Strengths 

Positivity- I pride myself on keeping a positive attitude in and out of the classroom. I strive to keep all interactions with students and coworkers positive and uplifting. Even when reminding students of what they should be doing in class should remain positive to ensure that students are not embarrassed and keep a positive outlook on school. If you model a positive outlook and positive interactions, it sets the tone for the students in your classroom.

Hard-Working- I have remained a hard worker since the first job I got when I was sixteen, and this has lead me to the career path I am pursuing now. You can’t be a successful teacher without being hard-working. Teachers' level of work ethic is directly reflected in their student's success because a student cannot work hard at getting better at a skill if a teacher is unwilling to work with that student on that skill. In my future classrooms, I plan to put one hundred percent of my efforts towards ensuring my student's progress. 

Team Player- Teaching is a team sport. It requires effort from parents, a student's teacher, and the surrounding staff in that school. I am willing to collaborate and take advice from my coworkers to ensure that my students receive the best possible education. 

Organized- In a classroom, you manage yourself and a classroom full of children. I am an organized teacher, with all my materials for the following week's lessons printed and prepped for my students. I plan to teach my students organizational skills they can use throughout their education journey. An organized classroom is a well running one, and I plan on having my classroom mirror that belief.

Professional- Building professional relationships with my school's parents is my priority. This means I will set aside all feelings and keep my interactions in person and over email professional and helpful. In my student teaching placement, I showed up an hour before students arrived to ensure that everything for that day was set up. I greeted all of the other teachers I ran into and kept a friendly, professional relationship with my school’s principal. 

Flexible- During my student teaching placement, I learned that I am able to change my plans to fit the ever-changing schedule of the school day. I moved lessons around to fit the schedule for that day or bumped lessons forward or back based on my student's understanding. I discovered that being flexible was one of my greatest assets as an educator.

Areas of improvement

Reading Groups- One area where I need improvement is in my reading groups. During literacy centers, I would call up groups of students to come and read with me. I used a student-led approach in these groups, but sometimes they felt unorganized. Student-led reading groups work well for seasoned teachers, but it was not something I could successfully pull off during my student-teaching placement. 

Feedback- Feedback is crucial to student success. While I would give feedback to my students, it was often after something they did well. Giving positive feedback is essential, but giving my students feedback on what they can improve is crucial. I need to improve on giving students specific strategies they can use to improve on skills.

Documenting- The biggest area of improvement I need to work on is documenting my students' work. I took mental notes of what students needed to improve, but I never wrote any down. If I had written down my student's areas of improvement, I would have had a more organized plan on how to progress them. Another thing I should have been documenting is my student's work. I need to take pictures of my student's work in order to be able to measure their progress.