Professional Development January 15, 21014: Faculty Meeting During this meeting everyone was greeted back from

break. There were also several pieces of good news that was shared. Costner would now become wireless and we would be getting a Student Resource officer. This would be helpful because it would promote safety and an orderly environment. The new Senate Bill was also discussed which I thought was very informative since it is a current issue that the school system is facing. The importance of PLC notebooks, unit plans, I Can statements, and anecdotal notes were also discussed during this meeting. January 21, 2014: K-2 Assessment and Calendar Time This was a math workshop that my CT and I attended during one of our workdays. It discussed the importance of calendar time in the classroom. The purpose of calendar time is so much more than just being a rote activity. We need to make sure that it is rich not rote. It needs to be something that is meaningful for the students. It can become meaningful for the students by allowing them realize the concept of time and make real life connections. January 22, 2014: School Improvement Team Meeting During this meeting we discussed some things that could be implemented to improve the school. They discussed maybe buying library carts so that the lower elementary students did not have to carry their books to the library. They also discussed having an English Language Arts parent night so that parents could come in and see how reading instruction was done in the classroom. February 4, 2014: PLC Meeting This PLC meeting was focused on revisiting the smart goals for the previous nine weeks and seeing if they were successful. We also set new smart goals for the current nine weeks. We started looking at how to complete a tier plan for a student. To begin with, you need to describe students strengths and then state the problem with a solution on how to solve it. When making a tier two plan we learned that we need to look at a factor that could go in each category: instruction, curriculum, environment, and the learner. February 4, 2014: Reading Workshop During this workshop we learned several different strategies that we could take back into the classroom. Several graphic organizers were also provided that students could be using during readers workshop. We also learned about several resources that are available online through the Gaston county schools website that can be used to help plan instruction. We watched a short video on a readers workshop lessons so that we could see the flow of the lesson. We also discussed the importance of anchor charts in the classroom. February 8, 2014: Keeping Learning Alive This conference was extremely useful to me because I learned several things that I could take back into the classroom. Not only did I present at this conference I was able to set in on many good sessions. One session that I attended talked about the importance of close reading and some strategies that we could use in the classroom to help promote close reading. They also shared the resource Kidblog, which I started using in my classroom the next week.

February 18, 2014: PLC Meeting This time was spent discussing the upcoming events for the grade level. We also discussed some of the ideas that we had for the upcoming English Language Arts family night. We decided on allowing students to work with their parents on asking questions in their books. We also planned to showcase students writing on their desks. Read across America day was also a topic of discussion as we looked for activities that we could do with our students. February 19, 2014: Faculty Meeting During this staff meeting we discussed several things that would help to better instruct our students. The important of Read to Achieve and STAR were mentioned as resources we could use to look at data to drive instruction. We also discussed the importance of conferencing and anecdotal notes. There was also a brief training on suicide prevention as well as training on how to best meet the needs of your ESL students. February 26, 2014: School Improvement Team Meeting This school improvement team meeting was mostly a review of the previous meeting so that they could discuss several things that still needed to be finalized. We talked more about the library carts for lower grades and decided that after collecting survey information from lower grades that they would purchase a few carts that the grade levels could share. We also discussed the upcoming ELA family night and some ideas for the opening presentation. They also had purchased two iPads and we discussed how we could best utilize those iPads in the classroom. March 1, 2014: Professional Learning Day This was a SNCAE sponsored event in Asheville. It was a very informative day because the main topic of discussion was classroom management tips. Several resources were provided so that we would have an idea of how manage a classroom from day one. March 4, 2014: PLC Meeting This PLC meeting was devoted to creating the unit plan for the month of March. The math unit plan and the writing unit plan had already been completed, so the reading unit plan was what we worked on. This was the subject I planned for the whole grade level so I got to give a lot of input on this unit plan. March 12, 2104: Faculty Meeting This faculty meeting covered a lot of material. The first thing that was discussed was what to do with repetitive behavior. The first thing that you need to do is talk about it with your grade level and then call for an administrator. We discussed some strategies that could be used to stop repetitive behavior; one of those strategies was the use of chance tickets. We also discussed accountability folders and how they could be best used to meet the needs of your students for the upcoming year. The fundraiser that the school was about to start was also discussed in detail. March 18, 2014: Tier Three Training The head of the MTSS committee came to our grade level to train us on how to write a tier three plan. Most of the tier two for students has been completed and now we needed to move on to a tier three. She showed us step by step how to take what we used in the tier two plans and continue to use that, but add another intervention.

