Reflection of My 2nd Year Teaching

Below are 20 questions I answered to help me reflect upon this past school year. I found these questions originally at Minds in Bloom.

1.  What are some things you accomplished this year that you are proud of?

· Presented at the Iowa Science Teachers Association Conference
· Participated in the Flood Institute
· Made many hands-on activities for students (Rutherford trays, Newton Cars, Water Rocket Launcher, mystery tubes)
· Helped with Lego League
· Wrote notes to each student
· Finished the mentoring program 

2.  What is something you tried in your classroom this year for the first time? How did it go?

I attempted large-scale, small group projects with my 6th graders. The end products they created were fantastic and I loved seeing what they created. I struggled at assessing them and giving feedback, but their hard work clearly showed. I found out managing multiple projects is stressful and I need to have individual folders/notebooks for each group to help maintain my organization.

3.  What is something you found particularly frustrating this year?

Classroom management – specifically the 8th graders.

4.  Which student in your class do you think showed the most improvement? Why do you think this student did so well?

I.S. showed the most improvement. He started the year out as an outcast, but he realized I deeply cared and would listen to him. He also found a group of friends that supported him. He went from causing trouble to causing motivation in me to teach!

5.  What is something you would change about this year if you could?

I would know exactly how I would like to manage my classroom so it fits within my ethics and is not overly complicated.

6.  What is one way that you grew professionally this year?

I felt much more active with the staff this year. I reached out for more help than I did last year. 

7.  Who among your colleagues was the most helpful to you?

B. A.

8.  What has caused you the most stress this year?

The students not showing me their appreciation for the amount of time I put in for them.

9.  When was a time this year when you felt joyful and/or inspired about the work that you do?

S. E. coming in after his guitar performance to get my feedback. J. C. building a model rocket for his self-development project and his excitement to show EVERYONE. K. W. creating a mission to Mars and his classmates saying it felt like a real mission.

10.  What do you hope your students remember most about you as a teacher?

My honesty with them is what I want them to remember.

11.  In what ways were you helpful to your colleagues this year?

I helped with Lego League and shared my activities.

12.  What was the most valuable thing you learned this year?

You can’t effectively teach without first building the relationships with students.

13.  What was the biggest mistake you made this year? How can you avoid making the same mistake in the future?

I put too much energy in my lessons while ignoring the relationships with students. Then, when my lessons “failed”, it hurt me emotionally. This caused me to struggle at maintaining motivation to keep putting my best effort forward.

14.  What is something you did this year that went better than you thought it would?

Presenting one of my lessons at the conference went really well. Not only did Meag and I help other teachers, but the other teachers brainstormed ways to extend or improve the lesson!

15.  What part of the school day is your favorite? Why?

My first hour class was my favorite. The students worked for me and I was able to be my goofy self!

16.  What were your biggest organizational challenges this year?

Papers. I scattered them everywhere. Also, mentally knowing where each class was in my lessons from day to day.

17.  Who was your most challenging student? Why?

Ja. C. was challenging. His attitude rode like a roller coaster. I could not read him and struggled at staying consistent with him. 

18.  In what ways did you change the lives of your students this year?

I let many know their passions were truly important and worth pursuing.

19.  Pretend that you get to set your own salary for this past year based on the job that you did. How much do you feel that you earned (the number you come up with should be in no way based on your current salary - rather, come up with a number that truly reflects how you should be compensated for your work this year)?

45,000 

20.  Knowing what you know now, would you still choose to be a teacher if you could go back in time and make the choice again? If the answer is "no," is there a way for you to choose a different path now?

I feel like I would want to end up as a teacher. I do not know if I would start off as one. I am unsure if I have enough life experiences to both share with students and to personally grow from.