(1) approaches recommendations for improvement receptively and responsively
(2) displays openness and comfort with visitors observing class
(3) seeks out diverse opinions of others for guidance
(4) manages and prioritizes professional tasks and responsibilities
(5) communicates and responds to students, parents, and colleagues in a timely and constructive manner
(1) approaches recommendations for improvement receptively and responsively
| When I first started: | Current practice | Future goals |
| Doing it out of the gate- part of my personality/core. Felt there was a real lack of feedback- would push Bart and Sam to observe me. Which they did and it was helpful. | Yes- still doing this. John’s role as head has increased feedback to me. | Would love to see structure for getting teachers into each other’s room more- this PDP process really highlighted for me the value in that being able to have my team watch me. The discussions we had about teaching was amazing. I’d love to do the same for others. |
(11/2017) Included is an email chain between Bart and me in 2017. This chain was started after getting Sam into my class to observe. The desire for feedback is real. And I blame that on receiving helpful feedback. I have to say every observation note from Sam, from Bart, and from John has helped me refine my craft in some way.
(2) displays openness and comfort with visitors observing class
|
When I first started: |
Current practice |
Future goals |
|
Not that comfortable honestly. No real history of being observed by anyone since went straight from grad student & teacher to high school teacher at a private school. I knew the result would be positive but was still nervous for observation. Always prepared a little more when I knew Bart/Sam was coming to observe. |
Comfortable with whoever needs to come in- guest teachers (even in online format), admissions, and even a student who is in a different section but would like extra support. Now get excited when a visitor is coming- generally means get some feedback on my teaching! |
Hope to keep environment welcoming for anyone to enter. |
(9/2014-5/2020) This indicator was tricky to capture as I feel that most visitors come by unannounced or when they do you don’t get a nice email that says, “you displayed such openness and comfort with me in your class today”. So, I’ve tried to pull this out by focusing on the volume of planned visits I’ve had from the Division Heads. Included is a snippet from my OneNote where I collect the Observation notes of the Division Heads. Further from their notes, we have a follow-up meeting, and so I use the OneNote to not only jot down my reflections from their observation notes but to highlight important pieces from our conversations. After seeing the length of the observation list it jumped out to me that Sam, Bart, and John have visited my class a lot and I’ve been fortunate to receive a lot of valuable feedback from them.
(3) seeks out diverse opinions of others for guidance
|
Always try to- a habit that has emerged out of my “Learner” strength. Started with people I worked with/near on daily basis- and naturally, grows to include countless others from conversations at lunch, PD days, commutes, etc… |
Hm. Try to but feel there is less time to have these genuine/spontaneous conversations- felt this way before going remote but the remoteness has increased this as the name suggests. I do feel that every year my “top 5” has some variability- which I think is good/bad. Means spending time with different people and work well with them. Also retaining relationships and friendships built. |
Hope I don’t insulate myself with just hearing from the same people. Also to me that would signal I’ve devalued learning from others. I think being a mentor to new math teachers the last 3 years has kept me flexible and grounded in this as a habit too. It’s been especially fun to work with people new to EPS as they question why things are the way they are and bring a newness. John and Bart said to work on giving advice. Opportunity and need are occurring as I become more experienced and we hire new people. |
(4) manages and prioritizes professional tasks and responsibilities
|
When I first started: |
Current practice |
Future goals |
|
Get things done in time. Don’t give much room for contemplation/revision. Will put priorities/responsibilities to others above my own. For example, co-teaching will always work/develop Lesson Plans for shared team versus the class we don’t/I’m solo. Soccer workout versus advisory plan. |
Same as stated before. Here’s a current example (4/30/2020)- I wanted to finish lesson plans for the school year in Algebra 2 and Calculus before diving into my PDP work. Building lesson plans for Bert and Anne to use was how I focused my time before reflecting on myself. |
Continue this balance. However, as co-teaching courses gets more complicated with more teachers (teams of 3) like this year- I think planning more in advanced can be helpful for everyone to have more time to process/use available info. |
(5) communicates and responds to students, parents, and colleagues in a timely and constructive manner
|
When I first started: |
Current practice |
Future goals |
|
With regards to parents. Usually within 24 hours. Gained comfort with this over time. Shifted to not send first emotional response. Think about the perspective of what they really want- boils down to reassuring we’re on the same team, that I know their child, and that I want to do the best for their child. Interesting observation that my mid-term comments have changed over time. In first 2 years, they focused on the grade and assignments. Now they focus on behaviors and habits. |
Feel quite comfortable with this now- and that makes sense as I’ve now sent 10,000 replies versus only 100 when I started at EPS (no validity behind numbers just making point). Again when communicating with parents, keeping in the forefront that my message conveys I know their child, I want the best for their child, and we’re on the same team. So even if they’re questioning my teaching style/choices- do not get defensive. I can explain my choices and offer a variety of solutions I see for their child to be successful in my class. |
Would like to get more efficient with this. Feel like crafting these takes me longer than they should as I search for the “right” words. And I’d like to push myself to just make the phone call- I know the phone call is more likely to land well but haven’t made it a habit. Want to keep the focus on having conversations with students/parents about behaviors and habits that make them successful versus the grade. |
(10/2016) Included is a letter sent to parents of all Geometry students to clarify instructional methods and build the relationship. This proactive sharing of information that class may be a little different than what their expectations were was extremely valuable in helping the parent-teacher partnership.
