SALT LAKE CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT MENTOR SUPPORTED COLLABORATIVE ASSESSMENT/REFLECTION LOG 2 nd and 3 rd Year Provisional Teachers

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1 SALT LAKE CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT MENTOR SUPPORTED COLLABORATIVE ASSESSMENT/REFLECTION LOG 2 nd and 3 rd Year Provisional Teachers Mentor Signature: Mentee Signatures: MONTH: What s Working: Current Focus Challenges-Concerns: Teacher s Next Steps: Mentor s Next Steps: The Four Domains of Teaching Responsibility from E-cap: 1. PLANNING AND PREPARATION 1a. Demonstrating knowledge of content pedagogy 1b. Demonstrating knowledge of students 1c. Selecting instructional goals 1d. Demonstrating knowledge of resources 1e. Designing coherent instruction 1f. Assessing student learning 2. CLASSROOM ENVIRONMENT 2a. Creating an environment of respect and rapport 2b. Establishing a culture for learning 2c. Managing classroom procedures 2d. Managing student behavior 2e. Organizing physical space 3. INSTRUCTION 3a. Communicating clearly and accurately 3b. Using questioning and discussion techniques 3c. Engaging students in learning 3d. Providing feedback to students 3e. Demonstrating flexibility and responsiveness 4. PROFESSIONAL RESPONSIBILITES 4a. Reflecting on teaching 4b. Maintaining accurate records 4c. Communicating with families 4d. Contributing to the school and district 4e. Growing and developing professionally 4f. Showing professionalism TOPIC FOR REFLECTION (SUBMIT A BRIEF WRITTEN SUMMARY OF YOUR DISCUSSION. Choose from the list of reflective topics attached.)

2 TOPICS FOR REFLECTIVE DISCUSSIONS For new teachers to refine their teaching skills and become more reflective in their practice, please discuss one or more of the following focused topics each month that align with the domains of teaching. Conduct a group discussion if you are mentoring more than one provisional teacher. DOMAIN I. PLANNING AND PREPARATION Demonstrating knowledge of content. It is important that a teacher display solid content knowledge. What is your system for ensuring that instruction focuses on state core requirements instead of on what is fun to teach or is readily available in a text book? How have you used your knowledge of state standards to plan, implement and evaluate your instructional progress? Demonstrating knowledge of students through varied approaches in learning. As an urban school district, our schools focus on differentiating instruction for students with a variety of learning needs and diverse cultural backgrounds. The range of needs can present challenges in any classroom. Give a specific example of how you have differentiated instruction in your own classroom. What challenges are you facing and how are you addressing the diverse styles and needs of your students? Demonstrating knowledge of resources. Teachers use a variety of resources found in school, district, professional organizations and community to enrich classroom instruction. What are some of the multiple sources of information used in your classroom? Assessing student learning. How do you use informal assessment information and standardized test results to make decisions about your instructional program? Describe the performance of two students who demonstrated little learning from the pre-assessment to the summative assessment. What kinds of errors did they make and what did you do before the next learning experiences to help them improve their efforts and their learning?

3 DOMAIN 2. CLASSROOM ENVIORNMENT Creating an environment of respect and rapport. Learning is a dynamic process, one in which every student at some time experiences episodes of intense frustration, sudden spurts of cognitive activity, and periods of quiet reflection. It is the role of the teacher to provide interactions that motivate, challenge and support the learner throughout these phases. Describe a learning episode that illustrate how you have provided intervention for a student, or group of students, who exhibited a need to be motivated, challenged, and supported. Reflect upon the outcome of your intervention in terms of student learning. Managing classroom procedures. Routines for handling materials and transitions that run smoothly make for an efficient classroom. How do you organize materials and equipment to facilitate learning? What classroom routines do you use to enhance student time on meaningful tasks? How well are the routines/procedures you have established working? Managing student behavior. Classrooms need standards of conduct that are clear to all students and involve student ownership and participation in planning. Describe your method of including students in developing procedures for handling inappropriate behavior or unmet expectations. How have you articulated a range of consequences for unmet expectations based on the intensity and frequency of the action? It is important for a teacher to respond to misbehavior in an appropriate and successful manner while respecting student dignity. Describe how you identify the causes of inattentive or disruptive behavior and match your response to the perceived cause. Organizing physical space. In planning a classroom arrangement, teachers must take into consideration the resources and space available as well as arrange their classroom to suite their own style and the subject being taught. Describe your current instructional arrangements and discuss how this arrangement impacts large group, small group, and individual student with teacher instruction. Next, describe how you could improve your current classroom arrangement in order to better facilitate student learning. Briefly describe.

4 3. INSTRUCTION Using questioning techniques. Teachers skillfully use questions to get at large ideas. Questions are used as tools to facilitate student learning and inquiry. How do you plan the questions you use to: a) initiate discussions and keep them on track; b) pique student curiosity; c) help students to make connections; d) check for understanding; and e) cause student to think critically? Using discussion techniques. Teachers use a variety of strategies and opportunities to allow engagement and facilitate the participation and thinking of all students. Describe how you vary your role as an instructor, facilitator, coach or audience to enhance the variety of activities that take place in your classroom. Providing feedback to students: How do you ensure that students are learning and growing from the grading, critiquing, and correcting you do? How do you ensure that the feedback you provide is focused on specific points on which students can improve their efforts and their learning? Describe the ways in which your feedback has impacted student learning. Demonstrating flexibility and responsiveness. During a lesson, teachers need to have the ability to adjust lessons effectively and demonstrate flexibility in accommodating students questions, interests and learning needs. What might you do to extend and expand the thinking of students ready to and/or interested in going beyond what is planned? What do you know about your struggling, resistant learners that you need to address up front?

5 4.PROFESSIONAL RESPONSIBILITIES Reflecting on teaching. Describe what is different for you now that you have one year (or two years) teaching in the Salt Lake District. As you think about the differences, describe what has made the biggest difference for you and your classroom practice. Finally, identify one area pertaining to curriculum and instruction in which you want help and would like to obtain more information. Briefly describe. Maintaining accurate records. Student work samples and test results provide powerful information about a student s progress in understanding core concepts. As you have identified students who are not making progress, what information are you gathering to make decisions about how to adjust your instruction? Who are you involving in determining next steps? Communicating with families. Describe how you have been able to seek out parents and make parents feel comfortable contacting you and interacting with you as a partner in their child s education. How have you provided information to parents on both positive and negative aspects of student progress? Has there been a time when you have had to respond to a parent concern and did you handle it with sensitivity and timeliness? How do we involve parents where the spoken and written language are a barrier to communicating about their child? Contributing to the school through relationships with colleagues. The most powerful form of professional development is meeting with colleagues to delve deeper into topics that impact teaching and learning. When we become a community of learners, it is only then that we can impact practice in our schools. Do you feel part of a learning community? Why or why not? Describe your experiences and what have been the outcomes for you professionally. Showing professionalism. Teachers often take on an active role in team or departmental decision making. Describe a time you needed to express views and ideas to others in a professional manner that was respectful of different perspectives. How have you been a catalyst for constructive change? Other: Create your own in depth reflection that is applicable for your setting.