Professional Growth Reflection

Susan Rol

Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota

Schools of Graduate and Professional Programs

EDUW 696 – Portfolio Production and Presentation

Stephanie Sullivan – Advisor

November 1, 2019
 I have always considered teachers as “life long” learners. Throughout my program at

Saint Mary’s University, I have found this to be very true. I learned how to properly reflect and

grow from where I started as a teacher, continue to learn and practice new techniques and

methods, and plan for future growth and learning. The learning happens both inside and outside

of the classroom, and I am thankful for all of the opportunity to bring new talents to my

classroom so that students can learn in the best environment I can provide. Upon reflecting on

each class taken, I see that they all provided learning in different domains of skill.

My first semester in the program I started out in the Process of Education and Ethics and

Issues in Education. The process of Education started the whole reflection process off at the right

time. During that semester, I was hired on as an emergency hire in the World Language

department in my school district. I had taken course through EduCATE-WI but had not

completed my student teaching yet. Knowing that I should start reflecting on my teaching for the

sake of the program, was beyond helpful for me as a brand new teacher. Each day, I had to learn

a few teaching techniques the hard way, and in particular, had to learn what works best for the

demographic of my classes. Each day was a learning adventure and I would dedicate around 5

minutes at the end of every day to write about what went well and what did not work well and

goals to change as teacher both in and out of the classroom. A skill that has continued to help me

through my official first year of teaching and has gotten me connected to the community.

Ethics and Issues in education was a class that peaked my passion for instruction. The

topics covered were extremely of interest to me and I gained many skills for my classroom. How

to present myself as a teacher and following code of ethics were taught in the most understanding

fashion. We looked into making those tough ethical/moral choices as teachers and how to react

upon them. One topic that I have continued to learn about has been students who have live in
poverty and how to best help them, which is the topic of my portfolio piece for this class. My

professor provided me with many materials, more than enough to keep researching once the class

was done and books/literature to read on the topic as a goal to continue being educated on the

topic. I will continue to improve my practice as a teacher to be inclusive to those in poverty as

many of the students in my district are living this way.

Along with the topic of children in poverty that I was so passionate about, I was able to

research more with a group project in the Classroom Environment class. What worked well for

me was learning how to know exactly what my classroom demographic is (beginning of the year

surveys, parent contacts, etc.) and using correct teaching strategies to instruct that set of students.

Strategies that my group and I found was using inclusive language while teaching to not single

any group out, teach and demonstrate behaviors I expect in the classroom and not assume that all

students know. A skill I am happy to have practiced this new school year and feel as though I

have been successful in creating an inclusive classroom. This is a practice I hope only continues

to get easier and more efficient each school year.

Instructional design and classroom management brought many new skills to my plate for

my first couple years as a teacher. Preparation hours, planning, and managing a classroom where

all foreign to me. Creating daily plans that serve the students best was definitely a struggle that I

have gotten better at. While teaching in 80 minute blocks I wanted to make sure students where

learning effectively. The reflection part of this whole program really manifested in this area as I

learned how to “not” give directions to a class when it did not work out the first time. I also

learned to move on from activities that the students were not benefitting from. To ensure all of

this planning and prepping was executed appropriately I learned the skill of setting clear and

obtainable expectations immediately at the beginning of the school year. My first year teaching I
failed at doing this but learned from this class to go over and demonstrate the expectations and

rules so every student understands and to stick with them.

Technology and Communication in Instruction was yet another class where again, I

learned many new skills and activities for students. What did not work from this class was trying

too many new technology tricks or applications that some of the students were not ready for.

Some activities took too long to explain or were to hard to get set up and logged into where I lost

a lot of student engagement and participation. I learned here that test runs are very important.

Overall, I received takeaway activities I am still implementing in my classroom and learned of

new ways to make communication with parents and students simple in our technological world.

Currently, I am working through Assessment and Portfolio presentation. This class on

assessment has taught me how to teach with purpose. It has shown me to find the end goal and

go backwards. How can I best teach these students so that they are learning what they need to

be? It has also taught me to give out options to students ins tead of assigning one “inflexible”

assignment. I have been implementing giving an end learning target and providing options to

students for how they can show me what they have learned. While this semester seems busy,

WTS standard 10 has been of big importance with portfolio presentation approaching. I have

been reflecting on how I participate as a learner, within my community, with parents, and with

my colleagues. I have grown in confidence in this standard since the last year and the importance

of this standard has been reinforced in my practice.

Overall, it is hard to touch on every topic/practice that I have gained knowledge of

throughout my time in the program. I will continue to be the “lifelong” learner I started out

believing all teachers are because really, to be the best teachers we can be we need to be growing

with our students and in our community.