ALVERNO COLLEGE

TEACHER CANDIDATES SELF-ASSESSMENT

Candidate: Rachel Mixtacki
Supervisor: Nancy
Cooperating Teacher: Nicole Nault
School: Canterbury Elementary School
Disability Categories Represented:

Check One: 1st Observation _x__

2nd Observation ___
Date: September 23, 2014
Number of Students: ~46
Grade: 1st
Subject(s): Re
Diverse Student Needs Represented:
Evidence (Candidate)

Planning and Preparation (AEA: Conceptualization/Diagnosis

WTS: 1, 7 DISP: Respect, Responsibility - CEC: 1, 4, 5, 9, 10)

Uses teaching resources and curriculum materials that are

appropriate in representing the ideas and concepts.
Plans instruction appropriate to students stages of development and
learning styles.
Provides opportunities for active engagement, manipulation and
testing of ideas and materials.
Chooses appropriate teaching strategies, learning experiences, and
materials to achieve different instructional purposes and to meet student
needs.
Plans motivational instruction by relating lessons to students
personal interest.

____Inadequate

Shows respect for the diverse talents of all learners.

Is committed to the expression and use of democratic values in the
classroom.
Organizes, allocates, and manages the resources of time, space,
activities and attention to engage students in productive tasks.
Respects students as individuals with differing personal and family
background and various skills, talents and interests.

___x_Proficient

____Distinctive

Respond to:
How did this lesson fit into the curriculum? It was the next lesson in the
scope and sequence of first grade language arts unit plan.
How did you determine the appropriate standards and objectives? I
found them in the original lesson plan on readingandwritingproject.com
and looked at the common core standards.
What specific academic language would you use? I will try to use
previewing, imagination, envisioning, predicting, and visualizing.
Why did you choose the materials? How effective were they? My
teacher had this lesson in place for the week. The worksheet she had and
at first I thought there might have been a better way to do it but now that I
have done the lesson I think those were good snippets to use to really
make the mental pictures in our head. Students were able to work
effectively.
How did you plan to engage the learners? By differentiating and
changing what we are doing pretty often. Once I see that students are
starting to talk or are getting off task I plan on pulling them back as a whole
group or switching the task.

Classroom Environment (AEA: Coordination/Integrative Interaction

WTS: 2, 3, 5 - DISP: Respect, Responsibility CEC: 2, 3, 5)

____Emerging

Evidence (Candidate and Student)

____Inadequate

____Emerging

___x_Proficient

____Distinctive

Respond to:
How did you create a positive learning environment? I like to check in
with my students and make sure that they are all working as best they can.
Mutual respect is important for the learning environment to be positive.
How do you feel students felt during the lesson? What is your

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and Universal Copyright Conventions. Reproduction in part or whole by any method is prohibited by law.

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Evidence (Candidate)

Planning and Preparation (AEA: Conceptualization/Diagnosis

WTS: 1, 7 DISP: Respect, Responsibility - CEC: 1, 4, 5, 9, 10)

evidence? I think that most students felt like their responses were valued
during the lesson. I wasnt able to have every student talk in front of the
class but each student was able to turn and talk to another student. That
created a great sense of sharing and helped the kids engage with other
students and the task they needed to complete.
How did you demonstrate respect for, and rapport with the learners?
There was one instance right before the lesson that I saw a student who
didnt want to be sitting where he was. I could see that he was really upset
so I went up to him and asked what was wrong. He said that he didnt have
a turn and talk partner because his partner turned the other way. I tried to
set up a group of three with the two kinds behind him. This is just one
example of an action that can help create positive relationships in the
classroom and show respect for your students.
How did you actively engage students? Who responded? Who did
not? Why? By talking about things that were exciting to them I helped
hook them too my lesson. They were engaged and interested in making
movies in their heads so that got most all students ready for the lesson. As
the lesson went on I could judge when I was losing them and bring them
back to talk or switch the activity to keep them engaged. I was also walking
around to make sure they were working. I saw some students with nothing
drawn and just sitting there, I made sure to reread it and help them focus
on the task ahead of them. My ELL students were the ones that were not
always engaged but I made sure to touch base with them. I believe that
there was a language barrier with some of the ELL students and some
behavior children that needed to be constantly reminded and talked to.
What kinds of responses did you give to learners responses? I tried
to give as positive feedback as possible. When a student said something
that I thought the rest of the class should have heard I repeated it in a way
that they could all understand and hear. I also wanted the students to be as
involved in the discussion as possible so I tried to call on a lot of different
kiddos and make sure that I did not put down their thinking.

