I waited to write my entry for this week as I wanted to write about my meeting with the principal, Ms. Watkins. Ms. Watkins has come into the classroom several times as I have been teaching different lessons throughout the school year and told me she wanted to meet with me to go over what she has seen and introduce me to the program Reach.
I was very nervous to meet with her but very excited at the same time. I could not believe she was taking the time to meet with me and provide me with feedback since she has a whole faculty she has to take care of as well. Yesterday morning, Ms. Watkins came in the classroom and told me to join her in the multipurpose room. When I got down there, there was a gentlemen at the table and said Ms. Watkins would be on her way. He was from CPS and he asked me questions about where I went to school, where I was from, how I wound up in Chicago, how I like inner city, what I am certified in and what I have experience in teaching back in Michigan. As I was talking he was writing everything down and it made me very nervous however, I kept reminded myself to calm down and just go with it.
Then Ms. Watkins walked in and began reviewing my performance. She handed me a copy of Danielson's rubric and went over each category explaining to me what I did well and gave me exact examples of things I said in the classroom that showed each category. Overall, she said I did a great jon and she was thoroughly impressed, she said I was in proficient for each catagory and did not place me in basic for any of them. Then finally at the end she said the two things I could work on were to have the objectives clear for my students. (They are in the back of the classroom because that is where my teacher decided to put them at the beginning of the year however, I have since talked to my teacher and we are planning on putting them on the beginning of each slide for the lesson so the students can make the connection and now understand why they are on the back of the board). The other thing she told me to do more was to circulate the classroom more and monitor the students, I do try to do this however, sometimes my nerves get the better of me and I stay in front of the classroom. As well as my mentor teacher is circulating around as I am teaching.
Overall, this was an amazing experience and I am so thankful that she took the time to do this for me. Not only did she make me feel apart of the faculty but it really gave me a boost of confidence in my teaching ability to hear all the wonderful things she had to say about me. I could not have been more happy after that meeting and happy to have had that experience. It will really benefit when it comes to being observed next year, if I have a job as I will already understand the process and be familiar with it.
This is a great post. It's wonderful to hear about your exciting experiences here in your early career. It's natural to be nervous at first, and to continue to be anxious during be moments like these, but over time you will get more and more used to them. It sounds like you are doing a great job.
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