Jessica DAuria

DATE

WORKSHOP/
ACTIVITY

WHAT I LEARNED

1/28/15

Child Assault
Prevention

- I learned a lot of the signs of child abuse I was unaware of. I learned that students who are very
compliant, very affectionate, affectionless, and can be hyper-vigilant. I also learned how to listen to a
child who comes forward with child abuse allegations. You should always be calm, and listen to the
child. You should always believe what the child is saying and not avoid the childs allegations or their
descriptions of the assault. You should be very reassuring to them and tell them they are doing the right
thing. You should never promise not to tell anyone; you also dont want to break their trust.

1/29/15

PLC Meeting:
First Grade
Teachers

- During this meeting, the teachers began planning their questioning unit. They decided that for the
first week they would try using questions before, during, and after reading in order to make predictions
as three separate lessons. They also discussed using thick and thin questioning as the final lesson for
the following week.

2/5/15

PLC Meeting:
First Grade
Teachers

- This week, the teachers planned the questioning unit. The focus was to be able to ask questions to
find more information. This lesson could be extended into clarifying a confusing part of the book or
looking for a definition of a word. The objective was for readers to be able to answer their questions by
re-reading or reading on in the book. I was able to see and learn how teacher collaborate together in
order to work out the difficult sections of a unit and how they work together to find books to read and
share for each lesson.

2/12/15

PLC Meeting:
First Grade
Teachers

- For this portion of the questioning unit, we planned lessons using nonfiction texts. This was an
extension lesson of questioning to learn more information. From this I learned that different lessons
can be extended and applied into different genres of books.

2/12/15

Understanding
Dyslexia

- I learned a lot about dyslexia from this workshop. I learned that 10-20 percent of students are on the
dyslexia spectrum. I also did not know that it was not always reading or writing letters backwards.
Some people with dyslexia can have ADHD but they are not caused by each other. I also learned some
early warning signs of dyslexia. Dyslexia can be family related, so if family members have a history of
dyslexia or reading/learning struggles it can be a warning sign. Also students who have trouble

Jessica DAuria

pronouncing words, learning rhyming words or letter names and sounds can be signs. Some people
confuse letters with similar sounds or the reverse letters and words with similar appearances and this
persists past age seven. Students may also have trouble arranging letters in the correct order when they
spell or they may spell the same word in different ways on the same page.
2/19/15

PLC Meeting:
First Grade
Teachers

-This week continued the planning of the questioning unit. It specifically focused on non-fiction texts.
We discussed how readers can ask questions about words they are unsure of the definition of and use
the glossary to find the meaning or use the context clues in the story to determine the meaning. I
suggested that students could write the meaning on the post-it for reference. The other teachers agreed
this was a good idea. I learned this week how I can add to helping plan units even if I am not teaching
the subject yet.

2/19/15

Peer Coaching

-I learned a lot about teaching in general from this workshop. I learned it is important to approach
teaching as a team sport; if teachers work as a team they trust each other and you have to watch one
another teach when you can. You cannot trust someone as a teacher if youve never seen the other
person teach. A team has shared responsibilities of student achievement whereas a franchise designs
together and implements individually. There is also a connection between professional development,
peer coaching, and student achievement. I also learned that in order to get better, you have to be out of
your comfort zone: this is where growth happens.

2/23/15

Faculty
meeting

- This was a short meeting due to weather conditions. We mostly discussed PARCC testing. I learned a
little bit about parental concerns with PARCC testing and how a parent can opt their child out of the
test.

2/23/15

Formative
Assessment

- I learned a lot about formative assessment through this workshop. I learned the differences between
formative and summative assessment. Formative assessments are regular checkpoints for
understanding and they make student thinking visible. They are also ungraded. Summative assessment
provides information on which students are and are not making progress. Summative assessment is
evaluative and judgmental and is usually graded. Summative assessment is of and formative is for.
Formative assessment answers where am I? How am I going? How can I close the gap?

Jessica DAuria

- I learned a lot about the interviewing process from this session. The professional at my table gave a
lot of tips and tricks for interviews. She also discussed commonly asked questions with us. She told us
to learn about our school district especially the programs they use. We should also be comfortable in
our clothes meaning to not wear something brand new or uncomfortable that might cause an issue. WE
should also watch our posture and body language at the interview: to always face the interviewer and
look interested. We should always make sure to answer the question being asked and to not avoid it or
forget about it in an explanation. We may have to answer three questions at once so we should make
sure to sort out the answers in our head and make sure to answer all parts. Also we should pause
instead of saying um or like. This session was very informative.

2/25/15

Interview
Preparation

2/27/15

PLC Meeting:
First Grade
Teachers

- We planned the start of the visualizing unit after Read Across America. I participated throughout this
discussion since I would be taking over the visualizing unit and teaching it from the beginning. While
we planned, I made suggestions to enhance the unit. I learned a lot from the hands on planning
experience. We also collected the materials for the visualizing unit.

3/2/15

Teacher
Evaluation

-This workshop was extremely informative. I did not have much experience with SGOs or other
teacher evaluation models and I found it very helpful to learn about them here. I learned how SGOs are
planned and executed. SGOs are student growth objectives and they are long-term academic goals set
by the teacher for his or her students. The SGOs must be specific and measurable as well as aligned to
the academic standards. There are tiered SGOs where there are different goals for different groups of
students.

3/12/15

PLC Meeting:
First Grade
Teachers

- WE continued the visualizing unit. We collaborated on the collection of poems and books that we
used with the lessons and that went particularly well.

3/30/154/1/15

Parent Teacher
Conferences

- Conferences were an interesting experience; I saw many different things during the 17 conferences we
conducted. I had never been on the teaching end or parent end of a conference before. I learned a lot
about not only my students, but teaching students in general. Some parents will care very deeply about

Jessica DAuria

their childrens success and work very hard with them and others will let them work independently
which may or may not hurt the child in the long run. I also learned how to present information in a
positive light. It is always important to give the strengths of the children prior to the weaknesses.
When sharing a weakness with a parent it is best to do it gently as well as give them tips and tricks to
help their child improve and not just say your child needs improvement in this area. Smiling is also an
important part of conferences
3/16/15

PLC Meeting:
First Grade
Teachers

- We discussed what went well with the visualizing unit as a whole. I learned a lot about teacher
reflection and planning for the next year using what you learned from teaching that current year. We
also discussed what poems and books that were used during the unit that should be saved and used
again and others that should not be included in next years plans. We also discussed the beginning of
inferring next week in which I am in charge of writing the first lesson for.

4/13/15

Faculty
Meeting

-This faculty meeting was short. We went over general business needed for the next few weeks. She
briefly discussed PARCC testing with those involved.

4/16/15

PLC Meeting:
First Grade
Teachers

- We discussed went well overall with the Inferring unit and what we should take out for the following
year. We then discussed the upcoming unit on character analysis and the books we may need to
complete the unit. I reflected a lot during this section since inferring was another unit that was totally
mine. I learned a lot about my teaching from reflecting and the weekly discussions of what went well
and what did not with lessons and units.