Teacher Evaluation

Teacher Evaluation

Cory Orman

Module 6 Unit 4 Activity 3

For most teachers, there are two things that can make them extremely nervous. One, parent-teacher conferences and two, teacher evaluations. Last week we discussed parent-teacher conferences. We discussed how to address parents when their child is performing below standards, performing below student's capability, and misbehaving in class. This time can be very nerve racking for teachers and is one area that I am personally a little anxious about.

Teacher Evaluations are another time when many teachers especially young teachers get can become tense. These evaluations could possibly be the difference between you having or not having a job the following year. Personally, I feel a little more nervous about the parent teacher conferences but once I’m in the moment I’m sure that I will feel just as uneasy about the teacher evaluations.

Some tips to help with teacher evaluations are:

Pre-Observation

• request a face to face pre-observation meeting
• share information about the class dynamics
• explain the objectives of the lesson
• ask about observation criteria

Observation

• have all materials prepared and ready to go
• always prepare a backup plan

Post-Observation

• Explain teaching decisions
• explain unexpected changes
• be self-reflective & open to criticism
• teachers that are the most successful are those that are the most self-reflective
• if you do not agree with the assessment you should let the observer know immediately.

Minnesota Teacher Evaluation

My wife is licensed in Minnesota and so I looked up some of the teacher evaluations in Minnesota. I liked the way that MN evaluates its teachers. Minnesota evaluates their teachers on four domains.

1. Planning
1. Aligns learning targets with standards and student data inform planning
2. Uses content, resources and student knowledge to design coherent instruction
3. Plans for assessment and differentiation
2. Environment
1. Creates a respectful classroom culture of trust, safety and high expectations
2. Establishes and maintains clear expectations for classroom and behavior management
3. Instruction
1. Communicates learning targets and content effectively
2. Facilitates activities and discussions that promote high cognitive engagement
3. Uses varied assessment techniques to advance student learning
4. Professionalism
1. Reflects on teaching practice
2. Engages in professional development
3. Maintains professional responsibilities and communicates with families

Each one of these domains and their subcategories are evaluated in a 4 tier performance rating.

‘Rookie’ teachers in Minnesota are evaluated over a three-year span. Their final assessment will be upon completing that third year. The way that teachers evaluations are weighted looks like this -

It is a little hard to read, but this is an outline of what the three years will look like.

Colorado Teacher Evaluation

Another state that I looked at was Colorado. Colorado has six quality standards.

Colorado Standards:

Quality Standards I -

• Teachers demonstrate mastery of and pedagogical expertise in the content they teach.

Quality Standards II -

• Teachers establish a safe, inclusive and respectful learning environment for a diverse population of students.

Quality Standards III -

• Teachers plan and deliver effective instruction and create an environment that facilitates learning for their students.

Quality Standards IV -

• Teachers reflect on their practice.

Quality Standards V -

• Teachers demonstrate leadership.

Quality Standards VI -

• Teachers take responsibility for student academic growth.

Colorado separates their evaluation into 5 years.

Their evaluation process follows a nine-step process.

After looking at these two states, I would really like to be an educator in either one of these systems. Both evaluation processes span over multiple years and are accumulative. I really like that they allow a chance for improvement. As teachers, we are always growing and learning how to be more effective educators. Any sort of evaluation that is weighted predominantly one way can become bias and not always depict an effective evaluation. Both of these states take a more balanced approach and their evaluations of teachers are not predicated on one thing.

Pre-Assessment

Teach-Now

Module 6 Unit 2

Pre-Assessment

Pre-assessment test/quizzes allow teachers to identify what their students understand and how to properly instruct them before they start a lesson/unit. With this knowledge, the teacher will be able to group the students into sections to properly differentiate their lessons. They’ll also be able to address the proper students with methods to help them understand the concept more effectively.

Some examples of pre-assessment can be:

• Journaling
• Games / Game Activities
• Self-Assessment
• Table top discussion
• Quizzes/Tests

For this activity, I put together a pre-test/pre-quiz. The subject matter was for my Module 5 project that I put together. That project was based on a 5th-grade common core writing standard. The students had to put together an opinion piece and then support their opinions with information. So this pre-quiz is structured to find out if the students know the difference between a fact and an opinion.

Here are my pre-quiz questions.

Click here to check out my quiz! I used the online app Kahoot to make it. I really liked the website! I hope to use this site in the future.

Differentiation

Once the teacher has the gathered information about their students' pre-knowledge level, he/she can teach them more effectively. There are multiple ways to differentiate a lesson or unit. The way I decided to use this pre-quiz information was to split the students up into groups. For my activity, there were 5 students that excelled, 12 that had some prior knowledge but still needed help, and then there were 5 students that appeared to have limited knowledge on the subject matter. The way I was able to show the breakdown of this differentiation was in a flow chart that I made using Lucidchart.

Another way to differentiate the lesson that I did not include in the flow chart could be:

Above Level:

These students will work on the classroom computers and put together their own facts & opinion statements. They can then quiz one another to receive extra practice.

At Level:

These students can be split into teams and play a game. They can compete against the other teams to find which sentences are facts and which sentences are opinions in an already prepared worksheet or presentation game. Similar to the Kahoot pre-quiz.

