Ms. Rumble's Portfolio
Standard #9:
Reflection and Continuous Growth
The teacher is a reflective practitioner who uses evidence to continually evaluate his/her practice, particularly the effects of his/her choices and actions on others (students, families, and other professionals in the learning community), and adapts practice to meet the needs of each learner.
Artifact #1: TWS Video
Description: During my teacher work sample unit on I Am The Messenger, my mentor videotaped me teaching a lesson. After class had finished, I was able to go back and watch this video and take note of the strengths and weaknesses of my performance. In the video, I am helping students who were absent the previous class catch up on what they missed, I am also having my students participate in a Kahoot reading check quiz, I introduced the good deed playing cards, and I also introduced the final project for the book.
Rationale: The teaching work sample video was a reflective tool so that I could take note of my teaching performance and improve on it. I completed a reflection packet where I made note of what I could improve on and what I did really well on. From this video, I learned that I could improve on my classroom management, which led to a conversation with my mentor about strategies that could support me in doing so. Although very bizarre to see myself teaching, I was observing myself from the students’ perspective, allowing me to see through their eyes and adjust my teaching presence and planning in order to better help them.
Artifact #2: Student Survey on TWS
Description: After completing the teacher work sample unit on I Am The Messenger, I asked my students to complete a survey. On this survey, I asked the students several questions addressing the activities we did in class, like “If we were to repeat this unit on I Am The Messenger, which things would you keep and which things would you not keep? Is there anything you wished we did during this unit?” Before starting the survey, we brainstormed as a class a list of activities on the whiteboard. The students were amazed at how much we had done since the beginning of the book. The students took their time with the survey and gave me honest answers on what they truly liked and disliked. Some students gave me reasons why they did not like certain activities, and they also expressed what activities they would like to see more of in our next unit.
Rationale: My students are the best resource for reflection on my teaching. I could think that my unit was engaging and creative, but if my students did not get anything out of the activities, then it’s not worth doing again. I had my students complete the survey to see what they thought of the unit, and what I could do for future units to help them learn. I told them in the directions on the survey, “Help me help you.” I took all of their feedback to heart and applied what they said to the next unit, which was on Hamlet. I will continue to use student feedback for future units because it helps me become a better teacher and it also gives students ownership over their own learning.
