These moms are laughing because I thought I would have time to blog on my maternity leave. Or with a newborn. Or a toddler. 2 and half years later here I am. It was my evaluation year and I have to make a portfolio. It was surprising to come back and discover I had previously posted almost 30 times. I didn't remember having that much to say. And so much has changed since then. I now teach 6th grade. I began to specialize in math and social studies (although that will change with our new team assignments - LA here I come!) I am in a really good place. I love my new job and my new team. Looking back at the last two years feel good - much was done and there is still much to do. I continue to grow. My personal reflection turned out to be 8 pages. Take a look:
Self Evaluation for 2016-2017
Sidwell
Friends School
Lesley
Younge
Submitted
July 21, 2017
2016-2017 marked
my 11th year of teaching in the classroom and my 14th
year in the world of youth development.
It was my 6th year at Sidwell Friends School and my 2nd year
in 6th grade. By many markers
it was a successful year, which I evaluate based on my ability to improve upon
past initiatives, try new ideas, and see growth in my areas of focus. Moreover I feel confident that I continued to
contribute a great deal to my team, my division, and the school as a
whole.
I again taught
math and social studies and was also a homeroom advisor. As an advisor, I thought my connections with
students improved from my first year and I was better able to address their
individual needs while creating a safe community for learning. Their openness in discussions and class
meetings indicated their comfort with each other and with me. It was a significantly more diverse class,
and I found ways for them to bring their personal cultures and interests into
the educational process, which enriched us all.
I remain a strict, but fair teacher.
I pride myself on my classroom management style and high expectations
for behavior and self-regulation. My
primary interest is physical and emotional safety, which students do not feel
if the teacher is not paying attention and does not wield some level of control. I try
to be celebratory in times of student success and let them know what I
appreciate about them individually and collectively. I was
able to have meaningful conversations with most students around their areas of
growth, whether emotional, social, or academic.
I hope they felt understood, cared for, and properly guided. 11-12 year olds are different from 9-10 year
olds in what they need and will accept from teachers. I am adjusting to what is appropriate for
them developmentally and to the limits of my influence in this role.
Mathematically I
grew as well. The second year brings
more comfort with the curriculum and the levels of learners in the standard
class. Our team met during the summer of
2016 to recalibrate the curriculum scope and sequence, and I was able to
address almost all of the topics in a timely way. There was a mix of hands-on experiences,
group work, and traditional practice. Organization was a major focus and that
brought clarity to my teaching. I began using
a notes format I found through betterlesson.com. I felt these notes (to which I attached
classwork) helped me communicate the topics, goals, and expectations much more
clearly. Students continued to need
guidance on how to use the notes to review material and study for tests, but
the work was organized and accessible. It additionally helped in conversations
with parents. When they were unsure
about our studies, I could direct them back to their student and their
work. There was a reasonable amount of
homework. I liked using Khan Academy for weekly, varied practice and included a
problem solving activity. Most other
work could be done in class. I collected completed notes, work, and
assessments, and I was able to give each student a portfolio of their work at
the end of the year. A next step is
student reflection on the portfolio to which I hope to devote more time. I will be able to adapt this system to the
advanced class I will teach next year.
Differentiation
and assessment continue to be areas of focus for me. The notes system does allow me to set levels
of work and individualize the classwork for each student. I need to do more
pre-assessments and more intermittent mini assessments. Time management of a 40-minute class is the
primary hindrance. It does not always
feel fair to give students (many of whom were slower readers and processors)
five minutes to complete an assessment task, and that was what we had if there
was to be a lesson and work time too. With our homework conversation I did feel
pressure to give students more class work time so that they would have less
homework. I sacrificed other things to
do so. I hope to improve the structure
of my classes in this third year so that I can include these important
elements. With a more advanced level class this may be less of a problem. End of unit assessments came together nicely.
I primarily used the ones from Math in Focus, which I will continue to do. I hope our team can work this year on making
common assessments. Without them it is
difficult to compare across classes and that will be necessary with two
teachers teaching advanced math.
I often found that
students had trouble applying known processes in new problem solving
situations. Even if similar problems
were in the study guide, they needed more examples and more practice to be
successful with them on the test. I
struggled with this because I do not believe in teaching them how to solve certain
problems in ways that they just mimic and repeat. Best practice involves taking the time to let
students try on their own, work together, and then discuss and share methods. The schedule made this challenging, and I
know I did not offer enough guided opportunities for this work. However, it was a primary focus of Lauren’s
class so it will be essential to manage this better. Additionally, this year I want to better
match the kind of modeling I do to a process that they could generalize in
novel situations. I will use the bar
modeling steps as a guide and Andrew has given us several resources that should
help as well. I find out department
meetings useful and productive and feel comfortable bringing this challenge up
for discussion.
My social studies
teaching continues to evolve as I become more invested in and knowledgeable
about social justice and global sustainability.
I would not say that these were primary interests of mine even five
years ago, but now they are central. 6th
graders are extraordinarily interested in what is real and true about the
world. I am proud of the curriculum we are developing that takes their interest
seriously and gives them the tools to ask questions, conduct research, make
meaning, discover passions, and take action. I believe this focus is in alignment with the
Quaker testimonies. I find ways to bring those into the classroom everyday,
which brings joy and meaning to our work.
Our team is in
alignment and together we are becoming experienced practitioners of global
education. Our travel to Boston to study
with Fernando Reimers was a critical source of knowledge and resources to
continue our work. Our sustainable
development trip to Malawi also gave us enormous perspective on the importance
of this work and the skills our students need to make a positive impact on the
world. Next week we will process all of
the learning we have done and determine how to best implement it.