Below Level:

These students would be able to receive special one on one attention with the teacher. The teacher can take the time to try and communicate individually to the students so that they are able to understand. Towards the end of this grouped time, the teacher can also give them a brief run down of what they will be doing the next day. Therefore, they will be more prepared or slightly ahead for the next topic they will cover.

A Post on Homesickness:

Hi everyone. Thanks for checking out our blog #OrmanAdventures. You know, over the past 4 years we have been through many ups and downs. It’s all part of the adventure we call life, right? I can honestly say that most of the time here has been full of joyful memories… but when the bad days come in, they come in HARD!

Homesickness is a very real thing I’ve had to deal with while living in Korea. It’s strange because I’m very close with my family and even though I love them to bits, I have NEVER been the type of person to feel homesick.

Whenever they’d drop me off at a friend’s house it was like, “okay, bye!!” and off into the house I’d go. I would go to sleepovers when I was little and sometimes girls would have to leave in the middle of the night because they were homesick. Huh?? I had no idea what that felt like.

Even when I left for college, 6-7 hours away from my family, I never felt homesick. I was too busy with excitement and enjoying life to the fullest.

Then came South Korea. Oh boy…

At first, I thought I would be fine. There is Skype nowadays and Facebook (which I’m extremely thankful for), but after a year of living here… I started to develop this very odd feeling. I wasn’t sure if it was mood swings, depression, maybe I was bi-polar… and then my husband mentioned the word “homesick.” I bursted into tears and I couldn’t believe how much truth was in that one word.

Before I left for my visit home a few weeks ago, I’d have days that would be going totally fine. Then, all of a sudden WHAM!!! Life threw a curve-ball and I’d start crying… then cry even more because I would start to think about how much I miss my family. Especially how much I miss the fact that I’m not home to build a strong relationship with my niece and nephew. There were times where Cory would do/say something so small and it would send me in a spiral of emotions, leaving me with a reaction that was far more dramatic than necessary. Luckily and thank GOD, my husband knows my heart. He knew it was never about the small argument… it was something greater. It was the fact that my batteries were running low from home.

I know my family isn’t perfect, and no family is for that matter, but when I am around them I am comfortable. I missed the simple things like sipping tea with my mom and, believe it or not, listening to all my dad’s corny jokes. There is just something about home that makes you feel whole again.

A few months ago, it came time for Cory and me to plan our summer vacation. We were set on going to Japan… and that’s when more mood swings rushed in. We hadn’t seen our families in a year and a half, and it was the most difficult thing to think about not seeing them for a longer amount of time. Cory really started to pick up on my feelings (he’s really good at that), and could sense that I wasn’t being myself. He brought up the idea of me going home for a visit and him staying in Korea; we simply could not afford two tickets. The thought of leaving him in Korea while I spent time with my family left me with an abundant amount of guilty feelings. He’s giving up his vacation for me?? But after carefully explaining his sincere thoughts on how much I needed to go home, and how much it would benefit our relationship, I knew he was right. He ended up buying the ticket for me because even though I knew it was the right thing to do, I just couldn’t believe he was selflessly letting me go home while he’d spend 2 very boring weeks in our apartment in Korea.

Anyway, it was time to go home and what a joy that was!!! I have so many special memories to give me that little boost when days get tough. I made sure to spend one on one time with my mom, dad, and sister. That was something I was highly looking forward to and now cherish. My favorite memory was when my niece, Leighann, ran out of the car and into my arms when she saw me! I was so nervous that she would be shy around me since I’d only met her once prior.  She was not shy at ALL. That little girl was my sidekick the entire time I was home. She just loved her “Chelle.” As well, I met my nephew, Sawyer, for the very first time!! When I held him, he gave me a little hug and my heart bursted! Singing him lullabies and having him fall asleep on me filled my heart to max capacity.

Overall, home was exactly what I needed. Now I am back in Korea and quite a few people have given me compliments, which is always nice. “You look so happy! Wow, you’re so beautiful. Your eyes are sparkling now! You have the sweetest smile” --- Those are a few from just this week alone. I feel like going home has given me that extra boost in my heart again. Through this experience, I’ve realized how much my family AND Cory’s family has supported our journey from the beginning. They are constantly cheering us on and saying how proud they are of us.

Walking around this small Korean town these past few days, I’ve felt a deeper appreciation for our time here. My greatest hope through this entire journey is to hopefully inspire someone else to step out of their comfort zone. With that, in order to inspire others, I feel it’s necessary to be real with one another since leaving your comfort zone isn’t always easy.

These are real feelings I’ve felt, and sometimes it’s hard for me to share since everyone thinks of me being a positive happy person ALL THE TIME. Quite honestly, it’s not a bad thing to be known for… but it’s just not true...all the time. I have difficult days too; very difficult. Just like everyone else.

If you’re reading this and haven’t spoken to your family or a good friend in a long time, I challenge you to call them or send them a message.  Also, every moment you have with your family… please don’t take it for granted: Pedicures with my mom, playing Frisbee with my dad, shopping and talking about life with my sister, speaking to my brother in law about community service, sharing giggles with my niece and nephew, and finally wrapping my arms around my husband when coming back to Korea are all memories I will hold onto forever.  

