Becoming a teacher is no easy feat!
Education is the kindling of a flame, not the filling of a vessel - Socrates
My goals this year was to improve in all areas. However, my two main focus were: Keeping students interested and keeping data records.
Developing as an educator: When I attended teaching classes, all I learned was to collect test papers, weekly quizzes, Q&A and all that. But all of that does not apply when you're teaching Preschool!
When I learned that my data was not clear enough and needed more expansion, I made it my goal for the year to improve on keeping data records of my students in various areas. At the beginning of the year, I was EXPLORING in Standard 5: Assessing students for learning. So I had to establish a driving question that would become my year's progress goal. So, I asked the question: How can I ensure that the assessments and data are informative enough for me to utilize and make sure that I modify my instruction to benefit my students educationally?
Over the months, I had to develop and modify after discussing with my coach. What I had developed earlier were basic and I was the ONLY one who could understand it. When I sat down to discuss about my data, I was not able to show the number of times/attempts, the gradual learning, and reaching or bypassing the goal. Edit, edit, and edit until it was clear enough for everybody, even parents, to understand should they ask to see the data. Now I am comforatable enough to proceed with the data that I have established. And I have achieved the goal of becoming INTEGRATING. I will continue to work on it so that I am INNOVATING.
My professional goal beyond induction: Keeping students interested. I teach Preschool. Their attention span is really short. Unless I have something that will spark their interest, they'll be fooling around with their peers or be distracted by their clothes. Since my students are Deaf, I can't really teach them unless they're looking at me. They're visual learners not audio learners. With the websites that I have access to, I am always grateful for ideas that will help keep the kids entertained while they are learning. In this section, I'm APPLYING and I aim to end up in INTEGRATING in this area soon.