Ending the Program

As this program comes to an end, I have been reflecting on where this will take me in my career. I feel that this was a very timely step in my career. This next school year, our department will be changing considerably. Even though I feel that I have always been a leader within my department, even though I wasn't the voice, I see next year being a lot different. The teacher that would normally speak for our department will be switching to a different department. We also will be getting two new teachers within our department. I feel that between myself and the other teacher, we will have to become more vocal leaders. I am excited for this opportunity and I feel that I am now ready to step out of my box and lead. I feel that this program has helped me become ready for this unexpected change. I feel that I am ready to take this on and to continue growing as a leader.

I have also been asked to co-facilitate our special education department PLC for next school year. We were going to try to implement this PLC this school but it was determined to wait a year. I am happy that I have been through this master's program because I feel much more prepared to take on this role. I feel that I have a better understanding of learning in a community and being a leader. This summer I will be attending a three day training on PLC's. I am excited to learn more and to be to take this back to my school and implement it. Again, I feel this will be a great way for me to step outside of my comfort zone and continue to grow as teacher.

By taking more time to reflect on my teaching, I have been able to come up with new ways to document student progress. I have also learned more about the value of goal setting. I am excited to have a plan in mind for my PDP. I plan to continue to find tools to use to document student progress but I also plan to involve my students more in the process. I feel that it can be very valuable to have students aware of what is written in their IEP's and why were work on certain things. At this point, I have not involved my students with the goal setting process on a regular basis. We talk about it at the IEP and then I haven't involved them much more from there. I think it could be used as a great motivator for my students and I think they may take more pride in the work they are doing.

I am very proud of myself for taking this step in my career. I am proud of the growth that I have made but I am even more excited about my future and the challenges that are ahead of me. I am very pleased that I had this opportunity.

Math Class

This last week I decided to have my Topics 1 math class set individual goals for the unit we are on. I wanted them to set a goal for daily work and quiz/test scores. I felt like some of the students were blowing the class off or starting to shut down. I thought by having them set a goal it would help bring their focus back. It has only been 3 class periods since we set goals, and all of the students have completed their work on time. I am very happy with this because it was coming to the point that 3-4 students would not use class time and would also turn in assignments late or not at all. When I asked them to set goals, some of them complained about having to do it, others asked why, and some were very excited about it. I explained to them that I wanted them to take more ownership for their grades. I am hoping this will help with the dynamics of this class. Most of them will need to move on to the next level of math so it is important they are grasping the concepts we are covering on.