God is so good.

He has filled me up with joy.

My heart is full.

xoxo, Michelle

Planning Assessments

Formative Assessments

Formative assessments or assignments are great ways to give and receive feedback from the students. They can also be used as a way to guide the student’s learning and to achieve the lesson/standards goal. Formative assessments are not a part of the student’s grade.

Standard:

CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.5.OA.A.1

Use parentheses, brackets, or braces in numerical expressions, and evaluate expressions with these symbols.

Grade level:

Grade 5

Formative Assessment 1:

• Hand in, Pass out
• The teacher can give students a list of problems to fill out in class.
• Once they are done filling out the problems the students will hand in their papers WITHOUT their names on them.
• After the papers are handed in, the teacher will mix them up and pass them back out to the students randomly.
• The teacher and the students will then correct them all together.

• This assessment is great because the teacher can see what problems the students are struggling with and what areas they need more help in.
• This also takes pressure off of the students, if they get the answer wrong, nobody will know it was them who got the answer wrong.
• It also gives students a chance to grade their peers and a sense of ownership in their class.

Formative Assessment 2:

• Back to Back
• The students can be split up into teams.
• One student from each team can go up to the front of the classroom and sit on a chair in front of the monitor.
• The teacher can write out a problem or have a ppt pre-made with problems.
• The students will race to complete the problems for their team.
• This can also be done individually without the team aspect, but I like team/group competition.

• This is a fun interactive way for the teacher to see how each student does on a problem. It can also narrow down which students seem to be struggling but at the same time encourage them to do their best for their team. Back to Back, and other whiteboard type of activities give the teacher a chance to assess how individual students are doing.

Formative Assessment 3:

• 3-2-1
• This assessment will be used at the end of a class period or unit.
• 3 = students will write down three things that they learned
• 2 = students will write down two things they found interesting
• 1 = students will write down one question they still have.

• This is a wonderful closing assessment. This activity helps the teacher know truly what the students have learned and took away from the lesson/unit. It also allows the teacher to know what the students are still having trouble with. The “one question” can be reviewed the next class period and gives the students one more chance to learn what they are struggling with before a unit exam.

Applying Common Core Standards

Applying Common Core Standards

M5.U1.A4

I have never taught the common core, but one thing that I do like about it is that it is all laid out for you. It is great to be able to see the standards for the grade level you are teaching as well as the standards for the levels before and after you. In looking at those standards, you are better able to understand where your students levels are at when they are coming in as well as how you should prepare them for their next grade level.

The common core standards build upon one another. So you as a teacher must be able to break them down and apply them in your classroom in order for your students to gather the necessary knowledge to complete what is required of them the following year. What I liked about this unit that I just finished was that we took a deeper look into the common core. We unpacked standards, used backwards mapping, and wrote objectives.

What I learned:

Unpacking Standards
Unpacking the standards really helped me. When I first took a look at the standards, I wasn’t 100% sure what the standard is asking, but now after unpacking them they become clear. When you unpack the standards you must look at it and ask yourself, “what is the big idea?”

Once you know the big idea then you must think what is asked of the students. Will they write, will they have to speak, what is it that they must be able to perform? Then after the major idea and what is asked of them comes the how.

Example:

CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.5.OA.A.1

Use parentheses, brackets, or braces in numerical expressions, and evaluate expressions with these symbols.

Big Idea

In this standard, the big idea is that students are able to understand multi-step problems and the order of operations. The problem uses more than + - x /   

What will the students do?

The students will USE parentheses, brackets, or braces

They will also EVALUATE expressions with those symbols.

So the students must be able to evaluate expressions that use ( ) or [ ]

Backwards Mapping

The How? By using backwards mapping, you can take the knowledge you just gathered from unpacking the standard and begin to apply it. When you are backwards mapping you must look at what you want the students to achieve and then work back from there. Many times when a teacher designs a unit without this thought process, their lessons might start with the same end goal but over the course of the unit their lessons begin going in another way. When using backwards mapping you have your objective and begin to think, what do they need to learn to understand this. Then after that you will have to think of how will I know if these students are understanding this. The teacher must put together a way to assess the students along the way. After that, you must think of activities that will coincide with the unit objective. Little by little you will formulate your unit with the core objective as the main focal point.

Goal --> Assessment --> Activities

Example:

Goal:
24 + (3 x 9) / 2 =

Assessment:

The teacher will hand out a worksheet as homework that can be graded and worked through together as a class the next day.

Activities:

Practice

PEMDAS = Parentheses, Exponents, Multiplication, Division, Addition, Subtraction

*this unit doesn't mention the use of exponents

The teacher will teach how to do these problems then give them a worksheet to do together with a partner.

Writing Objectives

This was one area that I am still struggling with. I know as I get more practice the stronger I will become at this. I am able to think of activities and lessons that are able to meet the standards, I just feel like I have trouble with writing S.M.A.R.T. Objectives.

S.M.A.R.T. = Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, Targeted.