Overview:

The teacher uses the strategic plan as a guide to help sustain the mission and continuous improvement of the school and thereby contributes to shaping a cohesive, learner-centered culture. Through a commitment to group accountability, the teacher helps develop and maintain student support, management and assessment systems that enable learning to take place.

Relevant Description/Reflective Analysis:

At East Fairmont Middle School, the social studies teachers participate in fourth period team planning. The social studies teachers have been kind enough to allow me to not only listen to their meetings, but participate in them as well. There are topics that are discussed on specific days, but subjects are not limited to those daily discussions. Each meeting has made me more and more aware that teaching is an ever growing and changing process. Listening to and interacting with this group of experienced teachers has not only given me ideas on how to improve my teaching, but how to adapt to an ever changing school environment.

On Mondays, we share successful and unsuccessful strategies.

October 27^th meeting: We discussed the differentiated assessments in classes, giving students the option to either write or draw pictures.  Not all students write well and not all students draw well, allowing students to choose which method they individually prefer assists the students in getting the most out of the activity.

On Tuesdays, we discuss common assessments.

October 21^st meeting: We shared formative assessments, including exit tickets, “got-it” sticks, and move-around games like four corners, two sides of the room, or ball toss. Sometimes formative games are more necessary for smaller classes than larger ones. Some classes have as many as thirty-four students, while others have as few as twelve students. Lessons with the smaller classes tend to end quicker than the larger classes, and you cannot sit and twiddle your thumbs for ten minutes!

On Wednesdays, a member of the school’s administration attends the team meeting and we discuss SAT and discipline issues.

November 6^th meeting: The vice-principal attended and asked us to add social studies department needs/wants to his list (i.e. maps, bulletin boards, repairs, etc.). We discussed technology issues with LiveGrades and preparation for TechSteps. My host teacher and I will be taking the students to the library instead of the computer lab, due to a scheduling conflict with another class.

On Thursdays, we review standards to be covered the following week.

October 16^th: We are continuing to have issues with eighth graders still insisting on using the seventh grade hall instead of stairs as entry, stalling, and taunting seventh graders and teachers. Discussed finding out about starting to assign lunch detention to the students who are not where they are supposed to be. Students who are not in my host teacher’s classes have been coming into the room. I am still becoming used to students, and I am not realizing that they do not belong there until my host teacher shoos them out of the room.

On Fridays, we discuss/create plans for the next week as well as administrative issues and concerns.

October 24^th: We reviewed IEPs with the special education instructor. My host teacher does not have the same students as the other social studies teachers; this makes it difficult to discuss how students perform in different classes. Next week we will continue WESTTEST analysis and SMART goals discussion.