Week of Reflection: 10/14

• Rate your overall experience of the week: 5
• Seven questions to end your week:

• • Observe: I finally a punching edTPA in the gut. I'm done with planning commentary, and I'm merely finalizing my lesson plans. Now it's time to teach them next week.
  • Reflect: What lessons did my work/experiences teach me that I will build upon next week? I learned that having a school that is "hands-off" is a beautiful thing. However, it means that, not only are they out of the loop with you, you are out of the loop with what's going on sometimes. There are always, and especially this week, random interruptions and class adjustments. We had several short days, conferences, and pep rally's to do this week.
  • Focus:  How are my short-term efforts and my long-term goals still aligned?
    Things are great. I met with a percussion teacher this week, and got some great insight on how to better teach beginning percussionists. I'm very grateful, and I was able to implant these strategies the next day in class.
  • Be Productive: What could I have spent more or less time doing? I could spend more time working on student teaching assignments and grad school apps. However, I spend a lot of time practicing, and doing chores around the house. IDK if it's really out of balance yet
  • Have Courage:  How did apprehension and indecision impact what I did and didn’t do? I mentioned before that a lot of interruptions happened this week. For example, the 7th graders had fundraising that impacted several days this week. One day, I decided to listen to some great music while the students filtered in from fundraising activities. However, students asked if they could move around seats. I let them, and I wish I hadn't. It wasn't that bad, but it seemed to increase the volume level in the room. Anyway, I merely wasn't sure what to do, and had to be decisive.
  • Begin Anew: What is the first logical step(s) for next week? What mental clutter can I clear? I need to do any final preps for edTPA this week. There is a lot going on this week, and I hope I can get enough practice in.

Adapted from: Cernoff, M. (2013, August 7). 7 Questions to End Your Week With. . Retrieved July 21, 2014, from http://www.marcandangel.com/2013/08/08/7-questions-to-end-your-week-with/

• What were some data you analyzed this week and how did it help inform your instructional decisions? I analyzed students playing at an individual level, in 6th grade band. I heard almost every student play their first notes (even percussion), and gave specific critique.
• What is one piece of advice you can share with other student teachers?
• I'm not sure where you all are with edTPA, but I approached it by writing a basic idea down for each lesson, then I answered the planning commentary, and then I'm writing my official lesson plans. This has helped a lot, and has squared my thinking in a way that I know helps me cover all the bases without being too redundant.

• NC Teacher Candidate Standards (be sure to reference activities from your lesson plans to solidify your answer)
• • Pick an element from standard one of the evaluation tool and explain some activities/strategies you implemented this week to increase your rating for the element.
    1C- The past superintendent of the school system that I teach in, is an alumni of the school I work in. He comes to work with the band every week because his child is in the band, and because he was a band director before he did school administration. Anyway, talk about developing professional connections.
  • Pick an element from standard two of the evaluation tool and explain some activities/strategies you implemented this week to increase your rating for the element.
    2E- One way that I am trying to improve parent communication is by maintaining our "upcoming events" on our website. Our statistics show that people look at our website, so I hope that this is helpful.
  • Pick an element from standard three of the evaluation tool and explain some activities/strategies you implemented this week to increase your rating for the element.
    3B- One student in particular, is very interested in become a band director. He and I have been bouncing off recordings that we really enjoy. This is a really cool back and forth to prompt his curiosity. It also allows for opportunity for this student to ask me questions about other areas of music.
  • Pick an element from standard four of the evaluation tool and explain some activities/strategies you implemented this week to increase your rating for the element.
    -We, the band directors, are spending a lot of time looking for music that is appropriately challenging for each group's upcoming concert. We are still looking for a few pieces that enable to teach what we know they need to learn.
  • Pick an element from standard five of the evaluation tool and explain some activities/strategies you implemented this week to increase your rating for the element.
    5B- I met with a percussion teacher this past week, and it was extremely informative, and helped me with my professional knowledge and skills.
    
    
• Other:
• • What components of your portfolio have you started to complete? Merely working on edTPA, a little bit of PDP and classroom management
  • What support does your clinical educator need from your university supervisor?
    nada
  • What support do you need from your university supervisor?
  • Cya Wednesday