Annie Gbaford

Tch Lrn 490: Lori White

September 14, 2021

PDEFE Reflection

5.  The teacher candidate fosters and manages a safe and positive learning environment
using a variety of classroom management strategies that take into account the cultural,
physical, emotional, and intellectual well-being of students appropriate to their grade level.
 
I think that I meet standard 5 on the PDEFE I would even go as far as saying that I

exceed this standard. In the past month during my advanced practicum, I spent a lot of my time

observing how my mentor teacher manages the students during transitions, walking in the

hallways, and lessons. My mentor teacher did a great job at setting the mood for the year. Since I

had to teach lessons, I was learning how to upkeep her expectations and rules in my own way

that I felt comfortable with.  I learned a lot of the engagement tools that she and other teachers in

the school use, like class calls, behavior management, and engagement techniques. I took note of

those things and came up with strategies that I felt fit my personality and relationship with the

students well and didn’t overstep my boundaries being that it wasn’t my classroom. One strategy

I used that the students loved to respond to be a class call. I would say “macaroni cheese” and

they would all respond “everybody freeze” which meant they would stop whatever they were

doing at that moment and give me their attention. I used this during lessons, walking in the

hallways, and transitions. The students loved it because they would all stop and pose, and I was

quickly able to regroup them. Another way that fostered a safe and positive learning environment

was I would remind my students when I notice that they weren’t being very kind to each other

for example, some students would not walk safely in their halls so I had to remind them why it’s

important to keep our bodies to ourselves in the hall and how they could harm others if they
don’t follow the rules. I made a lot of mistakes, but I think I did a great job at focusing on their

good behavior and making them aware when they were making unsafe, and letting them know

that their behavior can harm others and most importantly themselves. I also never excluded a

child because of their behavior, when I saw that a student was talking a lot during carpet time, I

would call on them and ask them to share their ideas with the class so that they would be

engaged and less of a distraction to their classmates. I have a lot to learn that will come with

time, but I think I am doing amazing with what little experience I do have with being in the

classroom and managing students.

 
6. The teacher candidate communicates and collaborates with colleagues, parents, and the
school community in an ethical and professional manner to promote student learning and
growth.
 
I would say that I am meeting this standard so far. During my advanced practicum

experience, I didn’t really have a chance to meet and of my student’s parents and talk with them

mainly during pickups and drop-offs other than that I haven’t gotten the experience of

collaborating with the parents yet, I hope to get this experience when I am student teaching next

semester. I have gotten so many opportunities to collaborate with my peers and colleagues. This

was honestly one of my favorite parts of advanced practicum was collaborating with the other

second grade teachers and teacher candidates. I felt really inspired knowing that when I become

a teacher, I won’t be alone I will have a support system and mentors who are going through

similar things and are able to help me. In the collaboration meetings, we would create lesson plan

outlines share what’s going well in the classroom and what’s not working. Then we would make

changes based on the feedback and talk about what support we wanted to put in place to help our

students. A lot of our student’s education has been negatively impacted by the pandemic and the

curriculum we were using is moving too fast for our students so we spent a lot of time talking as

a team for the second-grade classes and collaborating with our specialists and the principal to let

them know what resources we would need. Doing this every week showed me how to advocate

for my students to faculty and other staff and how to advocate for support for myself as a

teacher. Another that I was able to collaborate with colleagues was going to an IEP meeting for

one of my students. In the meeting, we discussed pushing a student back into the classroom

because they no longer need that support, and just talking about how the parent, teacher, and

specialist can come together and support the student. I feel like I know how to go about

collaborating with my colleagues and faculty to help my students achieve their academic goals.
7. The teacher candidate takes the initiative to participate and collaborate with learners,
families, colleagues, other school professionals, and community members to advance their
own professional development and contributions to the broader profession.
 
I can say that I am meeting this standard so far. During my advanced practicum, I

attended all of the grade-level collaboration meetings and did the best I could to participate. I

would read the lessons ahead of our group planning time so I could be aware of what was

coming up and how I could help prepare for the week. One week during our planning I typed up

the word work that the second-grade team would be using and share the list with the rest of our

teachers. When I prepped and planned for the lessons, I presented I asked my mentor teacher and

the other second grade teachers for advice and asked how they were planning to teach the lesson.

For example, one of the second-grade teachers used a resource that she found online to teach the

math lesson to her students, and she sent me the link and told me how she uses I to keep the

students engaged and change things up for the students. I attended professional development

days the week before school started and during the last week I was there for practicum. I also

collaborated with them in learning about different engagement and behavior management

techniques they would use, and I incorporated that when I would teach or was left alone with the

students in the classroom. During my practicum experience, I collaborated with specialists,

faculty, and even my student peers. It was a great experience, and I learned a lot about how much

goes into providing support for a student and how important it is to collaborate so that you can

learn new ideas, methods, and strategies to benefit your students. I have also used my practicum

experience to practice professionalism and networking. I conduct myself respectfully and

professionally to colleagues and other staff members treat everyone with kindness and respect. I

also made it known that I was always open for feedback, and advice from anyone because I
wanted them to know that I am there to learn and grow and I can learn from anyone and

everyone.

9. The teacher candidate reflects on their own practice and progress to improve instruction
for all learners.
 
Advanced practicum was the first time that I had been with students in a little over a year.

I hadn’t had much experience delivering instruction or interacting with so many different

personalities all at once, so I was very intimidated and found myself making a lot of mistakes.

So, I made it a priority to fill out my weekly reflection sheet and discuss it over with my mentor

teacher. I was really good at critiquing my interactions with students and the way I delivered

instruction. I struggled with being able to find areas I did well so I was always willing to get

feedback and for her to give me advice on how I could interact with some of our more

challenging students in the class. She taught me things like moving around the room and

standing closer to our more talkative students, they wouldn’t talk when I was close to them.

Another thing I learned from her feedback is that I have to be more consistent with my tone and

say what I mean. This is so that the students won’t think I’m being mean to them, and they will

know that I’m serious. After each of my lessons even just leading morning meetings and the few

times I did number corner I always asked her what I could do better how I could improve and

take every feedback she gave me to heart. With her feedback, I would reflect on lessons and

different interactions with students and think about how I could make this lesson more fun, or

what can I do when this student is refusing to listen to me when my mentor teacher isn’t around.

With each reflection and time to practice, I saw my interactions with the students go a lot

smoother so did my lessons and the students were a lot more respectful towards me and they

participate during my lessons once they saw that I had become more confident in the classroom

and found my place within their classroom community. Every time I had a chance to teach a
lesson and reflect on it with my teacher, I was just more confident in the school and with my

ability to teach. For example, in my first reading lesson I sped through and didn’t set aside time

to go over the previous lessons with the students and I didn’t have any behavior management

techniques and the students were still unsure of me. After this lesson, I talked to my mentor

teacher and took notes on and developed some behavior management strategies my next lesson

was way better, and I felt that I delivered the content better and the students were more engaged,

and I was prepared for the different behaviors that my students showcased and I knew how to

manage those behaviors better.