Bryan Van Pelt's bportfolio

Standard 2 states teacher leaders analyze learning to promote student growth.   This standard, in my opinion, is a core standard of the Teacher Leadership program.   It is highly important this standard is fully understood and applied in the classroom. When I reflect on this standard I realize it is bigger than it appears, as there are multiple aspects involved.   In my opinion, this standard is centered around two central tenets of teaching, both needed for teachers to properly analyze student learning.   These two tenets are 2) data collection, and 3) the teacher’s personal reflection.   When these ideas work together in harmony, teachers can truly analyze student learning in hopes of promoting growth. For this standard, I engaged in two classes: Accomplished Teaching and Action Research.   Both of these classes sharpened my skills and shed light on what it takes to analyze student learning in the classroom. Reflection:   Previous...

Standard 4 states teacher leaders “engage in analysis of teaching and collaborative practices”. Though this standard can be applied to many courses in the Teacher Leadership degree program, the main course of focus was “Accomplished Teaching”.   In this course I engaged in a multitude of activities and assignments in which I grew as both a reflective and collaborative educator.             At the beginning of this course my thoughts regarding accomplished teaching were shallow and vague.   Are students engaged? Does the teacher possess the appropriate skill set?   Is the classroom managed?   These were the big picture ideas that came to mind prior to this course. After many readings, discussion board posts, and face-to-face interactions my definition changed in many ways.   Some thoughts remain intact but many ideas and principles have changed into something deeper, pointed and more meaningful....