Evidence Code Definitions:

Inadequate = Unsatisfactory

Emerging = Needs Improvement

Proficient = Satisfactory

Instruction (AEA: Communication, Coordination, Diagnosis,

Integrative Interaction WTS 4, 6, 7 - DISP: Respect, Responsibility,
Communication CEC: 4, 6, 7, 8, 9)

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and Universal Copyright Conventions. Reproduction in part or whole by any method is prohibited by law.

Distinctive = Exemplary

Evidence (Candidate and Student)

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Evidence (Candidate)

Planning and Preparation (AEA: Conceptualization/Diagnosis

WTS: 1, 7 DISP: Respect, Responsibility - CEC: 1, 4, 5, 9, 10)

Encourages discussion.
Modifies explanations when necessary to assist students
understanding.
Recognizes the importance of verbal and nonverbal communication.
Is a thoughtful and responsive listener.
Communicates in ways that demonstrate a sensitivity to cultural and
gender differences.
Models appropriate communication strategies in conveying ideas
and information.

____Inadequate

____Emerging

___x_Proficient

____Distinctive

Respond to:
How well did your strategies support meeting the lesson
objectives/learning targets? By communicating to students verbally I was
able to stress the objectives and what I wanted them to get out of the
lesson. They worked well on what they needed to. I had a few strategies in
place to make sure that all students were able to communicate with other
students by turning and talking. This helped create an effective classroom
environment with respect and personal responsibility.
What went well? What would you change? Why? I thought that the
lesson overall went really well. The hook really pulled the students in, they
all seemed interested in making pictures in their heads and sharing what
they thought. One thing that I would change would be making sure my ELL
students and SPEC ED students goals were all being met and making
sure that I was doing everything in my power to communicate as effectively
as I could. I would never want to see a student fall behind because of
something that I did not communicate clearly enough to them. Checking in
with them and making sure they are on task is how I can help with this.
How effective were the leveled questions you used? I think most of the
leveled questions that I asked where pretty good. They were basic open
ended question most around level 1 and 2 but they were open ended
enough that students could answer them.
How did you use the academic language? How well do you think the
learners know and understand the academic language? ELL? SPE?
Cite evidence. Through my lesson I tried to use the academic language to
introduce students to the topic of making movies in their mind. I used other
language to help with this to make sure that all my students were
understanding what was expected of them. I also wanted to make sure that
they heard the academic language so that would be able to understand it if
it came up in another lesson. Students take in a lot of what they hear, by
repeating the academic language with the language I know that most will
understand I am helping create that learning environment that helps them
understand. A few times I said make sure you are visualizing what it
happening in the story and right after that I said make the movie in your
head and use your imagination. Walking around I was not under the
impression that they did not understand.

Assessment (AEA: Diagnosis/Integrative Interaction WTS: 8, 9

Copyright 2014. Alverno College, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. All rights reserved under U.S., International
and Universal Copyright Conventions. Reproduction in part or whole by any method is prohibited by law.

Evidence (Candidate and Student)

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Evidence (Candidate)

Planning and Preparation (AEA: Conceptualization/Diagnosis

WTS: 1, 7 DISP: Respect, Responsibility - CEC: 1, 4, 5, 9, 10)
DISP: Collaboration, Communication CEC: 1, 5, 8, 9, 10)

Evaluates the effect of class activities on both individuals and the

class as a whole, collecting information through observation of
classroom interactions, questioning, and analysis of student work.
Uses classroom observation and information about students as
sources for evaluating the outcomes of teaching and as a basis for
reflecting on and revising practice.

____Inadequate

Relates professionally and effectively with the cooperating teacher

and faculty.
Dresses professionally and consistently portrays a professional
demeanor.
Is enthusiastic about teaching.
Seeks out the cooperating teacher to support his/her development
as a learner and a teacher.

