Over the past academic year, I’ve grown tremendously. The most identifiable areas of growth have been in my ability to meet diverse needs, classroom management, personalization, and teacher clarity. Evidence for these areas can be found in my illustration of growth.
The population of students in my classroom has helped me better understand how to implement firm goals and flexible means. I have also grown from our professional development on Universal Design from Mirko Chardin. At the start of the year, I assessed students’ mastery of skills through a single means. Now, I begin with the standard and look for ways I can provide flexibility for my students given their individual contexts.
My classroom management skills have grown tremendously over the past year, mostly thanks to my mentor, Jill. With her support, I have learned to stand my ground, say no kindly, and respond to dangerous behaviors calmly.
My ability to structure lessons that centered on students’ identities and lived experiences has grown significantly over the past year as well. Sharing my life and my experiences has translated to empowering students to share their experiences.
One of the biggest challenges I’ve faced this year has been in my teacher clarity. At the start of the year, I wanted so desperately to plan fun, engaging lessons that I severely overplanned. I created goals that were unattainable and unrealistic. While I still plan thoroughly I have gotten better at identifying clear, realistic goals from the standards. My clear goals have helped me adjust my practice when things haven’t gone to plan.