GONZALO M.

PITPIT BERTIE MIDDLE SCHOOL

Week Beginning: October 3, 2011

NELA Internship Weekly Activity Log

Teacher Observation Monday Two (2) Walkthroughs with 7th Grade Math and Language Arts teachers with Dr. Peel. Two (2) Walkthroughs with 8-B (Sci) and 8-U (SS) Tuesday Wednesday Teacher Evaluation One (1) PostObservation conference with 8-C (Spanish) One (1) PreObservation Conferee with 7-R (LA) Teacher Meetings Building Meetings One (1) Meeting with the 7th Grade Family (issues including entrance to the building and faithful adherence to CARE time District Meetings None Community Meetings/ Contacts Contacted Mr. Norman Cherry, Vice-Chair, County Board of Commissioners ExtraCurricular Events None Management Tasks None Other

Meeting with Dr. Peel, Executive Coach

NELA class. GCP/KIPP Pride Visit Two (2) Walkthroughs with 7-E (Social Studies) and 7Lo (Science)
One (1) PreObservation Conf. with 7-G One (1) Teacher Eval/ Obs. with 7-G (LA) One (1) brief PostObservation Conf. with 7-G; per Mrs. Hardys instruction

None

None

One (1) Principals Meeting at the Central Office

None

None

None

Meeting with Mrs. Hardy on the Aspiring Leader Needs Assessment

Thursday

Three (3)

One (1) Teacher-

One (1)

None

None

None

None

None

None

Walkthroughs with 7-Cr, 7-E, and 7-G

Evaluation/ Observation with 7-R

Meeting with 7th grade Lang. Arts teachers for the School Improvem ent Project None None None None None None Meeting with Mrs. Hardy the 7th grade Lang. Arts teachers; School Improvement Project

Friday

Three (3) Teacher Observations with 7-RO, 7-E, and 7-Le; Three (3) Walkthroughs with 6-WR, 6-J, & 6-C

One (1) Teacher Evaluation/ Observation with 7-C (Lang. Arts)

*Reflection on this weekly log (include feedback from coach and mentor):

On Teacher EvaluationI have one concern with one teacher in my school improvement project. During our pre-observation conference, I told her the objectives of my visit the next day how she handles review session with her students; that I want to see a lot of student engagement - group work/pair work during the review; and that I dont want to see her administering the weekly test; and that the test could be administered after the review. When I observed her the next day, she did the exact opposite She started with giving the test! I stayed in her class for few more minutes before I left. How should I take this? This is what I am thinking: Hold a post-observation conference -using the 15-min observation notes I gathered Friday morning. I will ask what her reasons were why she gave the test first before the

review. I will ask her if she remembers the objectives of my visit, which I discussed with her during the preobservation conference. Then, I will schedule another visit with her. On Giving Feedback (as part of the post-observation conference) How should I take it when I try to offer suggestions for improvement and the other says, It does not work,? In my conversations with two of the new teachers, they told me that their main concern is classroom management. I tried to offer some suggestions such as for example - using hand signals to signify their intentions One said, That will not work; and the other said, I ask my students to raise their hand if they want to talk. Still, it does not work. Another example How about calling their parents? One said, I did that but their parents are neither at home nor pick up the phone. Another said, I did do that; however, these students still do what they want to do. I have ring leaders in my classrooms and these are the ones I need to work on. Have you considered assigning leadership roles to these ring leaders? One said, No. I dont think that will work. Another one said, But I dont think they are capable of doing it. I have reservations about that. Our conversations were done in separate occasions. I tried to explain that the students theyre talking about are actually good ones in another teachers class; that means, theyre capable to behave themselves well. I added that they are the adults in the classroom, and they should show firmness and consistencies in their dealings with inappropriate behavior. I felt that I did not help them that much because they were not buying- in the suggestions I gave them. Reflecting on this experience, I think I did not do it the right way. Like what Dr. Peel said, Do not tell them. Ask them and guide them till they realize what they should do differently next time. Great advice! On Data AnalysisOn my recent meeting with Mrs. Hardy about the school improvement project, we looked at the 7th grade data based on the end-of-grade results the past few years. We concluded that 7th grade Language Arts is the

weakest link. As part of my project, we will present the data again using the information from each teachers class last year. Mrs. Hardy said that we will point out that the teachers did not help the school with 1) the overall composite score; 2) growth; and 3) the group of students who either took the regular test for the first time or who came from another state. Overall, reading is a need. We cant afford for these students to be losing points rather than gaining growth. Did we have teacher power? Did our students feel the teacher power? Great insights!