1. Standard IX: Professional Growth and Development Reflection
Briarwood Elementary School
AND
Drakes Creek Middle School
I chose to focus and reflect on Standards II (The Teacher Designs and Plans
Instruction/Curriculum), IV (The Teacher Implements and Manages Instruction), and VII
(Reflects on and Evaluates Teaching and Learning) in order to grow professionally
during my time at Briarwood Elementary. I executed many daily activities in order
to develop my mastery of these standards.
I worked to improve Standard II by enforcing school discipline into all
instruction and stressing to all grades the significance of being a “Leader-in-Me”
school. I encouraged the students’ leadership roles within the school community
and classroom; for instance, every week I assigned a new student to be the “Music
Maestro” for their class. The role of the “Music Maestro” is virtually to be the
“teacher’s pet” and pass out/collect papers and classroom supplies, turn off/on
lights, etc.
I took contextual factors into consideration while lesson planning as well.
Differentiation and plans for remediation were intentionally implemented into both
formal and informal lesson plans. For example, the students who were performing
under average were placed/paired with students who were performing above
average; this is a grouping practice. I also was sure to personally confer with any
student who was showing signs of struggle and provide one-on-one tutoring when
needed.
Incorporating multiple levels of learning was also something I worked to
improve on. I tried to portray this in my instruction by utilizing the space of the
classroom and incorporating activities into lesson plans that targeted all learning
styles (kinesthetic, visual, auditory). Learning centers was something I used
multiple times during instruction to illustrate this. I tried to create a center to reach
all levels of learning (individual, cooperative, group, etc), and yet still be engaging
for students.
Classroom Management is always something any teacher can some how
change for the better. In order to plan my instruction to fit the diverse needs of
students, I individually assisted students with disabilities during classroom activities and
conferred and communicated with any classroom/student aides. By doing do, I was
ensure the academic success of particular students in the classroom and was able to better
gauge their understanding of the content I was teaching. Using time effectively was also a
targeted growth area in my plan. I worked to improve this skill by developing lessons
based on the time-age rule. For example, Kindergarten lesson activities would be shorter
than 6th grade lesson activities; this is because the attention span of a 5-6 year old is
shorter than that of an 11-12 year old.

2. The implementation of technology into every lesson made a significant impact on
my professional growth. Technology allowed me to use instructional strategies that
involved active learning to engage students. The SmartBoard played a large role in my
daily lessons. I also created/used hands-on games for the students to play as an
instructional activity, such as “Go Fish!” (hand made by me).
Lastly, I used data from formative/summative assessments to develop lesson plans
I created and administered the pre/post assessment for my first grade pitch unit and
recorded the data into an excel chart. I was able to analyze and evaluate this data for the
purpose of developing effective lesson activities. Furthermore, I also administered
informal formative assessments (discussion questions, observation, etc) to all classes
during insruction.