Aleah Costello

12 December 2017

Final Self-Evaluation

Introduction

The United States of America has an education system that has seen many

different laws and regulations over time. In the same system, Pennsylvania

Department of Education has adopted many different laws and regulations.

Specifically for teacher evaluation, it has been said that every teacher in public

school must be evaluated in the same way. Teacher evaluation can be defined as the

formal process a school uses to review and rate teachers performance and

effectiveness in the classroom (EDWEEK). Recently in teacher evaluation, the

Charlotte Danielson Evaluation Model has been adopted. Through this model, there

are four domains, which cover the evaluation of an effective educator. In order to

adopt this model into my own teaching and self-evaluation, I have evaluated myself

in the four domains and reflected on my teaching practices.

Planning and Preparation

Educators must be prepared before walking into the classroom. In order to

prepare effectively, educators must also plan effectively. Within the first domain of

the Charlotte Danielson Model, it discusses demonstrating knowledge of content

and standards, pedagogy, students, child development, and preparing

developmentally appropriate and engaging lessons, materials, assessments, etc. In

this first domain, I rate myself as basic. I believe in this first domain that I am basic

because I do believe that I demonstrate knowledge through each part of the domain,

but I also believe that there is room for growth in these areas. As an educator, I feel

that I want to be the best I can be and as a teacher-candidate, I am still working on

developing my knowledge of pedagogy and content and standards. I plan to

continue working at this throughout my career as an educator.

In this domain, I do believe that I have demonstrated proficiency in specific

areas. For example, I believe that I am proficient in demonstrating knowledge of

students, child development, and preparing developmentally appropriate and

engaging lessons, materials, assessments, etc. I am able to demonstrate knowledge

of the students in my classroom everyday. In October, I recognized that one student

in my class was reading similar books that I would read when I was her age. She had

finished a book one day and was looking for another to read. In my bag I was

carrying around Sideways Stories from Wayside School by Louis Sachar. I told this

student that when I was in 4th grade I loved the book and based upon the books she

has been reading in school I believed she would like the book as well. I also told her

it was okay if she did not enjoy the book, but I would like for her to try it out if she

was willing. The student is still reading this book in school and after every chapter

tells me about how much she enjoys reading it. I am glad that I was able to provide

her with literacy materials she enjoys. I also believe that I demonstrate proficiency

at preparing developmentally appropriate and engaging lessons, materials,

assessments, etc. I like to plan out my lessons ahead of time where I can think

through exactly what the students will be doing, learning, and how to make it
interactive. Although I have not yet used the interactive board for any of my lessons,

I plan to work on incorporating the interactive board into my future lessons.

In this first domain, I believe that even though I demonstrate proficiency in

some of the areas, I am still considered basic. I believe this is true because there is

room for me to grow and learn more about being an effective educator. Now, as I

prepare to stay in the same classroom and become the full-time student teacher, I

will be setting some goals for myself. Overall, I want to focus on rounding out my

knowledge of pedagogy and content and standards. I believe if I work on deciding

what is most important to me as an educator and brushing up on my knowledge of

the content in a 4th grade classroom, I will be able to succeed and move myself to

proficient overall in planning and preparation.

Classroom Environment

The classroom environment can make or break how a student learns. It can

also dictate whether or not the student feels safe, comfortable, and respected. In this

domain, the teacher must maintain a professional relationship with the students,

show respect for all learners, and effectively manage classroom procedures. I

believe in this domain I can be rated as proficient. Throughout each encounter with

my students, I continue to maintain a professional relationship, show respect for all

learners, and effectively manage classroom procedures. I am aware of how to be the

teacher and the friend but maintain the assertive teacher role. All of my students

know that I am their teacher and respect me as such.

 As well, I am able to show respect for all learners by communicating

appropriate high expectations, motivating students, and holding students

accountable for achievements and behaviors. For example, one student in my class

is struggling with 2-digit by 2-digit multiplication. She struggles in math often needs

extra practice before mastering the skill. In a small group, she became very

frustrated and began to cry because she was unsure where she was going wrong. At

this point in the Math Workshop we were switching stations and I was able to pull

her aside and talk with her. I told her that I knew she would be able to do the

multiplication problem; she just needed to keep practicing. Together, the two of us

were able to work on solving a problem by talking it out. I asked her if she felt

comfortable doing one on her own or if she wanted to do another together and talk

through it. She felt that she was ready to complete it on her own. She was able to

complete the problem and get the correct answer. I made sure to tell her how proud

of her that I was because I felt that she needed to be held accountable for her

achievement. I explained that if she continues to practice with different numbers it

would become automatic for her. Although it took her a longer amount of time to

understand how to complete the multiplication problem, we were able to work

through it together. This student would not have succeeded if she did not feel safe,

comfortable, and respected in the classroom.

In the beginning of the year I was unsure how to effectively manage

classroom procedures. I watched each day as my mentor teacher was able to

effectively and efficiently transition students, pass out materials, and break into

instructional groups. I noticed that in 4th grade they do a lot of modeling. I decided
to take what I saw and use that for my own classroom transitions and procedures.

There has been many times where I have asked the students what a transition

should look like and sound like. This helps them get into the right mindset in order

to transition to the next activity. I believe that even though in the beginning of the

year I was unsure, I now have effective classroom management skills. The overall

classroom environment is safe, comfortable, and respected. As I continue my

journey of education, I will continue to work on building relationships with

students, and communicating high expectations to them. I believe that if I strive to

communicate the high expectations I believe they can achieve, they will feel

motivated and excited to achieve.

