Teaching reflection week 5

The past two weeks have been both extremely stressful and extremely rewarding. I have had five observations over the course of ten days and I have felt like I was under a microscope. My classroom has had a revolving door and I have been the center of the performance. I know that this is common for new teachers, especially those in a graduate program, and my hope is that these visits become easier over time. So far I have had two baseline observations from my consulting teacher, one formal observation from my administration, one visit from the office of science, and one from Stevenson. On both my formal observation and the one for Stevenson, I recieved proficient ratings, with some categories falling under distinguished for Stevenson. This was super exciting because it always reaffirms that I made the right decision in switching career paths. The office of science visit went well and seemed more of a formality than anything else.

My consulting teacher, CT, has been the most stressful experience so far. Yes, all of the observations are stressful because additional planning is always necessary, but my first observation with my CT was far from successful. She observed me during one of my more difficult classes and seemed to be focused on things that seem less important to me in the grand scheme of things.  During our post observation meeting, the only success she was able to mention was that I knew my content. As one can imagine, I went into my second observation less than thrilled to be there. I was pleasantly surprised at how engaged my students were and how pleased my CT was. She remarked that my classes were like night and day. She was pleased with my rapport with students and even more pleased that within their lab groups, my students were having meaningful discussions about the content. They were challenging each other and working through the matter examples like real scientists.

My biggest struggle right now is my one class that over half the students hold a 504 or IEP. Many of these students are able to deliver the content verbally but are unable to convey the information through means of writting. In a class of twenty plus students, I am struggling to find ways for my students to be graded on the content that goes beyond writing the information down. Some days I wish there was five of me in the room so that I could grade my students in a way that aligns with their abilities better. I am planning on working with my STAT teacher in the near future to determine acceptable resources for students to deliver their knowledge verbally. I feel like most of my students in this class will excel if they are able to verbally convey their answers instead of writing them down.