Hope Turner

A key take-away from this module is asking specific questions to make sure you are getting valid results. Some tests are very subjective and some students are unable to pass due to that. True/False questions should be used intentionally. A good way to determine mastery is having students explain why the answer is false. When you assign students an essay question, it is important to give the students the questions ahead of time. This gives them time to process the question and formulate a response.

In this module, I learned the importance of questioning. Questions should be preplanned. As answers are being given, follow-up questions are important. Students should have the be able to understand the basic comprehension questions and then scaffold them up. As the instructor, you should ask the question and then give wait time, and call on a student. It allows for students to not drift off. A good way to check for understanding is to have other students restate what is shared. 

In this section of the module, I focused on two key things. First, the idea of a flipped classroom. Allowing the students to get the work done prior to class so that the teacher can take a deeper dive for mastery of standards during class. One challenge, is so many students are becoming accustomed to not completing homework which can cause students to be lost and unprepared. Also, I focused on the power of student choice when completing assignments because there is more buy-in.

I work with CTE teachers as a coach, and when thinking about instructional strategies, it is important to remember how important the hook and closure are to a lesson. I really like the strategy "List 5," and I will find ways to incorporate that into my planning, and curriculim writing.

My take-aways from this module are to make sure that the coach and teacher have an identified plan that is put into place by teacher input. Having good communication between teacher and coach will help to make sure that goals are met.

My plan is to continue to familiarize myself with CTE content standards. Where I am very knowledgeable about teaching and instructional strategies, I also need to allow my teachers to be empowered to share their content knowledge, and I need to educate myself on exactly what they are teaching.

I think the big take-away that I had from this section was to provide feedback by first asking a question. I like how that first question allows the person you are giving feedback to say "yes" or "no," and it gives them the opportunity to know that the feedback is coming. I think it is also valuable to remember to focus on the data and specific, and not what can be blurred and taken in other ways. At the end of the day, the goal is always on student instruction and how to have the students as engaged as possible… >>>

In my position as a teacher leader, I think the most important thing is to make the feedback and relate it back to a teacher's individual/professional goals. As a leader, I must understand that I am increasing a teacher's capacity to do his or her job, and I can also learn from him or her. I also thinking that making sure feedback is prescriptive with intentionality and continuosly revisited, and when the goal is met, a new goal is to be met.

It is critical to understand students cultural beliefs, religion, and race. Getting to know the families of your students can help bridge the gap between the home/school connection.

This section of the module touched on the importance of assessments. As instructors, we need to make sure that we are not assessing students' English comprehension. Rather, we should determine what we are assessing and what is the goal and make sure that we provide accommodations, whether we are using a human reader, anecdotal records, or learning logs, to make sure that we are truly assessing our students abilities fairly.