Instruction

The planning and preparation and classroom environment are two areas that

correlate with instruction. If the educator is not prepared to teach and the

classroom environment is not a safe, comfortable, and respected learning place the

students will not have great instruction. These needs must be met before being able

to successfully instruct. When an educator successfully instructs they are able to

effectively communicate expectations for learning, directions/procedures and

explanation of content, utilize a variety of question types that invite participation,

engage students in all aspects of learning, provide differentiation for students as

needed, utilize assessments to guide instruction and evaluate student learning, and

exhibit ability to evaluate and respond to students learning needs. I believe that

through this domain I am proficient. I am highly reflective of my own instruction

and interactions with students. I believe every educator is still working to grow in

every area, but in domain 3 I am confident I have displayed proficiency.

In the beginning of the school year, I felt my instruction was lacking and I

needed to step up my game. I believe through the past few months, I have been

reflective in the process of growing and effectively have become better at

instruction and using various pathways to learn. I believe that my students should

have the chance to receive the information in multiple ways. Not every student is

able to learn at the same pace or in the same format. This is why I always try to ask

multiple types of questions, give examples, and talk about real-world situations.

This allows students to act on their background knowledge in order to fully

comprehend a concept. For example, when I plan for instruction I plan activities that

allow students to manipulate materials and investigate. I believe it is important for

students to try things out on their own and build up their background knowledge

before beginning a new unit or topic. We recently began a unit on Light and Sound.

In order for students to be engaged in all aspects of learning I created stations for

the students to learn more about sound and the idea that you can see and feel sound.

The students listened intently to all directions and procedures before beginning the

stations. The stations were highly differentiated within themselves. I was able to

model everything the students would be doing and they were then able to complete

the activity and answer questions accordingly. This lesson was wonderful for all

students to become engaged in the topic and I was able to walk around, talking to

students and evaluating their learning.

 As I have said prior, no matter what I rate myself, I believe that there is

always room to grow. I have rated myself proficient for this category and I believe

both of my observations have shown that true. As student teaching is coming closer

and closer, I plan to work on differentiating for my students more. I do not think I

have done the absolute best job differentiating and I want to keep that as my main

focus. I believe this will help me become a more effective educator.

Professional Responsibilities

The last domain of the Charlotte Danielson Model considers the idea of

demonstrating professional responsibilities in the classroom and school

environment. Through this domain it is evident that a distinguished educator is

someone who exhibits professional demeanor, reflects on teaching regularly in

order to make changes to future teaching, consistently asks for feedback,

demonstrates a professional relationship with the mentor and all faculty,

participated in a professional community, and demonstrates integrity and ethical

behaviors/conduct. As I have read through each idea that constructs the fourth

domain, I believe that I have achieved proficiency. In order to be fully prepared for

the day, I make sure to show up early as I am then able to prepare for any lessons

and complete any work my mentor teacher has asked me to complete. I have

consistently shown up each day to school, come in early in the morning on

additional days in which I am not in the classroom, and taken initiative in the

classroom and school.

 I believe one of the most important aspects of teaching is to reflect. If an

educator does not reflect on his/her practices, there will never be room for growth

because this educator must believe they are doing everything perfectly. John Dewey,

an American philosopher, psychologist, and educational reformer, once said, We do

not learn from experiencewe learn from reflecting on experience. This quote has

always stuck with me and is one I will continue to refer back to when reflecting on

my own teaching. One practice I did in the beginning of the year was to reflect on my

teaching and time in the classroom everyday. Although throughout the semester I

began to get away from writing down my reflections, I was able to have an internal

conversation with myself reflecting on the day. This practice has allowed me to

adapt my lessons mid-way through a lesson in order to help students and allowed

me to focus on a new goal each day. I have also consistently asked for feedback from

my mentor teacher and she has regularly responded by telling me that she struggles

to find areas in which I need to progress. The only areas she has discussed with me

are differentiation and utilizing more technology in the classroom. She has explicitly

said that she has not been the best model of this and hopes that we are able to

discuss more about how to accomplish this in the classroom. I believe that it is often

hard for educators to effectively differentiate for every single lesson. I do not want

to fully disregard this idea and I am planning to move forward with focusing more

on differentiation.

The fourth domain has allowed me to take some time to think about my

educating as a whole, instead of in tiny increments. I believe that through each of the

domains, professional responsibilities are the building blocks to becoming an

effective teacher. My overarching goal in this domain is to continue to focus on

differentiating for the students in my class and utilizing more technology during my

lessons. Now that I am aware of the program used for the Polyvision Board in the

front of the classroom, I am able to focus on creating more engaging lessons for my

students through the idea of interactive learning.

Closure

With self-evaluation and reflection, comes growth. Now that I have taken the

time to reflect on my own teaching and evaluation practices I will continue to put

forth my best work. Overall, I have rated myself basic and proficient. I believe this

shows that I am actively focused on becoming a better educator and being the best I

can be for the students in my classroom. As an educator, I believe there is always

room to grow, even if evaluated at distinguished. There are always new practices

and ideas being introduced to educators and I believe it is important to understand

that educating is about teaching, reflecting, evaluating, and evolving/growing.

Through this process, I will now be able to focus on my goals of rounding out my

knowledge of pedagogy, content and standards, building relationships with my

students, communicating high expectations, differentiating during lessons and

utilizing technology as a whole in the classroom. I plan to explicitly work on these

ideas throughout my student teaching experience.

 Educational Resources

John Dewey > Quotes. (n.d.). Retrieved November, 2017, from

https://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/42738.John_Dewey

Sawchuk, S. (2017, August 30). Teacher Performance Evaluation: Definitions,

Research, Models, and More. Retrieved November, 2017, from

http://www.edweek.org/ew/section/multimedia/teacher-performance-

evaluation-issue-overview.html