I was particularly
proud of our Sustainable Development Goal research brief assignment and
summit. I developed the global brief
assignment last year. That all five
classes participated was a major advancement we will likely repeat this
year. It was meaningful for students to
discuss their research together and present ideas to their peers. It provided a foundation we continued to
build on throughout the year. The United
Nations SDGs have been a central piece of most global education materials we come
across. We are right in step with
recommended best practices to have students delve deeply into these topics and
identify problems, partners, and sustainable solutions. Overall we are
providing a highly consistent experience for 6th graders and this is
also something we are invested in. I
think we are an exemplary model of collaboration, communication and collegial
support within the school.
Green By Design
went smoothly and was properly elevated as an end the year project. The research portion improved empathy, and
this year I was able to solidly connect the idea of single stories about Africa
to student thinking. In their work and
reflections I saw efforts to see their countries and families in a
multi-dimensional way. We streamlined
the math segment, and it felt more substantial. The assessment materials for this project are
outdated. We will improve them this
summer. Additionally we need to make
sure the technology/science aspect is better integrated into the experience.
Our Mapping with
Heart project continues to evolve and my class’s work was featured on the
website. The research paper topic was
renewable energy in other countries and was again managed very well by 6th
graders. I provided more guidance on which
print and web resources were appropriate, which helped. I will continue to refine the resources we
use to make sure all learners have accessible materials. There are some technical clarifications (such
as the definition of a megawatt) that would be useful, and I will include those
next year. The alignment with windmill
making in science and reading The Boy Who
Harnessed the Wind provides significant synchronicity, and I will continue
to time those intentionally. The culture
scrapbook project and celebration are a nice part of the year and provide an
opportunity to share our personal and familial selves with each other. Our team needs to set clearer goals around
the culture unit as it evolves to be an opportunity to undo ideas about
“normal”, take alternative perspectives, and demonstrate respect for other
people’s lives.
I am proud of how
well we use the city as our classroom.
My background is in museum and out of school education. It was my first love, and I am thrilled to
work on a team where being out and about is supported. The Doctors Without Borders refugee exhibit
was exceptional and set the tone for our year.
Visits to the Building Museum and the Newseum enhanced learning as
well. We hope to continue to utilize the resources
of Washington DC and to be flexible with each other so that we can take
advantage of them.
Following the
all-school service-learning grant last summer, I set a goal to restructure the 6th
grade program as a model of best practice.
We decided to focus on food justice.
There were some successes and a lot of room for growth. It began with a central query for all
students on which many experiences would offer insight: If there is enough for
all, why don’t all have enough? (This
gem was offered by Stewart when he was still running Global Village.) The
entire grade participated in the Oxfam Hunger Banquet. We then hosted a speaker from DC Central
Kitchen and raised over $500 with which we bought turkeys for their
Thanksgiving dinners and made a monetary donation. We also hosted a panel from Everybody Grows
and partnered with them to grow seedlings, which were donated to community
gardens in DC. Global Village offered
further opportunities to think about inequity and resource distribution. There were individual class efforts, and
classes went to A Wider Circle and Food & Friends or baked cakes for the
Boys and Girls Club.
The partnership
with Everybody Grows has enormous potential that we hope to better develop this
year. We were unable to have each class
visit the community gardens as we had planned.
There is a possibility of doing this in the fall when things are more
flexible. The spring was very
challenging schedule-wise for all involved.
We will better coordinate with the science unit on plant growing to
emphasis that application of knowledge.
A trip to a food farm would offer even more insight. There is a lot of interest from other
teachers about establishing a garden on campus and a container garden might be
the best solution at this time.
Additionally we need to develop some final way for students to reflect
on this work. I had my students wrote persuasive paragraphs on whether we could
solve world hunger. It was sufficient
for this year, but I think we can do more, perhaps involving collaboration and
art.
My work as the clerk
of the service learning committee was very fulfilling and I look forward to continuing
in that role this year. Our presentation
at the beginning of the year went very well and subsequent meetings with grade
levels furthered the conversation in a meaningful way. Our committee continued to be productive, and
we had enjoyable meetings. It was a huge accomplishment to develop and present
the ideas for the 7/8 service orientation.
Together I think we can successfully deepen that experience with little
impact on teaching schedules.
I am involved with
a number of initiatives this summer. The
prospect of Mac books for all students means that many aspects of teaching can
and should evolve. I am excited to learn
from the 7/8 social studies team and develop better ways to document and assess
our students thinking and learning using these devices. Our 6th grade team will meet next
week to further develop our social studies program and its interdiscimplinary
connections. I hope to continue our
excellent work together as one of the 6th grade clerks. Though time consuming, meeting by discipline
weekly kept us organized and in line with each other.
The global
education and social justice grant work is moving along and will support both
the 6th grade program and our plans for the 7/8 service
orientation. I feel we are moving in the
right direction. There is a lot of work
to do and a long way to go, but we are doing what is right for us right now
with an eye towards progress in the future.
I am disappointed that the Upper School was not supportive of our
efforts, but hopeful that the new strategic plan will pull them along. At any rate I will continue to tend the lawn
that is the Middle School and ensure we are progressive in our efforts to weave
critical service learning into the student experience.
This year will
bring new challenges as I add language arts and advanced 6th grade
math to my plate. I am excited to
develop and model more interdisciplinary models of curriculum now that I teach
all three subjects. This type of teaching is a strength, and I
will be able to draw upon my past experience in the elementary classroom to
maximize my and the students’ class time together. I am grateful to work with people who inspire
me to offer my best work knowing I will receive their support and best work in
return. We are able to be vulnerable
with each other (rare in this environment) and can be sure that any critique is
offered with love. This is the most
collaborative I have ever been, even under a co-teaching model. It is the ideal work environment for
creativity and self-improvement, and I look forward to what lies ahead.
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