E1 – Exemplify professionally-informed, growth-centered practice.This program standard emphasizes the importance of developing reflective, collaborative, and growth-centered practice. This can be achieved through regularly evaluating one’s teaching through reflection and feedback. Reflections and feedback can come from many sources including self-reflection, mentor teachers, advisers, or other teachers. This is especially important for teachers to continually evaluate their teaching in order to ensure the upmost quality of instruction. The evidence presented is self-reflection notes as well as feedback given from my mentor teacher following a math lesson. I find it very beneficially to continually self-reflect upon my performance in all classroom aspects. It is especially useful to be aware of what went well or what could have gone better. This will help me to grow and develop as a teacher. Equally important is the feedback provided by my mentor teacher. Many times we ourselves don’t recognize our teaching tendencies. Having another individual evaluate my teaching performance allows for more insight and another perspective of what may have went well or what could have been better.
This evidence shows specific feedback pertaining to number talk strategies. This was the first math lesson which I taught trying to incorporate number talk. A Number Talk is a short, ongoing daily routine that provides students with meaningful ongoing practice with computation. A number talk was something different and unfamiliar to me. Needless to say, the lesson did not go according to plan. Reflecting on the lesson and discussing the details with my mentor teacher allowed me to get a better understanding of number talks. It also provided me with important aspects to think about for when I plan future math lessons. One of the biggest take-away from the feedback was the emphasis on student equity of voice. My mentor teacher stated the importance for some students to turn and talk prior to speaking in front of the whole group. Many students need the opportunity to process the information, think about it, and articulate to their partner before stating their strategy to the class. As I continue my educational journey, I plan on continuing to self-reflect upon my lessons. This is important for adapting lessons in order to meet the needs of each individual student. Additionally, I will seek and welcome any feedback provided from my peers. This will help my own evaluation of the effectiveness of my teaching practices. Reflections and feedback provides opportunities for growth and development as a teacher. As a result of self-reflecting and discussing my math lesson with my mentor teacher, I feel I have learned how to more effectively implement number talks. The results are that students will be more actively engaged in meaningful talk ensuring more learning is occurring. In the future, I will continue to self-reflect and seek feedback from my peers. I will continue to reflect upon my instructional practices in order to continue my growth and development as a teacher. It can be difficult to make all the changes at once, so I plan on emphasizing the opportunities where students are able to think and share with a partner.