A Look Back at Year 1

Over the course of the last year, I have learned a lot about myself and my development as a professional educator.  Looking back at my initial self-assessment, I can see how I have grown in many ways.  I would think that my assessments for each of the CSTP sections has improved by at least one step.  I suppose my growth has followed these lines... I have always been told my strength is in my working with my students.  There seems to be a good rapport with them, and work hard to give them individualized support while earning and keeping their trust.  But in so doing, my weaknesses have been exposed.  I was often late on paperwork or made mistakes on IEP or Compliance paperwork.  My journey through Cycle 5 of the Induction program has given me a number of ideas on how to balance the workload with the use of organizational techniques and stress reduction through mindfulness.  While I have yet to see any changes from these new techniques, I am excited to see how it will all turn out.

This year, I tried a number of new things that I had been exposed to through the Induction program.  Not everything worked as well as I would have liked, but that is the nature of this kind of program: try new things and see what sticks.  One thing I tried was keeping track of my important duties with the use of a board to which I stick Post-It notes.  Different tasks are prioritized by being placed in separate sections of the board.  I take care of things in the "Urgent" square before I start on the "Important" square, and so forth.  I think this will help me manage my time more wisely.

I am almost obsessed with positive reinforcement.  I focus on the good things students do and ignore any wrong work or behaviors.  I also never let on that I don't think a student can accomplish something.  I have some parents that, when I give a student a task, will immediately say, "He can't do that." But I work with the student until they can.  I have one student who is profoundly disabled.  She is 15 years old, but functions at a 6-month-old level.  She is nonverbal, nonambulatory, does not look at stimuli or people and does not respond to anything except a tablet that plays "Finding Nemo" on repeat.  Most people had given up trying to get her to do anything.  At the end of every session, I picked up her hand and put it to mine for a high-5.  After working with her for about 6 months, as she was leaving one day, I held my hand up and she gave me a high-5 on her own.  Sometimes it is these small victories that make it all worthwhile.

My coach gave great feedback throughout this year and has been a wonderful partner.  Here are some excerpts of her feedback.

"Mr. Leland provided very clear and concise objective, directions, and instruction. He questioned student throughout the lesson. He used his fingers as manipulatives to provide visual support for the student."    "During the instruction of new learning, Mr. Leland used color coding for visual support, repeated steps as needed, and used a slow but engaging pace the student was able to follow. He used questioning throughout the lesson to engage student and check for understanding. This allowed him to adjust the next problem so the student would achieve success with more independence and to be able to talk through the problem with his teacher. This was a very nice lesson that seemed to meet the needs of the student. Great job, Travis!"

Now that I have a good foundation in a couple of different school environments, I want to be more familiar with the curriculum.  I often have to send a student to another teacher to explain some math or history thing that I have forgotten or was never clear on.  I want to be able to address their educational needs independently and have to rely on others less.  I will be undergoing a curriculum training soon, and I will be reading over the credits before I hand them to my students.