March 28-29, 2014: SNCAE Spring Conference This conference was helpful in many ways. I went to a session that discussed the importance of common core standards and how we can help make the transition easier. Common core was designed to go deeper in the subjects and we discussed why it is important for students to be able to think deeper about what they were leaning about. We also went to a session that gave some helpful tips for first year teachers. This session provided us with things to do and things not to do. April 3, 2014: Parent/Teacher Conferences This was a very unique opportunity for me and I am glad that I got to be a part of it. It was very interesting getting to talk with most of my students parents. It was also great that I got the experience to provide input during the conferences. April 8, 2014: PLC Meeting This was one of the most helpful PLC meetings that I attended. During this PLC Mrs. Edwards came in a talked to us about the importance of using data to drive instruction. Data walls are very important because they help let students know where they are and where they need to be. It is also very important to let students know how they are doing and talking with them about their data. There are a lot of data provided on STAR reading and STAR math that we can use to help differentiate and meet the needs of our students. She also talked about how you could organize all of your information for guided reading, AR, and your conferencing notes all in one place so it would be easy to access.

Reflection on Professional Development Professional development was one of my favorite parts of student teaching simply because many of the opportunities were very eye opening to me. I believe that it is always important to continue learning even as you are teaching. Through several opportunities I had during student teaching I was able to learn things that I could take back into my classroom. It was always exciting going to these workshops or meetings because when I would learn something that I thought would be useful, I could not wait to get back to my classroom to try it with my students. That is what professional development is all about, learning new and exciting things that you can take back and use in your classroom to best meet the needs of your students. The K-2 assessment and calendar time was a very informative workshop because it changed the way I thought about calendar time. Calendar time has always been something that has been done in the lower grades and was a time where the students reviewed the days of the weeks, months of the year, and other general information. Instead of doing this, calendar time should be rich not rote. Instead of repeating the same routines every day with calendar time, it should be something that is meaningful to the students. While it is okay to add some English Language Arts into this time, its primary focus should be on math concepts. This workshop showed how that by making this time rich for the students it will help to build their concept of time, which is often a difficult thing for students to do. I used the concepts from this workshop to incorporate into our classroom routine time before each math lesson. The Keeping Learning Alive conference was also one that was very helpful. I was able to attend several sessions that gave me ideas that I could take back into my classroom the next week. Kidblog was one resource that I learned about during this conference. I was so excited to use this in my class I implemented it on the Monday I returned to the classroom. This was

something that the students really enjoyed as well. My CT loved the resource as well and it is something that she plans on continuing with the students. They loved being able to blog about the book they were reading. I also learned some close reading strategies. Close reading strategies are important to do with your students because this allows them to go deeper into what they are reading about. This conference gave me many tools and strategies to use in the classroom in the future. I was very fortunate to be able to be a part of the PLC meetings on my grade level. These meetings were very helpful because, I was able to see how important data was in helping to drive instruction. There are many different tools that can help you look at your data and figure out how to use that to best meet the needs of your students. One of the most helpful PLC meetings I was able to attend was when Mrs. Edwards came in and talked to us about the different ways in which we could use data to drive instruction. STAR reading and STAR math are helpful tools that you can use to group students. She also talked about the important to conferencing with your students. Conferencing with your students allows you to gather more data and discuss that data with your students. It is important to let them know where they are and where they need to be. MCLASS is a tool that you can use to communicate data with your students as well as the STAR test. You can also use AR as a way to communicate data with your students and help set goals based on their needs. After this meeting I started creating the layout for how I would want my conferencing notebook to look so that I could record data in my classroom. There were several opportunities throughout the semester that I was able to participate in that was sponsored by SNCAE. One of those opportunities was the professional learning day in Asheville. This workshop was particularly helpful because it focused on management. She had real advice from current teachers about how to manage a classroom, but she also had advice from

students on things teachers should do and should not do. This was an interesting perspective because it was coming from students. She also gave us some very good advice on what to do on those first days of teaching. Those first few days are the most important when setting the tone for your classroom. Another SNCAE opportunity was the spring conference. One session from spring conference was about the first year teaching. I was also able to learn about some new strategies that I could take back into the classroom through the common core session. The Tier Three meeting was another great opportunity for me. This year they changed the way that they meet the needs of students who are struggling in some areas and the process that teacher go through to get a child tested for EC. The MTSS process is set up so that once you target a student who had a certain problem area you can plan an intervention for that student and track their progress. Since this is new to everyone in the school, I was able to learn along with them. In this particular training they focused on how to start creating a tier three. Once a student has gone through their tier two plan and they still are struggling, that is when you start tier three. Next year when I have to write tier plans for my students I will have the knowledge to do so. I felt that this was one of the most helpful training sessions I was able to attend. I also really enjoyed going to the School Improvement Team meetings. Through this experience I was able to see how teachers for different grade levels come together to help improve the climate of the school and plan events. During the meetings I went to I was able to see how they planned the English Language Arts Family night. We discussed what the opening session would have and then what should be going on in each classroom. I thought it was really great that I got to see the planning process behind the actual event and then be able to participate in the event as well.