Questions
Complete a paper that will draw upon the Administrator feedback to document your strengths, weaknesses, and growth plans. Your paper, including title page, will be three to four (3-4) pages. The paper must be in APA format and contain the following sections.
• Title page (must be APA format; use your manual, your devoted companion throughout your graduate studies!)
o Title: 12 words or less; do not use abbreviations
o Running head: “Running head:” only on title page; lowercase “h”
o Header title cannot exceed 50 total characters and/or spaces
• Introduction (1 paragraph; no heading; follows title)
o Provide a clear statement of the purpose of the paper
o Catch the reader’s interest
• Strengths (heading: centered; boldfaced; 1-2 paragraphs)
o After you received feedback from your administrator, what areas did you identify as strengths?
o Be specific; explain the details behind the feedback
• Weaknesses (heading: centered; boldfaced; 1-2 paragraphs)
o After you received feedback from your administrator, what areas did you identify as strengths?
o Be specific; explain the details behind the feedback
• Growth Plans (heading: centered; boldfaced; 1-2 paragraphs)
o What can you do to improve your pedagogy? Be specific.
o What goals emerge because of the self-assessment?
o What can you do to become more effective as an educator?
• Conclusion (no heading; do not indent; 1 paragraph)
o Summarize the paper
Solutions
Administrators Evaluation and Reflection
Teachers engage in regular assessments to understand their strengths and weaknesses in teaching, and delivery of content to their learners. The results of the evaluation identify the areas that need to improve to become better. A great teacher engages in continuous improvement since his students deserve quality teaching to achieve positive performance outcomes. Although teachers can use various strategies to evaluate their performance, an administrator’s evaluation is the most effective. The purpose of the current assignment is to use the results of a recent assessment to understand strengths, weaknesses, and create growth plans to achieve continuous improvement.
Strengths
The evaluator’s report revealed various strengths that make me a better teacher. First, I have excellent content knowledge, which means that I understand the information that I use to teach my students. The results indicated that I understand the main concepts and tools of inquiry. I also comprehend the most effective methods to deliver content, such as through multimedia presentations or simulations depending on the nature of the content. Furthermore, my assessment results indicated that I understand the developmental needs of each student and deliver content appropriately. For example, to assess and understand the level of intellectual and cognitive development of each student and deliver content competently. Lineberry, Park, Cook, and Yudkowsky (2015) confirmed the need for teachers to understand the learning material to ensure that their students learn effectively and succeed in their assessments. In addition, I have excellent communication skills that I use to support my students to learn. I have also mastered the use of different content delivery strategies to ensure that I include all students. For example, I customize the delivery method to the needs of each student, including those who learn slower than others. Finally, I understand pragmatics, which is applying language appropriately to support teaching and learning. The assessment revealed that I could use language appropriately and in the current context to support relevant conversations with students. The knowledge also helps text organization, which is critical in teaching. I will work on developing these areas even further to become better as a teacher.
Weaknesses
Although I have various strengths, the evaluator identified some weaknesses that I need to improve to become a better teacher. One of the areas is classroom management and program planning. The process is essential to create a productive learning environment. Although I understand the content well, I face challenges planning how to deliver it, and how to ensure that students are prepared to learn. Moreover, the results revealed that I face challenges creating a productive classroom environment, such as using discipline methods, such as detention, to create order among students. Therefore, I need to develop cross-discipline skills to ensure that all students are attentive and prepared to learn. Nonetheless, the evaluator revealed that I experience a challenge in collaborating even in a classroom full of computers. The results indicated that I am better when teaching on my own than working with other teachers to develop socially engaging classes. I also have challenges helping students to learn collaboratively, which hinders my ability to build teamwork in my classroom. The weaknesses suggest the need to develop an effective plan to improve my teaching skills.
Growth Plans
The feedback from the administrator indicates the need to implement an effective plan to improve the areas of weakness to become a better teacher. I should embark on a learning process to advance my areas of strength further and address my weaknesses. My plan will include the areas of weakness. I intend to reinvent myself as a teacher by learning from different sources, including books and journals, as well as through mentorship programs. Cantalini-Williams et al. (2014) revealed the importance of learning from more experienced peers through mentorship. For example, my evaluator could provide essential lessons on how I can improve some of my weaknesses. I will also work with other teachers to learn how to collaborate and conduct effective classroom management and content planning. Like Cocklin, Coombe, and Retallick (2014) affirms, I have realized that social learning communities play an essential role in learning and development. I will join and actively participate in such networking groups to develop my weaknesses. My plan involves meeting specific goals, improving collaborative skills, and learning classroom management and proper planning. I will keep practicing to become a more effective educator. Developing teaching skills is not enough since educators should keep practicing the skills in the classroom context to improve effectiveness (Huda & Teh, 2018). For example, I should practice classroom management and content planning skills in the classroom since theoretical knowledge is not enough. I believe that my plan will help me to address my weaknesses and improve my strengths.
Conclusion
Teaching is a learning process. I have learned that it is impossible to be a master in all areas, but I can improve my weaknesses to become a better, and more effective teacher. The assessment provided necessary knowledge that will help me to embark on a self-improvement process. Besides, the results have taught me how to embrace my strengths and always strive to work on my weaknesses. After receiving the assessment result, I should begin the self-improvement and growth process immediately. I believe that I will get a better report in the future due to my commitment to learn and develop.
References
Cantalini-Williams, M., Cooper, L., Grierson, A., Maynes, N. A., Rich, S., Tessaro, M. L., … & Wideman-Johnston, T. (2014). Innovative practicum models in teacher education: The benefits, challenges and implementation implications of peer mentorship, service learning and international practicum experiences. Toronto: Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario.
Cocklin, B., Coombe, K., & Retallick, J. (2014). Learning communities in education. New York: Routledge.
Huda, M., & Teh, K. S. M. (2018). Empowering professional and ethical competence on reflective teaching practice in digital era. In Mentorship Strategies in Teacher Education (pp. 136-152). New York: IGI Global.
Lineberry, M., Park, Y. S., Cook, D. A., & Yudkowsky, R. (2015). Making the case for mastery learning assessments: Key issues in validation and justification. Academic Medicine, 90(11), 1445-1450. doi: 10.1097/ACM.0000000000000860