EDU 450 Weekly Reflection 7

I would give this week a rating of 4. While it was a rough week, with my children being very restless and active during my instruction, as well as having many behavioral outbursts that are not typical of this group of students, there were many reminders of why I love teaching. There were times where my students would come seek me out specifically to help them with something, times when I engaged in meaningful child-initiated discussions with my students, and times when they just "got" everything that I was teaching them. I was given a copy of my class group photo, which shows each of their little faces happy to be at school, and it is a true reminder of how much of a difference I make in each of their lives, by loving and supporting them as they learn and grow.
Reflecting on the week, I learned that I need to provide many more opportunities for my students to gain letter awareness. After a follow-up assessment to measure growth on letter recognition, I saw that many of my students are still struggling significantly with identifying letters. I will build upon what students know by integrating more opportunities for them to practice identifying letters.
My short-term efforts still feel primarily focused on edTPA, however, this aligns to my long-term goal of graduating and getting my teaching license. I feel like I could still spend more of my time preparing materials in advance, as I still am finding it a little hard to balance daily classroom responsibilities, planning time, and EDU 450 coursework, in addition to my responsibilities as a wife and mother. Things are getting done, but not really keeping me as ahead as I had hoped I would be.
I am not apprehensive about anything at the current time, and feel very comfortable in my position in the classroom. The children seem to enjoy the lessons I plan and teach, and are for the most part, very respectful of the expectations I have for them.
The first logical steps I can think of for next week, are to look over all of my edTPA Tasks and revise any areas that I may need to, having that completed. It is hard to believe that the submission date is so close, but I know it will be a huge relief to have it completed and submitted.
As mentioned before, I analysed the data from students' ability to recognize letters, and this has led me to adapt my future lessons to include more opportunities for students to practice this skill. I also had an art activity, where students wove strips of paper to recreate woven fabric, which allowed me to analyze several areas of student development. By looking at their completed works, I was able to determine their levels of fine motor skills, their motivation to continue working at challenging tasks, and their understanding of positional terms, "over," and, "under." I can now use this data to develop additional activities to build and strengthen these skills.
I am currently reviewing the notes from my last observation regarding my proficiency in the NCTCS, and am creating lists and collecting data as evidence of meeting each standard. I have completed my classroom website, and am ready to refine my PDP, SIP, and Classroom Management Plan. I do not need any additional support, and to my knowledge, my CE needs no additional support from my University Supervisor at this time.