Reflective Commentary

Reflective Commentary:
CEPTC Quality Standard #4: Teachers Reflect on Their Practice
4a. Demonstrate that they analyze student learning, development and growth and apply what
they learn to improve their practice.
The way my instruction meets this standard starts with scaffolding. By this, I mean the way I
start off with low-stakes activities, which gradually build into larger assignments. Eventually,
these activities build into a culminating text for the unit and one for the semester. This setup
allows me to track student progress throughout the units, because I can identify areas for
improvement early on, before they turn into problems for students. For example, during my first
unit on coming of age, students start practicing narrative development with a memoir. This is not
worth enough points to make or break them, and gives them a chance to connect with the
material personally.
I can use this writing to make adjustments to my pacing and instruction, which will affect how I
guide their next assignment. The assignment that builds off of their memoir is their character
development analysis, which then leads into their final unit assignment: Writing a Short Story.
The difficulty and length of work increases in this progression, but it also builds off of itself
conceptually and in structure. If my students struggle with voice in their memoir, I will know
that I need to empathize instruction of voice as they write their character analysis and short story.
If my students have trouble finding patterns in character arch while writing their character
analysis, then I will know what to review before they start their own short stories. This same sort
of framework can be seen in my other units.
Not only does everything each unit scaffold into culminating texts, but every unit prepares
students for their final culminating text: A multimedia project. This way, I will not end up at the
end of the unit or semester with the surprise that students are not grasping the material. If and
when I run into obstacles during my units, I will be able to catch on to them early on. This way, I
will be able to monitor student growth as assessments become more challenging and make
adjustments when my plans dont meet the needs of students.
4b. Teachers link professional growth to their professional goals.
Creating a yearlong plan is a process. This sounds simple, but requires a humble knowing that
my ideas are not complete the first time through and that another set of eyes is priceless.
Throughout the process of creating my yearlong plan, I took Dr. Pamela K. Cokes feedback
seriously. The most notable feedback she gave me was to provide specific examples in my
teaching philosophy, which has translated into making detailed and focused activities.
This also helped me stay mindful of my teaching philosophy as I worked on the project, as well
as my teaching context. I want my students to be able to read themselves and the world around
them, which is why my overarching concept is What does it mean to be human?. I did my best
to stay true to this in creating my activities and culminating texts, because I want to be the kind
of teacher who practices what they believe. In developing my teaching context, I went into great
depth and made an effort to find the information that would tell me the most about my students,
their school, their district, and their community.
4c. Are able to respond to a complex, dynamic environment.
I took my peer feedback seriously, which is reflected in my context and unit 1 rationale. My
peers were able to pick up on strengths and weaknesses in my work that I wasnt. For example,
my teaching context needed more information about Poudre School District, which I overlooked
before peer reviewing. This not only translated to a better yearlong plan, but also reminded me
that effective educators keep an open mind and share their ideas.
Using resources from other classes, such as textbooks and projects, has also helped me develop a
stronger yearlong plan. One of the most notable was Peter Smagorinskys Teaching English by
Design: How to Create and Carry out Instructional Units. I only sought out these resources
when I believed they would add value to my project. This was very helpful, because these
textbooks were written by educators who are experienced and passionate about what they do.
The fact that I can find a wealth of information from teachers that I have never met shows just
how important professional development and research is for educators of all experience levels.

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Reflective Commentary:

CEPTC Quality Standard #4: Teachers Reflect on Their Practice

4b. Teachers link professional growth to their professional goals.

4c. Are able to respond to a complex, dynamic environment.

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