiated instruction that suited their particular needs. This collaboration through our grade’s department was very successful and it helped me to grow as an educator by forcing me to look more closely at specific needs of students. Prior to this collaboration, I viewed student progress in reading in broader and more simplistic terms. “Students who aren’t great at reading should be reading more.” Although that may be true, it is important to guide students with more of a narrow and specific focus. I learned that teaching to the group as a whole is not enough if an educator’s aim to affect each student to his/her highest ability.
3) Over the past two months I’ve referred to professional growth resources from the NEA several times. On their website they post a ton of insightful material that I’ve been able to apply to my work with students. In particular, I’ve found the Great Teaching & Learning guide to be most helpful for me. Although I am relatively early in my journey as an educator, this framework applies to teachers at all levels. It is broken down into five sections: Passion for Learning, Assessment for Excellence, Culture of Collaboration, Authentic Autonomy, and Worth of Persons and Communities. Each section gives advice that applies to novice and experienced teachers alike, and I’ve found them to be useful when conducting classroom activities. In particular, the sections Passion for Learning, and Culture of Collaboration have been an excellent reminder during my DT experience. I’ve made a conscious effort to ensure that both myself and my students are passionate about the things which take place in our classroom. Student engagement is of utmost priority when lesson planning as engaged students are focused and invested in their learning outcomes. As far as collaboration goes, my school is very supportive of this within our department and even between departments. The NEA guideline outlines keeping constant lines of communication open, and working together toward common goals. I’ve references this page several times over the course of my DT, as a reminder of why we are here and what mentality we need when entering the classroom each day.
4) My foremost short-term goal as an educator is to continue improving my integration of technology into the classroom. It seems as though this transition has been slow in the field of education, and a lot of teachers are not taking advantage of the incredible technological tools at their disposal. Up until this point, I’ve learned to effectively use EdPuzzle, Google Classroom, SmartBoard, and review games such as Kahoot! These provide students with engaging material that is also visually stimulating. In order to better integrate technology into my future classrooms, I have arranged a webinar session with colleagues from my current school. We will be talking about ways we are currently using technology in the classroom, and also brainstorm new ways that can meet the needs of our students. Lastly, I recently signed up for the short Harvard Online course "Transforming your Teaching for the Virtual Environment”. I’m hoping I’ll find a lot of interesting ideas from my colleagues and within this course. I think it’s important that educators keep up with the best technological ideas that are currently offered, and I plan to stay up to date throughout my career by keeping lines of communication open, discourse flowing, and by making use of extra curricular courses and workshops.
