Initial Reflection

I am an exceedingly and agonizingly reflective teacher. In the two years I have spent teaching, I do not know that I have ever made it peacefully through a night without overanalyzing every teaching decision I made throughout the day. Strangely, my goal is to be less reflective or, rather, more selectively reflective. My goal is to have a healthier, data-driven and more efficient approach to my reflections and a less consuming and emotional approach. I have been in my role as PLC leader for our third grade team for three weeks now and have led three meetings. A large portion of these meetings is dedicated to reflectively analyzing data and planning more effective instruction and intervention for struggling students. I love leading and facilitating these meetings, and it is a strength of mine that I am extremely prepared, and intentional with our time, however, I am hoping that through this program, I obtain more skills to be the most effective leader possible.

My greatest strength in teaching is that I absolutely adore this profession. Because of this adoration, I am absolutely committed to being the most effective, ever-growing teacher for my wonderful students. My growth mindset, and desire to always adapt and change to better serve all of my students is my greatest strength. The greatest challenge that teaching presents is time management. I am constantly working on how to best utilize every precious minute with my kids. Following a packed pacing guide and racing through content to ensure that my kids feel prepared for smarter balance gives me the perpetual feeling that there is never enough time, like I could always be doing more. This can be challenging for my type-A self to accept and acclimate to.  I am hoping this year is a huge growth year for me regarding how best to manage our precious time.

I would say my understanding of the Marzano framework is fair. I know each of the criterion fairly well, and brush up on my knowledge regularly. If I am being honest, I delve most deeply into the framework during observation time. Initially, the evaluation process petrified me, but it has being nothing but an extremely positive, constructive experience leading to substantial growth.  I would like to improve my navigational skills of the framework, and be able to assist other teachers in feeling comfortable and confident with the evaluation process.