The motivation behind my I As A Learner Goal came from classroom experience

with my seventh grade students. I am a first year teacher and I struggle with classroom

management skills. After reading about this assignment, I thought it would be a great

opportunity to create my personal goal from the daily experiences and challenges I face

in my classroom. This goal tracking has allowed me to assess my growth and constantly

review my areas of improvement. The assignment also provided a platform to outline my

challenges and create strategies to improve.

I chose to document evidence of my goal by using a data tracking system to

record behavior each day. I refer to this behavior tracking system as our “Daily

Reflection” when addressing my students. The Daily Reflection tool allows me to assess

individual behaviors as well as entire class behaviors. I explained the purpose of this tool

to my students before implementing the Google Doc in class. It was important for me to

make sure my students understood why I chose to dedicate the last 5 minutes of class on

our Daily Reflection. Creating a sense of importance around the Daily Reflection helped

motivate my students to take the assignment seriously. After reviewing the Daily

Reflection tool, I can take the time to self-reflect and evaluate my classroom management

techniques for that particular class period. Reading my students’ perspectives allowed me

to clearly see the gaps in my instruction and how I can improve my teaching strategies.

Furthermore, the reflection tool serves as a form of self-evaluation for my students as

well as a tool for literacy assessment. Every other day, I dedicate two minutes for my

students to share their class experience with their shoulder partner. This pair-share allows

my students to self assess their behaviors with effective communication skills. An

important component in my classroom is preparing the kids for life after school. Many of
my students do not have strong communication skills and providing them opportunities to

express their ideas through writing and speaking will help them improve.

The key word in my behavior-tracking tool is reflection. Reflection is continuous

and it can inspire change if students take the time to self-assess. The Clickers in the

Classroom article noted that formative assessment plays a vital role in establishing an

engaging learning environment in which students participate in their own learning

(Crews, pg. 2). Allowing the students to self-monitor their behavior through the reflection

tool creates a sense of autonomy and accountability in the classroom. Every student has a

reflection folder where they can view pervious assessments and compare the current day

to prior experiences in class. This comparison opportunity also encourages the students to

evaluate their growth. The students can ask themselves how they evolve from class

period to class period. Perhaps they will start to see patterns in their behavior and this

predictability will make strategies and solutions more attainable. The Secondary

Teachers’ Assessment Literacy Journal states, “assessment literate educators can use

assessment to maximize student motivation and learning by involving student as full

partners in assessment, record keeping, and communication” (Mertler, pg. 51). Similarly

to the reflection piece, I believe that showcasing student progress is extremely important

due to the age group of my students. Middle school students are very impressionable and

respond quickly to competitive strategies. Displaying visuals of my students’ personal

progress as well as their peers’ progress is a significant motivator. The visual and public

display of progress inspires my students to work hard and stay focused.

Teaching literacy in math class is very important because students need to

understand why we are learning the things we are studying in class. Strong mathematic
skills form with the foundation of strong problem solving and logic skills. Students are

unable to problem solve and use deductive reasoning unless they fully understand the

meaning of the text. Therefore, literacy skills are at the heart of every learning objective.

In order for students to process information, they must first understand what the

information is saying and what the information is asking them to accomplish. I believe

taking the time to allow my students to express their thoughts, gives them the opportunity

to assess their level of understanding and communicate how they feel. Reviewing the

Daily Reflection tools allows me to assess their literacy growth as well as their

confidence in the subject matter. Every other day, I add in one question related to content

to see how my students are reacting to the material we learn in class.

As their teacher, I constantly assess my students to determine areas of strength

and weakness. It is also my responsibility to give my students opportunities to assess my

skills. The METS Survey gives my students the opportunity to assess my teaching

strategies and techniques. Implementing surveys in my classroom gives students the

opportunity to express their thoughts and ideas. Encouraging self-expression will increase

literacy development and motivate my students to continue their efforts in growing their

knowledge base. Honest student feedback is informative by nature and it has the power to

influence change in the classroom. After reviewing my survey results, I can address my

shortcomings and think about concrete action steps to take for improvement.

The Assertive Disciple: Positive Behavior Management for Today’s Classroom

text explains how the goal of effective teachers’ behavioral efforts is to teach the students

to manage their own behavior with as little direction from them as possible (Canter, pg.

20). Motivation is the power behind positive behavior and I rely on my behavior-tracking
wall in my classroom to help encourage my students to monitor their own behavior. The

behavior tracking wall tallies points for each period if they are on task, following

directions and contributing to a positive learning environment. Once students reach a

certain amount of points, they receive specific rewards, which are posted in the incentive

document in our Google Classroom. The board provides a relatively objective means of

keeping track of the behavior of children over a predetermined period of time and also

maintains the awareness of the children as to their status relative to reward according to

the board (Frudge, pg. 6).

References

Canter, Lee. (2010) Assertive Discipline: Positive Behavior Management for Today’s
Classroom. Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree Press

Crews, Tena B., Lara Ducate, Jeanna Marie Rathel, Karen Heid, and Stephen T. Bishoff.
“Clickers in the Classroom: Transforming students into Active Learners.” (Research
Bulletin 9, 2011). Boulder, CO: EDUCAUSE Center for applied Research, 2011

Fruge, David. (1999) US595412A. Denham Springs, LA. US Grant

Mertler, C. (2004). Secondary Teachers' Assessment Literacy: Does Classroom

Experience Make A Difference? American Secondary Education, 33(1), 49-64.