____Proficient

____Distinctive

Respond to:
How well did your assessment measure learners meeting the
objectives? It was an informal assessment, but as the lessons continue in
the unit on how to visualize while you read students will become better and
better at the reading strategy.
What were your assessment results during and/or after the lesson?
How does this inform you of next learning steps? The assessment that
I used was very informal but I looked at the pictures that they drew to see
that they were visualizing what I was reading. Walking around I found
students who did not start right away or needed me to repeat directions,
those would be the students I would take out in a little group and start a
mini lesson for them so that they could focus on this strategy before
moving on to another one or to get more practice on this strategy.
What would you change about your teaching and/or assessment to
better support or extend learners performance? Visualizing is hard to
asses because it goes on in our own brain and every student thinks
differently. This is a strategy that students can use and become good
readers. Some students might be able to tell us that they use this strategy
others might file it away in their brains and never use the strategy. The
object of giving students reading strategies is so that they can pick the
ones that work best for them and use them. There probably would not be a
formal assessment at the end of this lesson but rather at the end of a
quarterstudents are able to use affective reading strategies to read and
understand what they are reading.
Evidence (Candidate)

Professional Responsibilities (AEA: Communication/Integrative

Interaction WTS: 10 DISP: Responsibility, Collaboration,
Communication CEC: 2, 5, 10)

__x__Emerging

____Inadequate

____Emerging

__x__Proficient

____Distinctive

Respond to:
Describe your contact with the CT in planning this lesson. (e.g. How far
ahead did you contact her/him? Did you suggest a lesson or use one
already in place? If in place, did you discuss or make any modifications?)
Since I am in the classroom full time with my CT I had been emailing her over
the weekend when I found out it would be presented on Tuesday. I came into
work early on Monday to prepare and find a lesson. The lesson was in place for
whole group so I went with that one. Some modifications that I made were not
having the students revising their pictures after reading further. When you use
your imagination while reading not everyone has the same picture in their heads

Copyright 2014. Alverno College, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. All rights reserved under U.S., International
and Universal Copyright Conventions. Reproduction in part or whole by any method is prohibited by law.

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and it does not always match the book.

How did you present yourself as a professional to the learners?
Students see me every day within the classroom, making a positive relationship
with the students is very important to me so that I can gain a mutual respect
within the classroom. My CT also helped set the scene by telling the kiddos that
I was going to school to become a different kind of teacher.

Overall Performance: ____Inadequate

____Emerging

__x__Proficient

____Distinctive

See below.

SUMMARY REFLECTION: Rationale

DESCRIBE AND PROVIDE EVIDENCE FOR EACH OF THE FOLLOWING in a short narrative:

I completed a first grade language arts lesson on Making Mental Pictures While You Read in a suburban public school. The Wisconsin Teacher
Standards for Licensure and Development that were demonstrated in my lesson were; 1. Teachers know the subjects they are teaching and 5.
Teachers know how to manage a classroom. I knew how to teach the lesson by incorporating connections to seeing movies and making movies in
your mind that helped the students connect easier to what I was teaching them. Since there were ~46 students in the class it was important to manage
the different students, behavior wise and positive interactions on the carpet. I used many strategies that work and were set in place in the classroom
already. Knowing when to use these strategies is important to managing a classroom. The Alverno Graduate Advanced Education Abilities that were
used were number two diagnosis; I was able to observe students and ask question based on what I was seeing them do and based on how they were
responding to my questions. The second ability I used was five, integrative interactions by caring about my students and making sure that they all
felt comfortable with me teaching and also that they were all able to learn. Checking in with them was really important throughout the lesson. The
lesson follows the Common Core Standards and includes many of the standards that in first grade you need to reach. Students with IEPs were not in
the classroom at that time, but I tried to accommodate for ELL students as best I could with slowing down and changing the educator language to
language that they would understand. Blooms Taxonomy reflects the design of my lesson plan. Students needed to remember useful strategies to use
for reading, then I had the students explain them using the language they knew to describe and really understand the strategies that they have already
learned. Next I wanted students to apply what they already knew by showing them another way that they are able to apply the same strategies this
time through visualizing. Fourth, students can compare what I am teaching them to the strategies they have already learned. I had students evaluate
themselves and defend what they had drawn and share with their partner what they were going to share. Finally, students were able to use the
strategy that was taught and by doing this create the movie they saw in their heads.

Copyright 2014. Alverno College, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. All rights reserved under U.S., International
and Universal Copyright Conventions. Reproduction in part or whole by any method is prohibited by law.

ED FORM 711
0210 ED

 Copyright 2014. Alverno College, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. All rights reserved under U.S., International
and Universal Copyright Conventions. Reproduction in part or whole by any method is prohibited by law.

ED FORM 711
0210 ED