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Completed D097 Task 2 - Approved - Task 2
Education Foundations (D097)
Western Governors University
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D090 Educational FoundationsPreview text
D
Task 2
A. The content standards for Washington State are in the following location: k12.wa/student-success/learning-standards-instructional-materials
B. I interviewed ---, who teaches Kindergarten, in the state of Washington. Please see attached Interview Verification Form.
C. Description
Christine stated that Ellensburg School District, the district that she has been teaching in for the last five years, uses the Common Core State Standards. She plans and aligns all of her lessons with the Common Core State Standards that are used in Washington State. At the beginning of the school year, she meets with both students and parents to show them the standards that they will cover in that school year. In that meeting she provides parents with an adult version of the standards and the students with a student friendly version with pictures and an age-appropriate explanation of the standards.
The internal influences that Christine feels are meaningful are the weekly meetings with her team of kindergarten teachers. This time allows them to look at the data they have been collecting on their students and group them together to provide additional instruction to those students who are not meeting the standard. An example she included was this year they tracked their student’s ability to count 1- from the beginning of the school year to the end. Students were then placed into four ability groups. The first trimester groupings were, counting 0-10, 11-19, 20-49 and 50-100. Second trimester was 0-19, 20-
49, 50-79 and 80-100. The final trimester was 0-49, 50-79, 80-100 and 100+. Each time they met they would move students into different groups as they grew in their counting.
Christine views external influences such as state mandates a big part of her career as a teacher. She stated that state mandates for education can be complicated to follow at times, but she uses quarterly assessment software from a company called Educational Software for Guiding Instruction (ESGI) to help the process of progress monitoring and lesson planning. This company provides easy progress monitoring using their preloaded assessments that allows her to quickly assess state standards. The program allows her to take a baseline assessment of her students and then continue to assess them one on one until the student has mastered the standard. She meets weekly with her kindergarten team of teachers to discuss the results, group students of similar abilities together and adjust instruction as necessary.
Christine said that her identity as a teacher has developed over the years as her confidence has grown. She said that from her first year to now she truly believes that she is able to meet her students' needs and teach them what they need to be successful lifelong learners. She describes herself as being flexible and relaxed. With ever changing curriculum, staff and expectations these two qualities are helpful. She also often mentioned being a ‘team player’ by collaborating weekly, if not daily with her team of kindergarten teachers. While Christine didn’t directly mention any of Hattie’s Mindframes, most of what she talked about was part of “I collaborate with peers and students about my conceptions of progress and my impact.” (Thinking Pathways, n.). Most of her answers included her team of kindergarten teachers that she collaborates with often.
Christine has continued to grow in her practice since she first started teaching. A few years ago, she went back to school at Western Governors University and got her Masters in Curriculum and Instruction. She also signs up for any curriculum training offered for the curriculum she uses in her
C. Analysis
I agree with how Christine incorporates state content standards into her lessons. She mentioned that her lessons all align to Washington State Common Core Standards and I believe this is great because it will prepare her students for moving on to first grade. I like that in her first meeting with parents and students that she shows them the standards that she will be teaching. I think it’s important to know what your goals are in order to work towards them.
I also agree with what Christine said about her internal influences. I agree that meeting weekly with her team of teachers allows time to collaborate & discuss necessary items. This time also allows them to review data to group students with similar abilities together from all of their classes. Along with her internal influences, I agree with her on how she manages her external influence of state mandates for education. She does this by using quarterly assessment software from a company called Educational Software for Guiding Instruction (ESGI). I like that it allows her to quickly assess her students and then adjust groups and instruction accordingly.
When it comes to Christine’s teacher identity, I like that she said being flexible and relaxed are two skills that have helped her in her career as a kindergarten teacher. I agree that the field of education is ever evolving and being both flexible and relaxed are traits that help make her successful. She did say that there are always expectations and rules for her students but being flexible, especially on days when plans need to be shifted, is important.
I agree with Christine about the ways she continues to grow in her practice. By earning her
Masters in Curriculum and Instruction she was able to acquire specialized skills and valuable
expertise in instructional theory and practice, learning science, and educational research—all
focused on how to better engage students and deliver improved learning outcomes. (Western
Governors University, n.). By signing up for curriculum training, professional development
opportunities with ESD105 and observing other teachers on her team and building she’s
continuing to improve herself as a teacher.
C. Conclusion
I have learned a lot from this interview. I mostly reinforced that I am eager and excited to work in this field. I’m excited to know that teams of teachers collaboratively work together on educating their students in the best way possible. This has influenced my understanding of the role of a teacher because I know that when I’m a new teacher I’ll have teammates and colleagues helping me along the way. If I were to conduct this interview again, I would like to interview more than one teacher. Since I’m getting both Elementary Education and Special Education degrees, I’d like to interview a special education teacher as well.
C. Action
One of Hattie’s Mindframes that I believe supports teacher success is, “I build relationships and trust so that learning can occur in a place where it is safe to make mistakes and learn from others” (Thinking Pathways, n.). I think that this is important because connecting with people is important to me but connecting with students is even more important. Once you’ve established a relationship with students, you’ll gain their trust they’ll feel safer trying hard things. One of my personal strengths that aligns with Hattie’s Mindframes “I build relationships and trust so that learning can occur in a place where it is safe to make mistakes and learn from others” (Thinking Pathways, n.) is connecting with students. In the four years that I’ve worked as a paraprofessional in a special education classroom I’ve made it a point to connect with every student that I work with. They never enter or leave our classroom without a greeting from me, and they know I’m always genuinely interested in and care about them. I’ve learned because I’ve built these
References Thinking Pathways. (n.). Ten Mindframes for Visible Learning. Retrieved July 21, 2021, from thinkingpathwayz.weebly/10-mindframes-visible-learning.html Western Governors University. (n.). Curriculum & Instruction Online Degree. Retrieved July 21, 2021, from wgu/online-teaching-degrees/curriculum-instruction-education-masters- program#close
Completed D097 Task 2 - Approved - Task 2
Course: Education Foundations (D097)
University: Western Governors University
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