My externship has greatly motivated and encouraged me to actively seek new ways to improve upon myself as a teacher. Through my experience I have been exposed to a very valuable book entitled, How Children Learn Number Concepts: A Guide to the Critical Learning Phases. This book has offered powerful insights into how and why children learn and understand mathematics. The author of the book is Kathy Richardson who designed the AMC math assessments and strategies that my fellowship is working with. While this assessment is designed for K-2 learners, it can certainly be adapted for older learners that have yet to build the foundational understanding of “number”. Through this book she also offers insight into students understanding of multiplication and division, basic building blocks for understanding fractional work. As I am moving from teaching 2nd grade for the past 5 years to teaching 5th grade for the first time ever, I find this resource extremely helpful in understanding how a student thinks mathematically.

My fellowship team and I have been hard at work uncovering research and putting into action our plan. As we work through the presentation I can’t help but think about how this tool could help so many people; staff, teachers, students, parents, etc. It was suggested, at one point, that we might travel around the state to share our project, and I am really excited to follow through on this. I am super excited to share it with my school’s second grade team as they embark on this assessment journey for the first time. They have heard of my success stories, seen the AMC products and resources, now they can see it in action using the presentation my fellowship team and I are developing. How exciting!

I have already contacted the company to gain access to the assessments for my 5th grade class as well as two 2nd grade classes for the coming year. After reading through the book, I am really excited to see how authentic learning can look in a 5th grade classroom with the pressures of testing and working in a classroom with 31 students where some do not yet have the foundational skills to understand the “why” in their own mathematics curriculum.

Being a part of a DPI experience I was required to volunteer for NC DPI’s Summer Institute. I have to say that I thoroughly enjoyed this opportunity and hope to find my way there again next year! Among the various sessions I was able to attend, one in particular was extremely interesting. I attended a workshop to better understand the teacher evaluation tool that NC uses. I walked away excited to bring back this method of helping others to know and understand the standards. This workshop also allows for a better idea of what it means to be marked at the different levels of accomplishment. I have already contacted my principal about the urgency for this common understanding between all staff members of our school. I’ve also created a prezi and two padlet opportunities to assist in the presentation. I really hope that I am able to share this with my colleagues, it was so empowering!

Because of my experience and opportunity to think through what I discovered in the session I already have my two PDP/IGP goals ready. I think that it would be helpful for other teachers to have the opportunity to have the same experience. This way they might choose their goals with a better understanding of them. I know last year I chose a goal that I didn’t even understand. It turned out alright because once I figured it out, I was already teaching that way. However, I wish I had picked it for the purpose of improving my teaching more than just for having a better understanding of it.

Do you find that there is an inconsistency between what your staff at your school understands/interprets verses what your administration marks/interprets using the teacher evaluation tool?