DOMAIN 1: PLANNING AND PREPARATION

Rating: Proficient
Performance: In my field classes this semester, it was clear how my West Chester University
classes prepared me to succeed in the Planning and Preparation domain of the Danielson
Framework. The classes over the last few years focus in depth on child development,
developmentally appropriate instruction, pedagogy, and content standards. This semester gave me
an opportunity to apply all I have learned in these areas. Starting at the beginning of the year, I
was able to build strong rapport with my students. I know the quirks and interests of my students,
and they seem to enjoy working with me and sharing their lives with me. I also saw what each
student would need help with through administering their sight word assessments. This helped me
to gauge each child’s level, which I used when I planned lessons. Though it was only one
assessment, I feel it provided me with a lot of information regarding their reading readiness,
phonemic awareness, or knowledge of the alphabetical principle. I saw some students who could
read almost 200 words and some students who could not read 30 words. Knowing that I have a
wide range of students in my class has helped me to pre-prepare differentiation for these students.
I feel I know my students very well and can predict when they will need help or when a behavior
might arise. At the beginning of the year, I was working to understand the scope and sequence of
the curriculum in both first grade and learning support. It was challenging to learn both curriculums
in depth since I split my time between the two classrooms. It took a few weeks before I felt
comfortable with the progression of both classrooms. Now, I feel I understand both classrooms
and even if I am in my other classroom, I know what will be happening in the other room.
Preparing materials and assessments for my lessons this semester has been one of my strengths;
however, I am still developing my procedure sections to make them more engaging for my young
learners. I feel as if the SchoolWide curriculum does not take into consideration how young these
students are when they develop 25-minute lecture-based lessons. This semester has helped me to
see and understand the abilities of my students. I have started to plan and prepare meaningful
learning activities and procedures, but this is still developing and will take far more than just one
semester to be distinguished.

Goals: One of my goals for the next semester is developing more knowledge about the standards
I can use in Learning Support. With the Kindergarten students, many are still learning material
from a Pre-K curriculum. I have found myself still using the Pre-K standards with these students.
I want to deepen my understanding of standards and find creative ways for these students to still
be meeting the Kindergarten standards while learning at their own level. Another goal I have for
myself is to use my knowledge of developmentally appropriate practice to plan lessons that meet
the needs of my students. Knowing that first graders respond well to movement, collaboration, and
hands-on activities, I want to find ways to incorporate more of this into my lessons. I feel that with
SchoolWide, the students are lacking the creative and fun part of learning in the younger grades.
My goal is to bring meaningful learning activities that excite the students into the classroom next
semester. I also want to implement new procedures for our Daily 5/Guided Reading work time.
Though I am not sure what those exact procedures will be, I want to release responsibility for
getting tasks done to the students. I want the students to know exactly what is expected of them
and to see it visually in checklist form so they will have less questions for the teacher and more
time to focus and get things done.
DOMAIN 2: CLASSROOM ENVIRONMENT
Rating: Basic
Performance: This semester has been challenging for me with regards to this domain. With the
behavioral challenges of my classroom placement, I feel the lack of classroom management and
effective procedures has created a classroom environment that is not conducive to learning.
Though I have professional relationships with my students, I do not think they understand my role
in the classroom and in turn they test my boundaries and see what they can get away with. This
domain relates to Domain 3 and how changes in instruction can also impact the classroom
environment. Lack of classroom management greatly impacts the classroom environment. I
personally have a lot of growing to do in my student teacher to feel more comfortable with
discipline, creating new procedures, and motivating students. Currently, my mentor teacher will
typically discipline a behavior for me. Students see my mentor teacher as the source of discipline
in the classroom. This can impact the way they behave during my teaching, because they know if
my mentor teacher does not see it then they will not be disciplined. I need to personally hold
students accountable for their learning and behavior because that is my role as a teacher. Our
classroom clip chart always shows the same people moving down. These students seem to not care
if their clip is moved down because it is expected. Rather than exhibiting positive behaviors, they
take on the role of the class clown or the student who never gets their work done. This has created
a classroom environment where some students are disengaged from learning solely based on the
reputation that has been made for themselves. One of my strengths in this area is the expectation I
hold for myself. Even during challenging times, I will never stop demonstrating respect for my
students and their unique needs. I always try to foster a climate of respect and appreciation for
each other. Once I can establish effective classroom management, the classroom environment will
have more respect, appreciation, and accountability. I have high expectations for the students but
I need to find a way to communicate that my high expectations include their behavior and
following directions, not just their academic work. As I spend more time in the classroom, I know
I will be able to develop tactics that create a meaningful learning environment. Once we can
establish these, I know that I will be able to handle transitions, groups, and procedures much better
because the students will know what I expect of them.

