CASE STUDY - SELF EVALUATION

Case Study - Self Evaluation

Megan Knight

EDU 474

4 December 2020

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Self-Evaluation

After completing this case study, I have identified some of my strengths and weaknesses

as a teacher. One of my biggest strengths throughout this entire process is my organization skills.

This case study had many components, so it was extremely important to keep all of the materials

organized. I was able to do this by keeping all the hard copies of my materials and student

samples in a binder, as well as all my electronic documents in folders on Google Drive. By doing

this, I knew where everything was at and what all I had completed, so I could easily determine

what my next steps should be. Having all of these materials organized was also very helpful in

creating my website. Everything was already in one place and divided into the correct sections,

which made it easy to upload all of the materials to my case study website.

Another one of my strengths in completing this case study was planning. Throughout the

semester, I planned out what sections of the case study I needed to complete, and when I needed

to finish them. I used a planner to help me stay on track of what I needed to do in my field

placement. For example, I planned out when I was going to administer each of the inventories, as

well as the QRI assessments. In addition, I planned ahead to ensure that I had time to teach each

of my intervention lessons in my field placement. Along with planning ahead of time to make

sure I was staying on track, my actual planning of each of the intervention lessons was also one

of my strengths. I wanted to plan lessons that I felt would be beneficial to the student, and I

collaborated with my cooperating teacher to choose age appropriate activities. I also asked for

my cooperating teacher’s feedback once I had finished planning each lesson, so that I could

make any changes or improvements that she felt would help strengthen the lesson. For these

reasons, I feel like planning is one of my strengths.

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Finally, one last strength that I have identified after completing this case study is my

ability to analyze and interpret the results of the assessments. While planning my intervention

lessons and writing my case study report, I tried to analyze the results of the assessment to the

best of my ability and as thoroughly as I could, so that I could identify the student’s needs as a

reader. I didn’t realize how much knowledge and understanding I had in order to interpret the

results until I was actually writing the case study report. Therefore I feel like analyzing and

interpreting the results of the assessments ended up being one of my strengths in this entire case

study process.

While I had many strengths in completing this case study, I also have identified some

weaknesses. For example, one weakness that I have recognized is my actual administration and

teaching of the lessons. One thing that I have really struggled with throughout all of my field

placements is my confidence. I often doubt my own abilities and get nervous when it comes to

actually implementing my plans and teaching in front of students. Therefore, while I feel like

planning is one of my strengths, the actual implementation of these plans is one of my

weaknesses. For example, because I lacked confidence in my abilities, I feel like I was not able

to provide the best instruction that I could. As I prepare for student teaching, building my

confidence is one of my goals that I would like to work on in order to improve my teaching.

In addition, another weakness that I identified throughout this case study process involves

technology. At first, I really struggled to build my portfolio website because I had never made a

website before. Like I mentioned, I kept everything in a binder because that is how I am used to

organizing my materials. However, I know creating this website is a really important skill that I

will need for my student teaching portfolio, so I really wanted to learn how to build a quality

portfolio website. After watching many videos and trying out different features on Weebly, I feel

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like I now have a better understanding of how to create a portfolio website. Not only will this be

important for my student teaching portfolio, but using online resources has become a really

important aspect of teaching due to the coronavirus pandemic. Because of this, I want to

continue to familiarize myself with different aspects of technology, and learn how I can

incorporate these into my future teaching.

Finally, after completing this case study, I feel like I have learned a lot about reading

instruction, especially for struggling readers and students with disabilities. First, I now have a

better understanding of how to administer the QRI, and how this can help me to determine a

student’s reading level, as well as identify their strengths and weaknesses as a reader. I

administered part of the QRI last semester in the Elementary Education Block, but I felt like I

didn’t really know what I was doing or how to interpret the results. This time, I felt like I had a

much better understanding of how to administer, score, and interpret the QRI in order to

determine a student’s independent, instructional, and frustration levels.

In addition, another thing that I learned from this case study is how to take the results

from the QRI and actually write goals and interventions in order to meet a student’s individual

needs. As a teacher, it is really important to design interventions on the appropriate level for

students. After administering the QRI, I was able to determine that although this student was in

8th grade, she was actually instructional on the third grade level in reading. Therefore, I took this

into consideration when planning my interventions by selecting instructional level texts and

designing lessons that were age appropriate, yet on the right instructional level. I feel like this

skill of determining a student’s reading level, identifying strengths and weaknesses, and then

using that information to plan quality interventions will really help me as a future teacher to be

able to plan instruction that meets my students’ individual needs.