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Domain 4
Professional Responsibilities
Relationships, Responsibility, and Reflection
Gaining responsibilities within a classroom over the course of my student teaching experience was a bit intimidating at first, but such a great opportunity to further establish connections with parents, educators, administrators, and other professionals within the education field. Listening to the stories of these people and building relationships is beneficial because they may open up and share their knowledge of a student, situation, or strategy that could aid instruction or relationship-building with a student.
These relationships also allow for authentic feedback on your teaching. Being able to receive praise and constructive critiques throughout my time teaching in this classroom was extremely helpful because I was able to apply that information immediately. Being in a school means being surrounded by individuals who chose a career dedicated to helping others, so even areas of improvement are explained in hope of helping others improve.
tda
Teacher Disposition Assessment
In the Teacher Disposition Assessment, I worked with my supervisor and cooperating teacher to discuss areas of success and potential improvement at the halfway point of my student teaching experience. Prior to this conversation, I completed my own reflection on my performance to talk about my personal viewpoint of my teaching. Taking the time to sit down and reflect on my teaching allowed me to recognize how I can improve and continue to serve my students in the best and most impactful way. At this point, I felt that I could improve on my classroom management skills and engaging all students. In the following 7 weeks, this specialized focus on these skills allowed me to target these areas, and I feel that I have improved in both significantly (4a).
Furthermore, I served as a liaison between my supervisor, cooperating teacher, and seminar professor. Making sure that I was providing information to all parties in a timely and professional manner was a task that I held at the forefront. Participating in a professional community (4d) is a helpful component in making sure that all people are in the loop and able to provide feedback and other helpful information.
Equipped for Reading Success
I had the opportunity to implement Equipped for Reading Success (EFRS), a program that promotes phonemic awareness to students in a way that is systematic and research-based. Each day (if time allowed), I would present students with ten words and ask them to remove, change, or add sounds or syllables to words. Once a week, I would test the students to see if they were able to manipulate these sounds automatically and move them up to the next level. I also used scaffolds in my teaching of some students, and worked to remove them over time. I maintained accurate records (4b) by collecting the students data in order to create new groupings, use specific scaffolds, and move students up in a level. Throughout this intervention cycle, I met with literacy support teachers, K-2 specialists within the school, and professors at Saint Joseph's University to discuss student growth.
I have included the progression of two students in their ERFS interventions. Both students made great strides over this short period shown in this data. On the left, the student showed her quick progression, as she did not need scaffolds in order to make the phonemic changes in the words. The student on the right, however, used fading scaffolds in order to achieve accuracy. Within ERFS interventions, the scaffolds (from most to least intensive) are concrete, kinesthetic, verbal, and no scaffold. The student on the right did not need concrete manipulatives, but he did benefit from using kinesthetic and verbal scaffolds.
As a whole, all seventeen students who were receiving ERFS interventions progressed at least 3 levels over the course of 3 weeks, demonstrating the effectiveness of quick, engaging interventions.
efrs
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