Goals: One of my goals going into my student teaching semester is for the students to respect me
as an authority figure in the classroom. I want my students to know we can have fun together but
we are also learning and there is a time and place for silliness or unrelated conversations. I want
to be a personable teacher who can also enforce rules and behavior management plans. This
includes developing a new behavior plan based on the behaviors and students in my class. I want
to develop something in addition to the class clip chart which can motivate the students to exhibit
positive classroom behaviors. Next semester, I want to teach my students that showing respect is
necessary both in and out of the classroom. Following directions and staying engaged are all a part
of showing respect for the teacher and other students. My hope is to have effective classroom
management procedures which will motivate students and hold them accountable for their
behavior and achievement in the classroom. I plan to use the professional learning community I
have established at GAE to help me develop a plan that will work as I student teach and that my
mentor can keep when I leave if she found it helpful.
DOMAIN 3: INSTRUCTION
Rating: Proficient
Performance: In the area of instruction, I am strong in my differentiation ability. Working in
learning support this past semester has gotten me in the habit of always having differentiated
materials to use with the students depending on the needs of their formative assessment during
learning. I utilize formative/informal assessment frequently in my teaching and student needs
guide the remainder of my lesson. Sometimes, it is very clear that students are ready to move on
and they really understand the content. Other times, my lesson would end up taking two days
because the students needed far more support than I had anticipated in planning. Seeing these
differences has resulted in me naturally planning for differentiation for one level below and one
level higher now. I feel I can evaluate students’ need and adjust my lesson as needed very naturally
now. Along with differentiation, I have grown in my ability to scaffold through questioning so I
do not give students an answer. During my lessons, there is a lot of questioning and discussion
happening. In small group, I have found this works very well. The SchoolWide scripted lessons
also incorporate questioning and discussions. I have improved on my ability this semester to use
open-ended questioning instead of yes or no questioning. It has been surprising to see how
inquisitive the first graders are with their thinking. Often, the students accurately predict what is
coming next. During small group sessions, the students make connections that I would not have
thought of. I find myself asking open-ended questions all the time now, even when I am just in
conversation with a child. In large group settings, we make it a turn and talk discussion, rather than
calling on individual students. The turn and talk discussions have shown me how engaged students
are when they are motivated by a topic and they get to share their ideas. One aspect of my teaching
that is still developing is engaging the students. At the beginning of the year, the students were
intrinsically motivated to be engaged and learn. Now, the lessons need to motivate the students
and engage their whole selves, both body and mind. From the beginning of the year until now, I
have developed my own phrases and nonverbal communication tactics that I use with the students
to re-engage them. This has been a developing area for me in my teaching and one that I know will
continue into next semester.

Goals: One of my goals for student teaching is to be more intentional during my planning to
incorporate an engaging activity during each learning activity. My natural way of planning is to
do a lecture and discussion based lesson; however, first graders would respond positively to
movement, hands-on activities, and more meaningful activities. One specific area that is
challenging for the students is calendar time, which I want to make more engaging. Only 4-5
individual students can actively participate in calendar due to the activities that we do. My hope is
to use technology in some way that can involve more students at a time, hold students accountable
for participation, and incorporate movement. It is important to me that students can find a way to
energize themselves in the morning so they are ready for the extended ELA block that comes after.
In my instruction, another goal I have is to begin using a variety of discussion methods. Rather
than always pairing up with the person next to them, I want to expand my toolbox and begin using
strategies like snowball, inner outer circle, and stand and share. All of these methods allow for
quick movement and can be used as a way to re-engage students when a lecture or activity may be
too long.
DOMAIN 4: PROFESSIONAL RESPONSIBILITIES
Rating: Proficient
Performance: This semester has given me an opportunity to become more like a true school
professional, rather than a field student. In my past field experiences, I was not expected to be
involved in the school, with other teachers, or in meetings, such as IEP meetings. Now, I am
actively participating in the school. The interns this at GAE were asked to work a Title I game
night this semester. It was fun to spend time with the reading specialists, other teachers, principal,
and students/families at night. Opportunities like this helped me to form more meaningful
relationships with the people I am working with at school. This semester I have also worked with
so many other teachers, aids, and district supervisors. These professional relationships have helped
me grow and develop as a student-teacher. Rather than just working with my mentor teacher, the
aids in my classroom have provided me with feedback, as well as the other teachers and supervisors
who have been in the classroom. Participating in IEP meetings has been the highlight of this
semester and has been the most contributing factor to my personal growth. I have been able to see
IEP meetings with parents, advocates, and the Special Education District Supervisor. In our team
planning meetings, I have gained enough confidence in my knowledge to speak up and contribute
ideas to the discussion. It was a cool experience when the principal suggested using my idea with
an actual student. Forming these professional relationships and gaining skills that will follow me
far beyond student teaching has been incredibly beneficial this semester. I know I will continue to
grow next semester when I am there five full days a week. WCU has prepared me to act
professionally always in the field. This semester has given me a new outlook on the responsibilities
of a professional and what I can do to become distinguished.

Goals: Next semester, I want to find one extracurricular activity I can get involved in while I am
student teaching. It is important to me to serve my students and be a role model for them. Though
I work with first grade and learning support, this would be a good opportunity to get to know
students and teachers of older grades. I want to demonstrate my commitment to helping children
reach their fullest potential by supporting them both in and out of the classroom. Another goal I
have for myself is to reflect more thoroughly on my teaching, classroom management, and
interactions. I want to find time to reflect every day and then implement needed changes. This
semester, I found it hard to reflect after teaching a lesson because we would always move quickly
into the next activity and then I would leave and be in class for the rest of the day. I did not dedicate
the time I should have to uninterrupted reflection. Next semester, I want to utilize the co-teaching
model which will provide me with more time to reflect in the moment.