INTASC+9

=INTASC #9: Reflection / Professional Growth = = =

The teacher is a reflective practitioner who continually evaluates the effects of her choices and actions on others and who actively seeks out opportunities to grow professionally.
INTASC 9A | INTASC 9B

 **A. The teacher reflects and evaluates the effect of her personal and/or professional choices on others in the learning community** __What is this artifact?__ This artifact is the [|self evaluation] I wrote at the end of Level 3 and several "seatworks" I created during level 4 and seatworks I created for reading groups during level 4. The self evaluation was meant to **target both our strengths and our weaknesses as teachers at the end of level 3**. My main objective was to **target my biggest weaknesses so I could focus on them throughout my internship during level 4**. I targeted **my biggest areas of improvement to be differentiation and assessment**. The seat works are **evidence of my ability to differentiate according to the needs of my students as well as accurately assess my students.**

__How does this artifact demonstrate evidence of your mastery of the INTASC principle?__ These artifacts **demonstrate my ability to reflect upon and target my areas of improvement and then improve upon them**. During level 3, my main areas of improvement were in differentiation and assessment. **My goal during level 4 was to improve those two aspects of my teaching**. In my first grade classroom at Forest Ridge Elementary School, we have three reading groups: purple, green, and yellow. The purple reading group is comprised with the readers who are right on grade level. The green reading group is made up of the readers who are 2 quarters ahead. The yellow reading group consists of the readers who are a full year above grade level. **I've learned that it is extremely important for the development of my readers to differentiate their work**. **These assessments show that I am able to create seatwork for their ability and readiness level**. **Differentiating means fitting the specific needs for every learner, not just giving more work to higher ability students and less work to lower performing students**.

__**//Purple Group Seatworks//**__ These questions are literal comprehension questions. The students are required to answer the questions in complete sentences. [|Good Morning Bears.doc]

The students were required to fill in the blanks using the words from the story. Also, the students were required to write a personal response. The students are allowed to get assistance spelling words that are not sight words. The main concern is getting them comfortable with writing as the spelling piece will come a little at a time. [|Birthday Cupcakes.doc]

__**//Green Group Seatworks//**__

These questions are more challenging literal comprehension questions. The students are able to look back in the book and find the answers. The students are required to use sentence starters and answer the questions in complete sentences. [|The Great Race Comp Quest.doc]

The following two seatworks demonstrate the differentiation of skills the students were learning. The students were taught skills during reading groups, but their seatworks still guide them along through the process. For example, they are given matching answers instead of having to come up with the answers on their own. [|Sam's Seasons.doc] [|Verb Tense.doc]

__**//Yellow Group Seatworks//**__ These questions were a mixture of literal and higher order thinking questions. The students had to divulge into the chapter book and really understand the text in order to be able to answer the questions. The students are required to use sentence starts and answer the questions in complete sentences. //[|The Mystery of the Missing Dog Comp Questions.doc]//

The following two seatworks demonstrate the differentiation of skills the students were learning. The students were taught skills during reading groups. The students were expected to use those skills on the seatwork independently. [|If you give a mouse a cookie search.doc] [|Animals Talk Too Vowel Team Sort.doc]

 **B. The teacher seeks out opportunities to grow professionally.** This INTASC principle is included within my unit plan.