Corey Engstrom

TED 690: Capstone

November 2, 2014
Telling My Story
It has been a long yet successful road to getting my degree, credential and
first teaching elementary teaching job. I have learned a lot and even more so, when
working on this project, have realized the depth of my learning. My immediate
strengths have always been connecting with others and building an effective
learning environment in whatever setting I am in. Before becoming a 5
th
grade
teacher, I was first a youth pastor and then a city college Speech professor. Both jobs
required me to have good communication skills and I loved connecting with my
youth students and college students. I also enjoyed working with my colleagues and
building up community in the city I lived in. Working with 5
th
graders has required
the same amount of communication skills but has pushed me further because for
this job I am held highly accountable for the content I teach. Not only do I know my
students are being tested each year but I am also accountable to the expectations of
their parents and themselves. Many have begun reaching the level of independent
learner and I play a key part in that growth.
As I selected several artifacts for TPE E, I realized the areas where I need to
grow. I recognize that I still have a long road of evaluations and observations to get
through as a first year teacher and that will cause me to focus more on TPE A
through D. Yes I connect with students and make good use of instructional time and
create a healthy social environment in my classroom, but I am always struggling
with planning effective lessons and assessing how students learned. So, I plan to
take advantage of the several professional growth seminars offered in my district,
for example I recently signed up for SIOP training once a month. Our school uses
SIOP every day and I know I need to learn more about it and also begin to practice
these strategies. Using SIOP will strengthen each area of my teaching but make
better use of my instructional time because I am meeting the needs of every student
I teach. I plan to keep and post my lessons with SIOP strategies for my PDQP and
compare each strategy used, in order to help me become an even better educator.