2014-2015
Domain One Reflection: Planning and Preparation
Each day I able to optimize the
time that students spend in the classroom through careful planning
and preparation. By being prepared and
organized every day, I feel confident that my students receive the most
out of my daily lessons and activities. In an effort to remain aligned with the changes in the world of education, the English department meets at the close of each school year to fine tune the yearly curriculum map. As a result, I am always revisiting lesson plans, graphic organizers, and both summative and formative assessments to ensure that my materials are fresh and aligned with what we have assigned for the upcoming year.
My first step in planning a coherent unit is considering the overall objectives and reviewing the curriculum map for each quarter. By keeping the end goal in mind, I am able to prepare lessons that will directly connect with the essential questions for each unit. From there, I chart out the number of weeks per quarter in my plan book. By doing so, I am able to get a better idea of the time that I will have to complete all of the required texts on the curriculum map for the quarter. Once a more accurate time frame has been established, I begin to plan and prepare individual lessons. Whenever I plan lessons, I assign specific learning goals that I want my students to achieve before the lesson is through. Over the past three years at West Hollow, I feel I continue to plan more effectively and efficiently. When planning lessons, I realize that it is important to identify the areas of the lesson that students may struggle with and plan accordingly in order to eliminate possible issues with understanding the lesson material.
Once I have established the outline of what I plan to teach, I begin to prepare materials to accompany my lessons. Some of the materials I begin to prepare include opening day materials such as my welcome letter, Prezis, and graphic organizers. I am very conscious of specific standards and understandings that I want my students to achieve before walking out of the classroom. With that in mind, I am constantly searching for ways to bring real world examples into my lessons that students can relate to on a personal level. By incorporating real world examples it is my hope that learning does not get left behind in the classroom, and that my students become more self-directed. While I plan my lessons I am extremely mindful of the various learning levels as well as the accommodations of my students with IEP’s and 504’s. It is important to use different methods of teaching in order to reach a variety of students. In order to reach the personal learning needs of the diverse learners in my classroom, I use various forms of differentiated instruction. Based on what my lesson entails, I incorporate activities that utilize diverse instructional forms such as inquiry based learning, cooperative activities that include think-pair-share, group work, group presentations, and graphic organizers for individual information processing, in order to maximize student understanding. Lastly, while planning lessons, I strive to meet the needs of the 21st century learners in my classroom by always utilizing technology and interesting visual aids.
When planning, I use a variety of assessments to identify student learning. During lessons, I am able to assess student understanding through personal reflections and responses, class discussions, and lesson closure. In leading discussion, I am able to drive my lessons in a way that will help struggling students understand the overall objective of the lesson or material that is being covered. I also utilize formative assessments such as quizzes, writing samples, and reflective assignments as well as summative assessments that include, unit tests, essays, and a quarterly project to reflect upon student progress.
My first step in planning a coherent unit is considering the overall objectives and reviewing the curriculum map for each quarter. By keeping the end goal in mind, I am able to prepare lessons that will directly connect with the essential questions for each unit. From there, I chart out the number of weeks per quarter in my plan book. By doing so, I am able to get a better idea of the time that I will have to complete all of the required texts on the curriculum map for the quarter. Once a more accurate time frame has been established, I begin to plan and prepare individual lessons. Whenever I plan lessons, I assign specific learning goals that I want my students to achieve before the lesson is through. Over the past three years at West Hollow, I feel I continue to plan more effectively and efficiently. When planning lessons, I realize that it is important to identify the areas of the lesson that students may struggle with and plan accordingly in order to eliminate possible issues with understanding the lesson material.
Once I have established the outline of what I plan to teach, I begin to prepare materials to accompany my lessons. Some of the materials I begin to prepare include opening day materials such as my welcome letter, Prezis, and graphic organizers. I am very conscious of specific standards and understandings that I want my students to achieve before walking out of the classroom. With that in mind, I am constantly searching for ways to bring real world examples into my lessons that students can relate to on a personal level. By incorporating real world examples it is my hope that learning does not get left behind in the classroom, and that my students become more self-directed. While I plan my lessons I am extremely mindful of the various learning levels as well as the accommodations of my students with IEP’s and 504’s. It is important to use different methods of teaching in order to reach a variety of students. In order to reach the personal learning needs of the diverse learners in my classroom, I use various forms of differentiated instruction. Based on what my lesson entails, I incorporate activities that utilize diverse instructional forms such as inquiry based learning, cooperative activities that include think-pair-share, group work, group presentations, and graphic organizers for individual information processing, in order to maximize student understanding. Lastly, while planning lessons, I strive to meet the needs of the 21st century learners in my classroom by always utilizing technology and interesting visual aids.
When planning, I use a variety of assessments to identify student learning. During lessons, I am able to assess student understanding through personal reflections and responses, class discussions, and lesson closure. In leading discussion, I am able to drive my lessons in a way that will help struggling students understand the overall objective of the lesson or material that is being covered. I also utilize formative assessments such as quizzes, writing samples, and reflective assignments as well as summative assessments that include, unit tests, essays, and a quarterly project to reflect upon student progress.
Domain One Artifacts
Below is the welcome letter that I put together for the first day of school.
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For Back to School Night this year, I chose to try something different. Instead of reiterating the welcome letter that was sent home for parents to review and sign in September, I prepared a gallery walk for parents. As the parents walked in, I displayed a class picture of the period that his/her child is in. Then, I gave a brief introduction and directives for the evening. As parents walked around, they were able to explore the classroom, just as their children do, and get a real feel of the classroom environment. This also freed up time to speak with parents one on one during the evening. The parents responded very well to the activity and commended me for my creativity.
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