ED 710 Reflection Post for Week 1/30/17

Small victory for this week! My consulting teacher (CT) from Baltimore County  came in for a structured visit. These structured visits are always super stressful to me. I know when the debriefing will occur but I never know when the actual visit will occur. In fact, I don't even know what day the visit will happen. So leading up to these visits, I spend a ton of time stressing. These visits are also nerve wracking to me because I tend to not do as well on them as I do on my formal observations. Between my university mentor and admin observations, I have always been rated proficient/distinguished but with my CT teacher, I am always rated developing. The feedback I have received from my CT is not always the most helpful and the focus tends to be on things that I have little control over. About 3 weeks ago, my CT came in for an announced visit and she was extremely pleased with my performance. However, announced visits are formative and do not effect my ratings. Well, she was so pleased with my most recent announced visit that she has canceled my remaining unannounced visits for the rest of the year. She will still come into my classroom formatively to provide feedback but as of right now I will be rated proficient for the remainder of the year. This has relieved a lot of stress for me and makes me feel more confident in my teaching. It was like getting my final approval and validation for my teaching abilities.