DRAFT: This module has unpublished changes.

 Mentee: Sally Patton

Mentor: Tom Chen

7/22/13

Final BSHS evaluation

Sally Patton is qualified to advance to student teaching.

 

Standard One: Roles and Relationship

 

Cognizant of building classroom community, Sally led a few ice breakers. She directed an ice breaker called "snake" where students introduce themselves and one thing they enjoy. A student that agreed with the statement would link arms and it continues until all students are linked like a "snake."  In addition to building positive class dynamics, Sally's stance was welcoming and consistently positive and encouraging.  This stance was used in redirection and supporting students individually.  From the beginning of BSHS, Sally had a natural confidence with her voice and body language when she is in front of the classroom. Sometimes when students were excited about the lesson, some side talking detracted from her teaching.  Sally improved in using strategies to minimize side talking during her presentations or when students were talking over each other.  

 

Standard Two: Student as Learner

 

Sally created a survey with her team to get to know their academic and non-academic interests. She and her team also gave a reading evaluation.   For student teaching, she can these types of assessments to inform her teaching.  Her direct teacher presentation on The Gilded Age showed her ability to help students develop higher level cognitive skills by asking them to use prior knowledge and make connections to pop culture.  When Sally does quality direct teacher presentations it excited students and built their confidence to do the next activity.  Furthermore, when Sally gave direct teacher presentations, she built interest by asking questions related to pop culture.  Before going into a Zoot Suit direct teacher presentation, she asked students about what styles are popular today.  

 

Standard Three: Planning

 

Sally and her team showed planning that brought large concepts into chunks of activities and mini units. Sally is cognizant of the importance to connect different eras so students can see their historical knowledge as part of an essential question. She helped students create a timeline based on knowledge they have accumulated.  Sally and her team are also working towards getting a feel of the pace of activities in a ninety minute class.  While over-planning is better than under-planning, building in time at the end of class to review is very important.

 

Standard Four: Classroom Practice

 

Sally has a strong teacher voice and gives clear instruction. She is working towards putting instructions on board and power point. She can also do more check-ins for understanding directions, such as with "five fingers." Sally has used streaming videos and images to enhance her teaching.  An example is her DTP for Gilded Age which had magnified pictures of past and present opulence.  During that discussion, Sally interwove questions that ask students to think critically.  A way Sally can improve is to explicitly teach how to take notes so they can keep track of main points instead of writing everything or none at all.  Before the final assessment, Sally taught basic essay writing with graphic organizer.  She used an interesting topic about high schools and set them up to use it for a practice American dream essay.

 

Standard Five: Assessment

Sally and her team used formative assessments to check for understanding.  Some examples were looking at students writing in class and participation in discussions.  For the final summative project, Sally led a group of students to create a visual representation of what was the American dream throughout history.  She created a rubric with her team that graded the projects based on argument and organization.  For student teaching, Sally can continue to use additional formative assessments such as exit tickets to see if daily objectives are met and which students need more scaffolding.  

 

Standard Six: Professional Knowledge and Growth

 

Sally asked relevant questions to her mentor to improve her practice.  She often implemented feedback the following day. Responding to feedback about her Power Point presentations, they've become more streamlined and readable.  An example of her professionalism was when she gave her mentor advance notice about missing a debriefing after a class and rescheduled the debriefing.  This desire to improve and take feedback seriously was important to her growth.

 

Standard Seven: Engagement with Subject Matter


Sally showed enthusiasm for the subject matter by giving opportunities for students to connect to prior knowledge or pop culture.  When working with small groups while they were looking at texts during a carousel, she engaged students in deeper thinking with her confidence in knowing the subject.  She and her team taught timelines that spanned many decades of American history to show the cause and effects in history.

DRAFT: This module has unpublished changes.